Das Projekt "Integration and enhancement of key existing European deep-ocean observatories (EUROSITES)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Natural Environment Research Council durchgeführt. Objective: At present there are a number of fixed point observatories that autonomously measure biological, chemical and physical variables in the oceans around Europe. These operate at various levels of sophistication but in a largely uncoordinated and fragmented manner. There is no agreed set of basic variables and common data protocols are not followed. EuroSITES has two main objectives: 1: To enhance the existing deep ocean observatories thus forming a coherent European network. This will then provide a clear and relevant description of the time varying properties of the ocean system. 2: To perform a small number of specific science missions that will, in the future, form the basis for greatly improved and novel monitoring capability. The work we propose addresses directly and explicitly the vision of GEOSS. We will address this in the context of the time changing properties of the ocean interior, seafloor and sub seafloor around Europe.