Overview
CONTEXT
In Europe, Marine RIs consist of up 800 distributed facilities from vessels to data centres, testing facilities to more organised networks like the Euro-Argo or the EMSO ERICs. Each RI provides key tools and instruments for the researchers to address specific challenges within their own scientific fields. However, to tackle the grand challenges facing human society, scientific collaboration across the traditional fields is necessary. Collaboration within the ENVRIplus H2020 project will enable the multidisciplinary Earth system science across the traditional scientific fields, which is so important in order to address today’s global challenges.
ENVRIplus is a cluster of Research Infrastructures (RIs) for Environmental and Earth System sciences, built around the ESFRI roadmap and associating leading e-infrastructures and Integrating Activities together with technical specialist partners.
The project gathers all domain of Earth system science – Atmospheric domain, Marine domain, Biosphere and Solid Earth domain to work together, capitalize the progress made in various disciplines and strengthen interoperability amongst Research Infrastructures and domains.
Facing new challenges relative to the extension of the core Argo array, the ERIC aims at working with other marine research infrastructures in order to contribute efficiently to a new integrated and sustained European Ocean Observing System (EOOS).
The ENVRIplus proposal was accepted in early 2015 and started in May 2015.
OBJECTIVES
ENVRIplus has 3 overarching goals :
- Encouraging cross-fertilization between infrastructures
- Implementing innovative concepts and devices across RIs
- and facilitating Research and Innovation in the field of environment to an increasing number of users outside the RIs
Inside ENVRIplus, the Euro-Argo C-RI will organise activities for the Euro-Argo aspects in the Marine contribution, mainly for technical tasks and contribution to transverse coordination, harmonization and communication/outreach activities. Technical tasks will mainly concern the integration of pCO2/pH sensors on Argo floats, with transversal activities with EMSO/FIXO3/ICOS for pCO2 and EGO (gliders) for harmonization payload.
ORGANISATION
The ENVRIplus project brings together 20 Research Infrastructures from 4 environmental domains : Solid Earth, Atmosphere, Biosphere and Marine. ENVRIplus consists of one Management and 19 Work Packages, further organised under 6 conceptual Themes on :
- Technological innovations
- Data for science
- Access to research infrastructure
- Management, societal relevance and understanding
- Knowledge transfer
- Communication and Dissemination
The ERIC is involved in Themes 1 and 2 in partnership with Euro-Argo members, and have some minor activities in Theme 6. It is also member of the BEERI (Board of European Environmental Research Infrastructures) which is the advisory body for the ENVRIplus coordination.