EPOS-IP

The European Plate Observing System (EPOS [www.epos-eu.org]) is a single, sustainable, permanent research infrastructure for solid Earth sciences in Europe. EPOS integrates existing geophysical monitoring networks (e.g. seismic and geodetic networks), local observatories (e.g. volcano observatories) and experimental laboratories (e.g., experimental and analytic lab for rock physics and tectonic analogue modeling) across Europe and adjacent regions to form a federated, coherent multidisciplinary infrastructure.

The EPOS components provide key parameters for the multidisciplinary study of the interior structure, composition and dynamics of the Earth, for exploration activities related to the identification and exploitation of natural and energy resources and for the assessment and monitoring of natural hazards. In addition to Earth scientists, users of EPOS data include engineers and private practitioners, public offices, construction industry and critical infrastructures, and the (re)insurance sector.

EPOS-IP is an EU Horizon 2020 project supporting the implementation of EPOS. This project brings together 47 consortium members and 6 associate partners from 25 countries, covering all involved scientific domains as well as coordinated IT developments and legal and financial aspects in the preparation for the establishment of EPOS as a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) by late 2018.

The SED and the professorship of Seismology and Geodynamics at ETH Zürich have been playing a leading role in the development of EPOS since its conception in the early 2000s. In EPOS-IP, SED coordinates the build-up of the Thematic Core Service (TCS) Seismology [https://www.epos-ip.org/tcs/seismology], and is strongly involved in the TCS Near-Fault Observatories [https://www.epos-ip.org/tcs/near-fault-observatories], where we contribute the monitoring infrastructure operated by the SED in the Valais. As one of the services in the TCS Seismology, SED hosts the coordinated European Seismic Hazard and Risk platform EFEHR.