Infrastructures – a primer for the Critical Zone

This presentation will articulate a metaphor about painting. If it is successful, you should be convinced that there are things out there that, if we made better use of them, would significantly enhance our understanding of the critical zone. Before working on the actual painting, most artists apply one or more coats of primer. In most finished paintings, you don’t see the primer, but without it, the painting would likely not be as good. Just because we don’t usually think about the primer doesn’t mean it isn’t there. 

One can make the same argument for monitoring and research infrastructures; hopefully you can be convinced that infrastructures could provide the primer behind the critical zone painting. Infrastructures such as the International Cooperative Programme on Integrated Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects (ICP-IM) collect, curate and report monitoring data to assess compliance with European legislation. In some ways, the data they collect are a by-product or intermediary step in regulatory assessments. However, these long-term, standardized, well curated and increasingly open access data series can be a resource in and of themselves as well as providing vital context for new data collection.

Some infrastructures, e.g., the Swedish Infrastructure for Ecosystem Science (SITES) and the Integrated European Long-Term Ecosystem, critical zone and socio-ecological system Research Infrastructure (eLTER) not only collect and curate environmental data, they function as a platform to support field sampling and experiments across multiple ecosystems and spatial scales. The background monitoring data collected by the infrastructure enhances the scientific value of these experiments. Platforms can also help to grow networks by providing the opportunity for people to work together on new questions, such as in the global Aquatic Mesocosm network (AQUACOSM).

Often, the role of these networks, platforms and infrastructures is mentioned in the acknowledgements, if at all. Even if they are not visible, they are vital. The future of infrastructures and platforms is not guaranteed. If we as a community make more use and highlight what they have to offer, it helps them to secure their future and to give us a primer for our scientific canvas.