Discover the EDITO-Model Lab Project consortium

In a partnership that spans across a vast part of the European continent, the EDITO-Model Lab project consortium is a leading initiative in the construction of the European Digital Twin of the Ocean. Comprising key institutions from various countries, this collaboration is setting new standards in digital ocean modelling and operational forecasting. Each partner brings its unique strengths to the table, creating a powerful synergy that promises to transform our understanding, management, exploitation, and conservancy of the world's ocean. 
 
From pioneering the development of digital twin models to optimising high-performance computing resources, from advancing numerical models to harnessing the potential of artificial intelligence, the consortium's expertise is highly diverse. With a shared vision of a sustainable and digitally interconnected future for our ocean, the EDITO-Model Lab consortium is paving the way for a brighter and more environmentally responsible blue future. This dynamic partnership, which could not neglect the communication beyond the experts and direct users and therefore also attempts to reach the wider society, exemplifies the power of collaboration in the pursuit of scientific excellence and the preservation of our precious marine ecosystems. 
 
Today we invite you to know more about who we are and what we do in this challenging yet truly inspiring endeavour.  

MERCATOR OCEAN INTERNATIONAL (MOi) has been a pioneer in developing digital ocean models for the past two decades, leading the field of operational oceanography. MOi has been instrumental in implementing and advancing the Copernicus Marine Service and is also a key partner, along with EUMETSAT, ECMWF, and the European Environment Agency, in establishing the WEkEO DIAS cloud computing platform. MOi plays a crucial role in supporting the European Commission in the development of the European Digital Twin of the Ocean, serving as the EDITO-Model Lab project coordinator. MOi leads the development of the EDITO core model suite by designing and integrating its components, utilising next-gen numerical models. Through collaboration with partners at both the EU and international levels, MOi ensures an inclusive and cooperative approach to constructing EDITO. In addition, MOi, in partnership with VLIZ, co-coordinates the EDITO-Infra project, which builds the public infrastructure backbone for EDITO, integrating key data service components and sharing cloud processing capabilities and software within a unified digital framework. 

The +ATLANTIC CoLAB is a Portuguese not-for-profit research and innovation Collaborative Laboratory that conceives and delivers knowledge-based products and services across various aspects of the blue economy, ocean sustainability, marine science, marine ecosystem health, climate change, ocean literacy, and science communication. +ATLANTIC's multidisciplinary team employs Earth observation, remote sensing, numerical modelling, data science, artificial intelligence, and space and ocean technologies to develop such products and services, participating in national and international projects. Within the EDITO-Model Lab, +ATLANTIC oversees all communication and internationalisation efforts while also providing support for organising project training activities. 

The BARCELONA SUPERCOMPUTING CENTER (BSC) is home to MareNostrum5, a EuroHPC pre-exascale supercomputer, driving cutting-edge scientific initiatives. Within the BSC, the Earth Sciences Department leads in the development of Digital Twins in Earth Sciences, utilising expertise in optimising numerical models for High-Performance Computing and experience in automated, reproducible workflows for scientific production to establish an infrastructure accelerating the Digital Twin of the Ocean. In the EDITO-Model Lab, BSC leads the development of the Virtual Ocean Model Lab, offering the technological platform for co-developing, implementing, and testing Focus Applications and What-if Scenarios by integrating thematic global-to-coastal models and artificial intelligence. 
 

   
Cineca is a non-profit consortium comprised of research institutions, universities, and governmental bodies in Italy, houses the country's largest High-Performance Computing department. Cineca's mission is to expedite scientific discovery by offering high-performance computing resources, data management and storage systems, tools, services, and expertise on a large scale. Their goal is to develop and promote technical and scientific services related to high-performance computing for both the Italian and European research communities. Cineca actively participates in various activities of the EDITO-Model Lab, including the optimisation of Digital Twin of the Ocean models for HPC and GPUs, enhancing the workflow of the main model, and providing technical support. Cineca is also engaged in co-designing the virtual environment, developing the back-end architecture, and designing user interfaces for the on-demand model. Cineca's Leonardo supercomputer plays a vital role in the co-development of the Virtual Ocean Model. 
 

 The EURO-MEDITERRANEAN CENTRE ON CLIMATE CHANGE (CMCC Foundation) has extensive experience in developing, validating and optimising ocean numerical models (circulation, waves, biogeochemistry) at global, regional, and coastal scales, along with expertise in downscaling and relocability of high-resolution ocean models. CMCC leads the Monitoring Forecasting Centre for the Mediterranean Sea and plays a significant role in the Copernicus Marine Service, developing the physical modelling component for both the Mediterranean and Black Sea basins. CMCC focuses on delivering added-value solutions in areas such as optimal ship routing, marine pollution, and nature-based solutions. This scientific proficiency, combined with innovative IT capabilities, supports interdisciplinary research for maritime operational forecasting and the creation of services and applications for crucial blue economy sectors. In the EDITO-Model Lab, CMCC merges various numerical models for hydrodynamics and waves, develops new model configurations optimised for digital twin, and participates in the testing and validation of global and regional-to-coastal configurations. 
  

