ISOTOPE STUDIO: A Virtual Research Environment for Standardized Isotope Data Management and Modelling

ISOTOPE STUDIO is a web application provided by the Isotope Virtual Research Environment (ISOTOPE VRE) and developed in the frame of the Italian Integrated Environmental Research Infrastructures System (ITINERIS) project. The ISOTOPE VRE, powered by the D4Science Digital Research Infrastructure, adheres to Open Science and FAIR principles, supporting transparency, collaboration, and inclusivity throughout the entire research data lifecycle, and offering analytical tools and harmonized data practices.

A key feature of ISOTOPE STUDIO is the dynamic data harmonization system, designed to address the heterogeneity of geochemical and isotopic datasets. User-submitted data, which can be generally different in format and structure, are assimilated into ISOTOPE STUDIO as standardized, searchable, and freely downloadable format, while the original ones are stored without any alteration. Harmonization is applied during data presentation ensuring consistent metadata annotation and enhancing the reliability of workflows and to perform different modelling. In this light, the key tool of this process is the dedicated data submission template, which represent a first attempt in proposing an international standard for isotope data. Although no global standard currently exists, ISOTOPE STUDIO proposes this model as a starting point that can be updated and improved over time. This template is easy to fill in and specifically designed to accommodate a wide variety of large and complex geochemical and isotopic datasets. For heterogeneous datasets, the harmonization system dynamically re-organizes them according to the template structure, ensuring consistency and interoperability. By guiding users through harmonized data entry, the template promotes transparency, reusability, and inclusivity across different research domains.

Built on three-layer architecture (relational database, REST APIs, and web interface), the ISOTOPE VRE also integrates detailed metadata describing sample characteristics and analytical quality.

Beyond harmonization, ISOTOPE STUDIO provides versatile modelling tools for the analysis of diverse geochemical and isotopic datasets which include binary and ternary plots, normalized spider diagrams, and mixing models otherwise not possible without the harmonization process. ISOTOPE STUDIO accommodates a wide range of geochemical data, including major and trace elements, intensive parameters (e.g., pressure and temperature), and isotopic compositions of diverse type of matrices.