Swedish contribution to European Plate Observing System - European Research Infrastructure Consortium

EPOS Sweden

The “European Plate Observing System” (EPOS) is a distributed e-infrastructure for the collection, securing, dissemination and analysis of data related to the solid Earth and the processes forming the solid Earth and surface. It is focussed on Europe and adjacent regions and includes geophysical monitoring networks, local observatories, topographic/surface dynamics information, surface and subsurface geological information, experimental and laboratory data/functions, and satellite data.

EPOS-ERIC is genuinely pan-European, with 25 countries and six partners participating in the previous project phases. The ERIC (European Research Infrastructure Consortium) with its first 12 members was established in November 2018. In 2021 the Swedish Research Council (VR) approved an application for Sweden to join the ERIC. Currently there are seven research organizations involved in the direct Swedish participation, but the door is open to cooperation within Sweden.

Sweden already delivers services and/or data to the majority of the five Thematic Core Services (TCS) it is involved in (Seismology, GNSS Data and Products, Geomagnetic Observatories, Anthropogenic Hazards, and Geological Information and Modelling). The TCS Geomagnetic Observatories is coordinated by Sweden (LTU) and also Lantmäteriet and UU are active in the other TCSes. EPOS Sweden as a consortium (including also LU, Chalmers, RISe and SU) will actively pursue outreach to the Swedish science community and beyond data sharing strategies. Swedish research will contribute to or initiate EU projects when opportunities with relevance for EPOS arise. In the near future, LU will only take part in the infrastructure as a member of the steering committee of the EPOS Sweden consortium – even if Riksriggen (managed by LU) is producing data, which is delivered to EPOS by UU.

EPOS-ERIC is rather young and until now it has been lacking Swedish membership. Nevertheless, Sweden already delivers services and/or data to five Thematic Core Services (TCS) based on existing equipment and resources: Seismology (Uppsala University), GNSS Data and Products (Lantmäteriet), Geomagnetic Observatories (magnetotelluric data, LTU), Anthropogenic Hazards (LTU), and Geological Information and Modelling (scientific drilling data – ICDP, ocean drilling programs, Riksriggen, Uppsala University).

Once again: EPOS-ERIC is a distributed research infrastructure for data and facilities related to studies of the solid Earth. The focus is the collection, securing, dissemination and analysis of data.

EPOS Sweden as a consortium will closely follow the development of national priorities and strategies in Earth Sciences and include these in the existing TCS work and new Swedish commitments. The consortium will also relay such information to VR, who will represent Sweden in the EPOS General Assembly. Many Swedish research infrastructures have a strong collaboration with the other Nordic countries, a collaboration which is being stream-lined according to EPOS data sharing strategies and which may serve as a model for further international collaboration.

As mentioned above Sweden already delivers services and/or data to the majority of the five EPOS Thematic Core Services (TCS) it is involved in (Seismology, GNSS Data and Products, Geomagnetic Observatories, Anthropogenic Hazards, and Geological Information and Modelling). Once the EPOS portal is public and the Swedish core group is confident in its usage and potential, training will become a part of related university education, of training courses at meetings and of outreach, thus building a user community that can exploit the full opportunities and benefits provided by EPOS.

See above.