The GISMO toolbox is a Python 3.6 GUI application to manually perform quality control of in situ ocean data from different sampling types such as ferryboxes and fixed platforms. As of now it is setup to use the standard CMEMS data format. Functionalities include visual flagging of data, comparison between different data sources and interactive plot exports. Developed by: This application was developed by tkinter from the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI https://www.smhi.se/en) in the framework of JERICO-NEXT (http://www.jerico-ri.eu/). Technology or platform: The GISMO toolbox application uses basemap for showing maps. The module requires Microsoft Visual C++ for python which can be a bit tricky to install if you want to run the program in a virtual environment (recomended). You can find a step by step guide on the prefered way to setup all requirements needed to run the program on Windows (not tested for other platforms). The guide assumes the user has no prior experience of Python.

The purpose of MarineRegions is to create a standard, relational list of geographic names, coupled with information and maps of the geographic location of these features. Marine Regions is an integration of the VLIMAR Gazetteer and the VLIZ Maritime Boundaries Geodatabase (MARBOUND). The VLIMAR Gazetteer is a database with geographic, mainly marine names such as seas, sandbanks, seamounts, ridges, bays or even standard sampling stations used in marine research. The geographic cover of the VLIMAR gazetteer is global but initially focused on the Belgian Continental Shelf and the Scheldt Estuary and the Southern Bight of the North Sea. Gradually more regional and global geographic information was added to VLIMAR and combining this information with the Maritime Boundaries database, representing the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the world, led to the creation of marineregions.org.​ In order to preserve the identity of the marine geographic objects from the database, and to name and locate the geographic resources on the web, MarineRegions promotes the Marine Regions Geographic IDentifier, or the MRGID. Developed by: MarineRegions is managed by the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ). Funding for the creation of the VLIMAR gazetteer was provided initially through the EU Network of Excellence MarBEF, but also other European initiative such as EMODNet and Lifewatch provide the necessary funding for the maintenance and management of MarineRegions. Used data resources: MarineRegions uses several sources: marine boundaries, ecological classifications, fishing zones, thematic gazetteers, regional gazetteers, global gazetteers and several others. Web services: MarineRegions provides numerous web services which allow the user to have direct access to the geographic data, maps and metadata from a GIS desktop or for online applications. Currently MarineRegions provides the OGC services WMS, WFS and CSW.

BVMtool is a set of R scripts automating marine biological valuation calculations based on the biological valuation concept as developed by Derous et al. 2007 and described by Deneudt et al 2013. Based on a recommended format for data input, the script facilitates the calculation of a number of valuation questions that are commonly solved when observational data on species densities are available. The results of the valuation questions are summarized in final scores for each ecosystem component and can be combined with the final results obtained for other ecosystem components. Subzones can be defined as raster grid cells of a desired size or can be based on polygons of a habitat classification provided by the user. The script also offers the possibility to run a number of quality control procedures on the input data, including a taxonomic quality control using the web services built on the World Register of Marine Species.

SHARK ("Svenskt HavsARKiv" / "Swedish Ocean Archive") contains marine environmental monitoring data from the seas surrounding Sweden. SHARKweb is the main web application where it is possible to search and download data from SHARK. SHARKdata is another way to access the same sets of data, but the target audience is other systems which want to harvest data and use it, or to publish the data in other systems, portals, etc. SHARKdata is based on modules and new modules will be developed over time. Species observations is a module where observations are extracted from other datasets. Special response formats are available such as KML and simple map. The Resources module contains administrative data. It can contain files for header translations, screening of data, taxonomic information, etc. Developed by: SHARKdata is developed by the Oceanographic Unit of the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI). The software is a product of the Swedish LifeWatch project funded by the Swedish Research Council. Technology or platform: SHARKdata is written in Python 2.7 and based on the Django web framework. All code developed in the project is open source and published under the MIT license.

The Polychaetes Scratchpad site is dedicated to information (images, videos, publications, specimens, etc.) of marine bristle worms (Polychaeta). The site has started to be populated with content very recently and information is gradually being added. The classification used in this site does NOT reflect current taxonomic knowledge. It is currently being used for browsing content only, but will be cleaned up in the future. Developed by: The database is maintained by the Institute of Marine Biology, Biotechnology and Aquaculture of the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR). It is supported by the Greek LifeWatch infrastructure. Scratchpads was developed by the Virtual Biodiversity Research and Access Network for Taxonomy (ViBRANT), a EU FP7 project. Technology or platform: The site is based on a virtual research environment called Scratchpads, which in turn is based on the content management software Drupal.

