Congratulations to ICOS!

By anna_maria [dot] erling [at] cec [dot] lu [dot] se (Anna Maria Erling) - published 5 December 2023

Congratulations on the funding for the research infrastructure ICOS, Natascha Kljun, Scientific Principle Investigator of the Lund University ICOS stations! ICOS Sweden has been awarded a grant of 43.8 million SEK from VR to operate 10 stations for a period of three years.

“Thank you! Yes, these are fantastic news. The grant from the Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet, VR) will allow us to continue collecting climate and ecosystem relevant data for ICOS Sweden until the end of 2028. The outcome is also an important recognition of our work during recent years – we were rated to be among the top four national research infrastructures amongst the 25 applications of this round!”

How can different societal actors and researchers benefit from the ICOS infrastructure?

“ICOS makes critical measurements of greenhouse gases, using an in-situ observation network. The data is freely available through the Carbon Portal at Lund University. Researchers from around the world use our data for assessing global greenhouse gas emissions and to calibrate and evaluate regional and global models that can predict impacts and feedback of climate change on our forests, wetlands, and agricultural land. We also provide climate-relevant information and data for policy makers and stakeholders, for example facts on to what extent our landscape can help removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

(www.icos-cp.eu/data-services/about-data-portal)

ICOS-data is also in support of policy?

“Yes. Data from observations are fundamental to understanding the drivers of climate change and its consequences to society. ICOS data includes observations across the atmosphere, ocean and terrestrial domains. Communicating the science-based knowledge derived from these observations among scientists, policy makers and the public is one of the key tasks of ICOS. Scientific knowledge on greenhouse gas emissions, sinks and trends also advances the fulfilment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and EU Societal Challenges connected to climate change. Nationally, knowledge emanating from ICOS will support the Swedish Climate Policy Framework aiming for net zero greenhouse gas emission in 2045.”

Facts:

ICOS Sweden is the Swedish part of the European Research Infrastructure, ICOS RI, which includes more than 170 measuring stations in 16 European countries. ICOS Sweden is organizationally located at Lund University and constitutes of 3 atmosphere stations, 6 ecosystem stations, and 2 ocean stations. Lund University/CEC hosts 2 atmosphere and 2 co-located ecosystem stations: Norunda and Hyltemossa.