PITHIA-NRF offers Trans-national access to European upper atmosphere research facilities

One of the objectives of the PITHIA-NRF project is to provide effective and convenient access to the best European research facilities for observations of the upper atmosphere. The individual PITHIA-NRF nodes provide access to key experimental and data processing facilities for studies and modeling of physical processes acting in the Earth’s plasmasphere, ionosphere and thermosphere. The facilities connected to the nodes are geographically distributed over Europe, as well as internationally, and their expertise and dedication span over a wide range of topics within the research area. This variety of expertise and techniques, all with the purpose of studying specific parts of the ionosphere-thermosphere-plasmasphere (ITP), allows for common ground and a platform for a better understanding of the many different complex couplings and interactions within ITP as well as between ITP and the magnetospheric/space environment.

The access to the nodes is organised through the Trans-National Access (TNA) programme and provides an opportunity for researchers and other users to execute and carry out their own projects at one of the twelve PITHIA-NRF research facilities. Users can request either physical access (a one-week visit at the node with support at the site) or remote access (one-month access from a distance with weekly support). Users with granted projects will learn how to work with the facilities during the complete access cycle, from setting up a campaign to the collection, analysis and finally exploitation of data with the help of tools and services provided by PITHIA-NRF via the e-science centre. There is also a possibility of virtual access - typically referring to access to data and digital tools. There are no restrictions to the number of simultaneous users, and no selective process is needed for this type of Access. PITHIA-NRF e-science centre is currently under development, and it will be offering more and more tools with time. Access to the TNA programme can be requested by scientific users from academia, Small and Medium Enterprises, large companies and public organizations by proposing a scientific project and applying through the PITHIA-NRF website: https://pithia-nrf.eu/