Integrating plasmasphere, ionosphere and thermosphere observations and models into a standardised open access research environment: The PITHIA-NRF international project

The PITHIA-NRF project "Plasmasphere Ionosphere Thermosphere Integrated\nResearch Environment and Access services: a Network of Research Facilities" aims at\nbuilding a European distributed network that integrates observations from space and\nground, data processing tools and models to support scientific research on the\nPlasmasphere-Ionosphere-Thermosphere system. PITHIA-NRF is designed to provide\nformalised open access to experimental facilities, data and models, standardised data\nproducts, and training services. Participating organisations that operate these facilities,\nformed twelve nodes in eleven European countries. These nodes work on optimising\ntheir observing facilities and offer trans-national access to scientists and engineers.\nThe PITHIA-NRF e-Science Centre is a core element of the project. Its design and\nevolution are controlled by a systematic ontology which governs the collection of\nscientific observations and research models, jointly termed data collections, which are\nregistered with the e-Science Centre. Several tens of data collections are being\nregistered. Data collection registrations adhere to FAIR principles and transparent\nquality measures to a large extent. The e-Science Centre facilitates the execution of\nresearch projects proposed by researchers from inside and outside the PITHIA-NRF\nconsortium which require trans-national access to and understanding of data\ncollections (observations and models) residing at one or several PITHIA-NRF nodes.\nUpon completion of the project a comprehensive collection of observations and models\nwill have been gathered by the e-Science Centre for the benefit of efficient scientific\nresearch which relies on Europe-wide collaboration.