Modern scientific endeavours already have the capacity to call upon a vast variety of data, often in huge volumes. However, the challenge is not only how to make the most of such a resource, but also how to make it available to the wider scientific community, especially when encouraging curiosity-driven research. The Geo-INQUIRE project will do so by enhancing, giving access to, and making interoperable key datasets.

Geo-INQUIRE promises an ambitious and challenging program that will enhance the capacity of pan-European researchers in fields ranging from geohazard research, geoenergy, to high-performance computing, in order to provide access to a vast number of geoscience observatories across Europe. Geo-INQUIRE coordinator Fabrice Cotton, head of GFZ section Seismic Hazards and Risk Dynamics,  says: “By combining access to such a variety of infrastructures, the closing of gaps between the more research-centric and industrial geoscience communities, as well as between domains, namely the sea and land, will receive a much-needed boost.” He adds: “Sea-floor data from submarine cables, infrasound, seismological or geodetic data which are critical to research work at the sea-land-air interface, requires interoperable access and the capacity to couple them to powerful computing platforms. Geo-INQUIRE will support access to new observables from emerging technologies, access to a new generation of models in the field of geohazards and georesources, as well as the training of researchers to exploit these new data, models, and computing platforms.  We are pleased that this project is supported by such a large community, with a great deal of interest also being shown, and look forward to the discoveries that will emerge from access to these new observations and models.”

A critical component of Geo-INQUIRE involves the resources dedicated to focusing on making these data, and training on their use, available to early-stage researchers in the form of Transnational Activities. As stated by Mariusz Majdanski of the Institute of Geophysics of the Polish Academy of Science, who leads the work package responsible for much of this training, “the specialists know the available data in their field. To advance this, it is crucial to mix people up and show them the existing potential that can be used in various groups to create interdisciplinary connections”. 

ECCSEL ERIC is a partner in Geo-INQUIRE and includes the following ECCSEL facilities:

• Svelvik CO2 Field Lab (SINTEF AS)
• PITOP (OGS)
• Sotacarbo Fault Lab (Sotacarbo)
• CATLAB (INERIS)
• MOBSEIS (TNO)

In addition, the following ECCSEL facility is included directly through BGS being a beneficiary:
Geo-energy test bed facility

Geo-INQUIRE will begin on 1st October 2022.

Read the full GFZ press release here.