Audun Rosland, director of the climate department at the Norwegian Environment Agency.

"ICOS could bridge the gap"

What climate research does governments need, and what can scientists offer? ICOS Norway and the Norwegian Environment Agency discussed the issues in a June seminar.

Published 15.06.2018

"To create a dialogue with researchers and government is important to us," stated Audun Rosland, director of the climate department at the Norwegian Environment Agency in his opening of the seminar "How to control the emissions?".

The goal was to create a common ground for cooperation on the knowledge from ICOS, Integrated Carbon Observation System, the European research infrastructure for measuring greenhouse gas emissions.

Following up the high ambition levels of the Paris agreement is key, said Rosland:

"Norway has high ambitions as well, including being carbon neutral by 2050. To do this we need good data, to see where we're heading. Bridging the gap between policy maker needs, and what researchers can offer, is important. ICOS could bridge that gap."

A database for greenhouse gas emissions

"ICOS is seen as an example of how these infrastructures should be done," said Alex Vermeulen.

He's the director of the ICOS Carbon Portal – the database where the information from the measuring network will be accessible for whomever needs it. Guiding principles are open source and FAIR data (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable), to make the greenhouse gas measurements easily available.

Data is gradually being entered into the database. In due course more tools will be added, making it easier for both internal and external users to use the information from the stations.

The portal will go from a one-stop-shop to a Swiss Army knife for carbon cycle science, said Vermeulen.

Good data are important

Alex Vermeulen, direktør, ICOS Carbon Portal — Alex Vermeulen, ICOS Carbon Portal Director, at the seminar.

"A pillar on the route to a low carbon society"

At the seminar representatives for the Norwegian Environment Agency, På seminaret tok representantar for Miljødirektoratet, the Norwegian institute for air research (NILU), the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research and Uni Research brought up new methods, new knowledge and future plans for the Norwegian ICOS stations.

ICOS is the largest research infrastructure supported by the The Research Council of Norway. Special Adviser Jon Børre Ørbæk quoted their reports on the measuring network at the seminar:

"ICOS is clearly a pillar for the research and knowledge necessary to reach national emission goals on the route to a low carbon society."

ICOS Norway and the OTC

ICOS-Norway is the Norwegian component of ICOS. It will deliver standardised and high-quality carbon data from different sites and platforms as soon as the installation of infrastructure and instrumentation is complete. The new observation system will be an important tool to verify Norway and EU`s efforts to mitigate climate change.
The Ocean Thematic Centre is run from the Bjerknes Centre in Bergen, in cooperation with the National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Exeter, Plymouth Marine Laboratory i UK, and GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research, in Germany.
The main objective of ICOS is to produce high quality data and to provide a network design that can assess to the GHG emission on a country level and confirm if COP21 agreements are meet by the individual countries.
The Research Council of Norway has rewarded a generous grant to upgrade the Norwegian research infrastructure for observing carbon uptake in the ocean, on land and in the atmosphere, and to establish and coordinate OTC on a European scale.
Read more at ICOS Norway