Plankton Toolbox The Plankton Toolbox is a free tool for aquatic scientists, and others, working with environmental monitoring related to phyto- and zooplankton. Features include: Import phyto- or zooplankton data in .txt and .xlsx files in different formats (configurable) Work with data on abundance, biovolume and carbon content Data screening - quality control of data Aggregate data, e.g. from species level to class level Plotting tools Statistics (in early development) Export data in .txt or .xlsx for further analyses or plotting A future update with functionality for using Plankton Toolbox as a counting tool by the microscope is planned. Developed by: Nordic Microalgae is developed and operated by the Swedish Meterological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI http://www.smhi.se/en) with funding from the Swedish LifeWatch project http://svenskalifewatch.se/. Technology or platform: The software is available as version 1.0.0 for Windows and MacOS. Version 1.0.1 is available for Windows. A Linux version will be produced upon request.

The Ocean Biodiversity information System (OBIS) aims to absorb, integrate, and assess isolated datasets into a larger, more comprehensive picture of life in our oceans. The system is expected to stimulate research about our oceans to generate new hypotheses concerning evolutionary processes, species distributions, and roles of organisms in marine systems on a global scale. OBIS provides a portal or gateway to many datasets containing information on where and when marine species have been recorded. The datasets are integrated so you can search them all seamlessly by species name, higher taxonomic level, geographic area, depth, and time; and then map and find environmental data related to the locations. With the evolving OBIS database repository, users can identify biodiversity hotspots and large-scale ecological patterns, analyze dispersions of species over time and space, and plot species' locations with temperature, salinity and depth. Created by the Census of Marine Life (CoML), OBIS is now part of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO, under its International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IODE) Programme. The following web service technologies are provided for retrieval of OBIS biogeographic distribution records: REST Services, DiGIR, OAI Services and OGC Services.

The LifeWatch and EMODnet Biology QC Tool allows you to assess to what extend a dataset published on an IPT or a DwC-A file meets the EMODnet Biology Data Quality Criteria. This tool is based on the EMODnetBioCheck R package (https://github.com/EMODnet/EMODnetBiocheck) that was created using the obistools package (https://github.com/iobis/obistools) and it is available from the LifeWatch services at http://rshiny.lifewatch.be/BioCheck/. The Biocheck tool performs a detailed Quality Control on OBIS-env datasets and occurrence core dataset. It provides a way for a visual exploration of the dataset and highlights potential issues.

The SCAR Antarctic Biodiversity Portal (biodiversity.aq) is an international effort that seeks to increase our knowledge and understanding of Antarctic and Southern Ocean biodiversity. It is a community of researchers, data custodians and developers from around the world that supports the mobilization publication, retrieval and analysis of Antarctic and Southern Ocean biodiversity data in a free and open manner in line with the Antarctic treaty and the FAIR data Principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable). The main aim is to create an information ecosystem of various data bases, data systems, web services, tools, etc. that can be used by anyone with an interest in Antarctic and Southern Ocean biodiversity. Biodiversity.aq is an international initiative of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). It finds it roots in the Census of Antarctic Marine Life and started in 2005. The central facilities are hosted by the Royal Belgian Institute for Natural sciences (RBINS, www.naturalsciences.be) and the Belgian Biodiversity Platform (BBPf, www.biodiversity.be).

The objective of RAMS is to compile and manage an authoritative taxonomic list of species occurring in the Antarctic marine environment, for establishing a standard reference for marine biodiversity research, conservation and sustainable management. The taxonomic scope of RAMS covers Antarctic species from the three realms of the Southern Ocean: the sea floor (meio-, macro- and megazoobenthos; micro- and macrophytobenthos), the water column (phytoplankton, zooplankton, nekton) and the sea-ice. Developed by: The RAMS website and databases are developed and hosted by the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ). The RAMS content is managed by an Editorial Board comprising an Executive Committee and associate Taxonomic Editors. The RAMS Executive Committee plays an advising role in the development of RAMS and proposes Taxonomic Editors. It links with the SCAR-MarBIN International Steering Committee. To allow RAMS to be as exhaustive as possible, the role of the network of Taxonomic Editors is crucial. These Taxonomic Editors are world experts on the taxonomy of their relevant taxa and are in charge of the content and quality control of data for their specific group. Used data resources: A series of preliminary species lists of Antarctic marine invertebrates, mostly for macrobenthic groups, were compiled by Andrew Clarke and Nadine Johnston of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), with funding from the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office and British Antarctic Survey. These lists have been or are being checked and updated by taxonomic experts.