The GNSS data and metadata management system through the EPOS-GNSS framework and the IRN Node (INGV)

This document describes the services for managing the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) data that have been developed at the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) within the context of the European-funded research infrastructure EPOS (European Plate Observing System) program. These services, optimised for solid Earth research applications, seek to harmonise and standardise the collection and quality control of GNSS data and metadata. The EPOS Thematic Core Services (TCS) GNSS developed an architecture based on Geodetic Linkage Advance System Software (GLASS) nodes which hosts the metadata information and allows access to the entire database from the web and a datacenter which hosts the data to distribute. INGV contributes to the EPOS TCS GNSS initiative by managing the GLASS Italian Ring Node (IRN) [1], to provide data and metadata from the Rete Integrata Nazionale GNSS (RING) network [2]. The RING network currently consists of approximately 250 permanent stations all over Italy and abroad (Greece and Malta) installed for the study of active tectonic deformation at regional (Eurasia-Africa plate boundary) and local (seismogenic faults) scales. In support of this infrastructure, INGV is developing and managing different software: Flask Web Service Server (FWSS) which is an interface with the local database to store the metadata; bancadati_sync which is the script to synchronise the RINEX data repository from the source to the local IRN node; gnss_indexer which automates the process to populate the database; ring_synchronization to upload the sitelog metadata of the GNSS stations, and other software tools to let the system working. All software was developed in Python language (version 3.10) while the PostgreSQL database is used to store the information.