  
Institut of Environmental Geosciences is a joint research unit of the CNRS, Grenoble Alpes University, INRAE, Grenoble INP and IRD, the Institute of Environmental Geosciences (IGE) is one of the main institutes of the Grenoble Observatory of Sciences of the Universe (Observatoire des Sciences de l’Univers de Grenoble). The IGE conducts research on climate, the pollution of our planet and environmental risks, particularly in regions where societal and environmental issues are most prevalent: the polar regions, the intertropical zone, and mountain regions. The MEOM team (Multiscale oceanic flow modelling) involved in the EDITO-Model Lab project is studying the role of the ocean in the variability of the climate system, the development of numerical methods for the analysis and prediction of the marine environment, and the contribution to space oceanography. 
 

 
Deltares is a Dutch not-for-profit knowledge institute specialised in water and subsurface studies which employs applied research to develop innovative solutions for the sustainable management of deltas, coastal zones, and rivers. In the EDITO-Model Lab project, Deltares leads end-to-end demonstrations for Focus Applications and co-leads the development of the EDITO core model suite. Their contribution to the European Digital Twin of the Ocean includes connecting their hydrodynamic software to the Copernicus Marine Data Lake, designing the integration path for the core model suite, and implementing new artificial intelligence techniques to enhance hydrodynamic software (Delft3D-FM). Deltares will also publish use cases on biodiversity assessment in the Wadden Sea and the carbon impact of aquaculture in the North Sea. 
 

   
The DANISH METEOROLOGICAL INSTITUTE (DMI) is the official public meteorological institute, responsible for weather forecasts and observations in Denmark, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands. In EDITO, DMI excels in seamless regional-coastal sea modelling and microplastic source mapping and modelling. DMI is focused on developing a two-way nested, open-source solution for on-demand regional/coastal modelling using the operational ocean-ice model HBM. They are also working on developing microplastic and nature-based solution modules in the on-demand model HBM, creating Focus Applications, and What-if Scenarios related to marine plastic pollution using Green’s Function and nature-based solutions. DMI ensures that users of the on-demand model can configure high-resolution subdomain settings in the Baltic-North Sea region quickly, generating quality-assured simulations according to their requirements. 
 
   
The Institute of Coastal Systems Analysis and Modelling at Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon (HEREON) focuses on understanding how physical, biological, chemical, and socio-economic processes shape complex coastal systems and drive variability and change in these systems. The HEREON team specialises in hydrodynamics and data assimilation for ocean modelling (circulation, waves, sediment, biogeochemistry), coastal ocean predictions, coupled model systems, integrating observations with model data, and application studies, such as nature-based solutions for coastal hazards. Hereon also emphasises model-driven machine learning to create hybrid models representing physical, chemical, and biological processes on fine spatial scales. In the EDITO-Model Lab, HEREON leads What-if Scenarios simulations to showcase the EDITO engine across various topics of the EU Mission Restore our Ocean and Waters. They demonstrate and validate these scenarios with beta testers, including other numerical modellers, using Jupyter notebooks to configure scenarios based on inputs from scientists and end-users, such as policymakers. 
 

 
IMT Atlantique is an engineering school in France combining digital technology and energy science for the transformation of society and industry through training, research, and innovation. The Lab STICC (Laboratoire des Sciences et Technologies de l'Information, de la Communication et de la Connaissance) involved in the project is developing the expertise at the interface between Artificial Intelligence and oceanic and maritime topics. This includes taking into account the ocean as a complex system, with physical, biological and ecological interactions, as well as human activities (maritime traffic, coastal planning, marine resources, etc.).   
 
   
The NANSEN ENVIRONMENTAL AND REMOTE SENSING CENTRE (NERSC) is an independent non-profit research foundation from Norway conducting basic and applied environmental and climate research. NERSC has been a pioneer in developing ensemble methods for data assimilation, merging observations and operational ocean models. NERSC currently leads the Arctic Marine Forecasting Centre of the Copernicus Marine Service with the TOPAZ system. Recently, NERSC has proposed new algorithms at the intersection of machine learning and data assimilation to enhance numerical model forecasts. Their machine learning-boosted work in the EDITO-Model Lab contributes to the development of the digital twin, warranting that the data assimilation method is fit for operational forecasts. 
 
  
The BALEARIC ISLANDS COASTAL OBSERVING AND FORECASTING SYSTEM (SOCIB) is a marine research infrastructure operating a regional multi-platform ocean observing and forecasting system in the Western Mediterranean. SOCIB specialises in the implementation and applications of high-resolution operational modelling systems, integrating information from multi-sensor measurements. This expertise is applied in the EDITO-Model Lab for model evaluation, Virtual Ocean Model Lab testing, development of Focus Applications, and training for intermediate and end-users. 
 
   
The SINCEM group at the UNIVERSITY OF BOLOGNA (UNIBO) has contributed to the development of numerical models for ocean circulation, biogeochemistry, and pollution at sea. These models address ocean forecasting, biogeochemical fluxes, and estuarine processes, among others. Recently, an unstructured grid ocean circulation model has been upgraded for parallel computing. The SINCEM Group is also developing several digital twin modelling frameworks for nature-based solutions. Their contribution to the EDITO-Model Lab focuses on supporting end-to-end demonstrations for Focus Applications, co-leading the implementation of numerical ocean models, utilising artificial intelligence tools, designing Focus Applications, implementing models for end-users, testing those models, and assessing the quality of methodologies used in the project. 
 
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