EPOS-NO

Email: epos.n.geohazard@uib.no

Follow us: EPOS-NG’s LinkedIn Profile 

The Norwegian involvement in the European Plate Observing System (EPOS) began with the formation of the Norwegian National EPOS Consortium in 2009. This led to the EPOS-Norway (EPOS-N) project, the official Norwegian node of the pan-European EPOS infrastructure.

Funded by the Research Council of Norway, EPOS-N was implemented from 2016-2020 to integrate national solid Earth science networks and specifically address monitoring gaps in the Arctic. This initial implementation phase was followed by an operational phase from 2021-2025.

The next evolution of this national effort is EPOS-NG, which is designated as Phase 2 of EPOS-Norway. This progression is part of the broader EPOS journey, which was included in the ESFRI roadmap in 2008 and reached its operational, Europe-wide phase with the establishment of the EPOS ERIC in 2018.

EPOS-N: Research Council of Norway project number 245763

EPOS-NG: Research Council of Norway project number 350346

EPOS-NG partners

EPOS-NG has six partner institutions:

• Department of Earth Science, University of Bergen (UiB) – coordinator
• Norwegian Research Centre (NORCE)
• The Geological Survey of Norway (NGU)
• NORSAR
• The Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI)
• UiT the Arctic University of Norway

EPOS-NG Work Packages

WP1: Coordination and management

WP leader: Mathilde B. Sørensen, University of Bergen

Main objective of WP1 is to coordinate the scientific-technical and administrative work in the project based on three main bodies: the Project Management Board (PMB – decision body consisting of partner institution representatives); the Project Execution Board (PEB – coordinator and the WP and task leaders) and an External Advisory Board (EAB). There is also a task dedicated to long-term sustainability of EPOS-NG infrastructure.

WP2: Establishing new pools of critical instruments

WP leader: Andreas Köhler, NORSAR

This work package includes the procurement, preparation, and testing of seven pools of geophysical instruments to be made available for national and international use to support urgent short-term as well as long-term monitoring of geohazards. Furthermore, it covers the documentation and preparation of user manuals for all instruments in the national pools. Testing of instrumentation will be done at test sites (if applicable) and in realistic settings in the field to ensure proper functionality in the operation phase.

WP3: Preparing for user access to instrument pools, services, and data

WP leader: Marie-Andrée Dumais, Geological Survey of Norway (NGU)

WP3 will prepare and facilitate sharing of the EPOS-NG instrument pools, services, and data. It shall emphasise the value of national infrastructure and facilitate easy access and exchange of the project’s infrastructure. WP3 will also secure the integration of data and results from the instrument pools with the EPOS-N portal and define the framework for data organisation, handling, and publication.

WP4: Data integration and portal development

WP leader: Jeremy Cook, NORCE

WP4 will establish e-Infrastructure to access, visualise and download multi-disciplinary data. This will ensure that all EPOS-NG data is made openly available to the research community and other users according to the FAIR principles. New functionalities will be added to the EPOS-NO portal in close collaboration with relevant user groups (e.g., researchers, risk managers, educators, industry, and the public) to assure the portal is relevant and serves the needs of the users.

WP5: User networks, training and dissemination

WP leader: Stéphane Rondenay, University of Bergen

The main objectives of this work package are to engage users, raise awareness of EPOS-N and the EPOS-NG project, promote use of EPOS-NG instrument pools and the EPOS-NO portal, and disseminate project outcomes. User engagement will be facilitated through four user panels with representatives from risk management, education, industry and research. A series of scientific workshops will be organized to foster multidisciplinary collaboration among geoscientists and facilitate the formulation of innovative projects that harness the full potential of the new infrastructure.