Welcome to the ICOS-BE website
The ICOS-BE project is funded by the Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO) in the frame of the ESFRI-FED call to Support for the valorisation of federal components of distributed and virtual ESFRI research infrastructures 2021 - 2026. The project aims to strenghten the Belgian contribution to ICOS, for a full description of the Belgian contribution to ICOS please visit the site https://www.icos-belgium.be/ .
The ICOS-BE project gathers several Belgian ICOS (Integrated Carbon Observation System) actors including both Federal Scientific Institutions (the Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy - BIRA-IASB and the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences - RBINS) involved in the European ICOS Research Infrastructure (RI). All partners together represent the three ICOS components: atmosphere, ocean and ecosystem, and are already contributing to the ICOS RI. The coordinator is also a major player in the targeted integration of the Total Carbon Observing Network (TCCON) in ICOS.
The implementation of the project will result in:
- Extended ICOS-compliant and TCCON data sets of greenhouse gas (GHG) near-surface concentrations and total column abundances, resp., at the ICOS class 2 atmospheric station of the Ile de La Réunion;
- Improved Autonomous Underway Measurement System (AUMS) fully operational onboard the new Research Vessel (RV) Belgica, complemented with additional ocean data;
- The RV Belgica labelled as an oceanic class 2 station;
- Innovative collocated GHG atmospheric concentration and GHG flux measurements, during a test campaign at a Belgian ecosystem site, and later at the Congoflux tower ecosystem site in Congo, with the perspective of long-term operations;
- The start of collaborative interdisciplinary work between the ICOS atmospheric and ecosystem communities in Belgium, and the perspective of also implementing atmospheric GHG measurements onboard the RV Belgica;
- Transmission of knowledge to the younger generation and to Congolese scientists, through training of young technicians and a (preferably African) PhD student in ICOS operations;
- Dissemination and valorisation of all gathered datasets via the Carbon Portal, Belgian Marine Data Centre and international datacenters, and communication of project results to the research community and stakeholders.
Project timeline: 15/12/2021 - 15/03/2026
This site is maintained by