The PITHIA e-Science Centre is now in production

PITHIA-NRF is a project aimed at developing a European distributed network that integrates observing facilities, data processing tools, and prediction models focused on research in the ionosphere, thermosphere, and plasmasphere. For the first time, PITHIA-NRF brings together key national and regional research infrastructures at a European scale, making them accessible to all European researchers. This includes important facilities such as EISCAT, LOFAR, ionosondes and digisondes, GNSS receivers, Doppler sounding systems, riometers, and VLF receivers. The project ensures optimal usage and collaborative development of these resources.

Now that it is in its final stage, PITHIA-NRF has launched the e-Science Centre, the project's central integration tool for data, models, and scientific services. The PITHIA e-Science Centre is a platform that provides centralised access to datasets and models associated with the upper atmosphere research community. Users can easily access, discover, reuse, and register their own Data Collections, Static Datasets and Workflows.

The integrated environment comprises a web portal and an underlying e-infrastructure that incorporates several EGI services, such as Check-In, Helpdesk, Monitoring, and DataHub, together providing centralised access to resources linked with the upper atmosphere research. It facilitates the integrated use of these resources for cross-national and cross-disciplinary use cases, ultimately supporting the research community focused on studying the Earth’s ionosphere, thermosphere and plasmasphere.

EGI facilitates the establishment of interoperability standards among participating facilities and within the broader context, including EOSC. EGI leads the development of sustainable services and activities that will endure beyond the project's duration. Additionally, the EGI Federated Cloud member IN2P3-IRES provides PITHIA-NRF essential cloud computing services, with 80 virtual CPU cores and 10 TB of online storage to run the e-Science Centre.

Due to the limited resources and technical expertise of the PITHIA-NRF Consortium, EGI will operate the e-Science Centre after the project concludes. This transition offers significant strategic advantages. By leveraging EGI’s robust infrastructure and expert support, the project can avoid substantial investments in technology and long-term maintenance. This allows researchers to focus on their core scientific work while benefiting from reliable, scalable, and secure services. EGI’s advanced tools enable rapid deployment, global accessibility, and full compliance with data protection regulations. Moreover, the collaboration promotes interdisciplinary research, strengthens networking opportunities, and provides a flexible, future-ready environment that can adapt to evolving scientific demands. 

Cover image credits: EISCAT AB. EISCAT 3D Kaiseniemi, Sweden. February 2024