WP1- NA1: ACTRIS Management and coordination Deliverable D1.3: Launch for call of TNA

Transcription

1 WP1- NA1: ACTRIS Management and coordination Deliverable D1.3: Launch for call of TNA The Coordination Office officially posted the permanent call for Transnational Access to ACTRIS in July 2010 (month 4) and advertized it to the scientific community via the ACTRIS web portal (cf. Figure 1.3.1a and 1.3.1b), by means of electronic mails and via the mailing lists of other major atmospheric and related networks and projects, such as EUSAAR (European Supersites for Atmospheric Aerosol Research), EARLINET (European Aerosol Research Lidar Network), EUCAARI (European Integrated project on Aerosol Cloud Climate and Air Quality Interactions), and ACCENT-PLUS (Atmospheric Composition Change, the European Network). All TNA providers were furthermore encouraged to directly publicize the call for TNA on their station website. Figure 1.3.1a: Call for TNA to European experimental stations and to the AERONET Calibration Service published on ACTRIS home page. Figure 1.3.1b: Call for TNA to European experimental stations and to the AERONET Calibration Service published on ACTRIS call for TNA webpage.

2 The opportunities for access have and will furthermore be presented in the frame of various workshops and conferences through posters, oral presentations. Moreover, it is intended to print an ACTRIS brochure which will describe the objectives of transnational access to large infrastructures in order to strengthen high-quality collaboration in and outside the EU and access to high-quality information and services for the user communities. The brochures will be distributed at international conferences and workshops and to the ACTRIS Partners for further dissemination. The ACTRIS TNA activity aims at providing the following types of access: 1. for researchers or research teams: free access to any of the 11 advanced experimental atmospheric research stations within Europe (TNA1-11) in the frame of WP7-17. This will enable users, particularly the new generation of new scientists and scientists from countries where such infrastructures do not exists, to perform experiments using the state-of-the-art equipment in atmospheric research. 2. for European AERONET users: free access to the AERONET-EUROPE Calibration and Maintenance Centre (TNA12) in the frame of WP18. This will offer the whole scientific community the use of a unique sun photometer calibration facility in the frame of AERONET. (1) TransNational Access to eleven experimental stations ACTRIS offers opportunities to researchers or research teams to access research facilities with an excellent combination of advanced instruments and expertise, using state-of-the-art equipment for measurement campaigns and instrument testing. ACTRIS supports training of new scientists in order to conduct high-quality research and contributes the scientific community to exchange knowledge and experience and to work towards future common projects and objectives. A list of stations offering TNA is given on the website, the geographical representation in Europe is shown in figure Figure 1.3.2: Geographical representation of stations offering TNA TNA call for proposals The call for Transnational Access to any of the 11 experimental stations is an open and continuous call throughout the project duration. Transnational Access is granted on the basis of proposals which will be reviewed by a TNA selection panel according to defined selection criteria. Proposals are accepted at any time and from any eligible researcher or research team. Access is offered free of charge and is granted on the basis of proposals which will be reviewed by TNA selection panel. Selected proposals might benefit from financial support for the participants. Specific calls with defined deadlines to selected infrastructures will be issued during the project. The specific calls will be widely announced.

3 Access Opportunities TNA within ACTRIS is provided free of charge to selected user groups (researchers or research teams). Users refer to any scientific researcher, student, engineer, technician who needs the support of an advanced research station to carry out a scientific project in the ACTRIS context (remote sensing of the vertical aerosol distribution, measurements of the in-situ chemical, physical and optical properties of aerosols, measurements of atmospheric trace gases (VOC, NOxy), clouds and aerosol quality-controlled observations). TNA may be requested to any of the 11 experimental stations. The support to users of the facility include: administrative and logistical support (e.g., customs, transport), free use of the infrastructure, technical and scientific support, and specific training. To be eligible, the user group must satisfy the following conditions: - the project PI must be affiliated with an institution from an EU member, associated state, or candidate state (the participants may come from outside the EU if they do not represent the majority of users in the group); - the access must be transnational (i.e., the home country must be situated in another country as the host infrastructure). The users must be entitled to publish the results from work carried out under the ACTRIS TNA activity. Financial support might be granted to facilitate the TNA but will is generally limited to 2 persons per project. It is provided to contribute to the travel and subsistence costs of the users and only available upon request. It is furthermore dependent on the availability of funding from the European Commission. If financial support will be awarded, the payment of the grant will be paid after project completion and submission of all mandatory TNA report documents. Application procedure The call for TNA is an open and continuous call. Transnational Access is granted on the basis of proposals (cf. Appendix 1.3.1) which are available through the ACTRIS website. The proposals must be returned by to the ACTRIS Coordination Office, representing the entry point for all applications, at least one month before the planned project start. Evaluation procedure Incoming proposals are verified by the Coordination Office for formal compliance with the EU regulations (see also above). The proposals are sent to access provider of the selected infrastructure to confirm feasibility of the scientific project. The proposals are forwarded to an independent TNA selection panel for peer-review based on scientific merit (cf. Appendix 1.3.2). The TNA panel is composed of international members with strong expertise in the fields of aerosols, clouds, and trace gases. They evaluate and select the proposal according to clearly defined selection criteria. The applicant is informed of the final decision by the ACTRIS Coordination Office. Selection criteria The TNA selection panel reviews the proposals with respect to the following criteria: 1. Scientific value of the project: the assessment of the TNA proposal is based on its scientific merit and impact on the scientific community, as well as on its innovative and technical approach. A max of 4 points is given to each of the three categories, totaling max 12 out of 20 points. 2. Training benefit / Added value: high priority is given for (a) potential training benefit to the users or (b) added value to infrastructure in form of mobility of experts. Depending on the composition of the group the points may range from 0 to max 4 out of 20 points. 3. New users: high priority is given if the participants have never used the infrastructure before or originate from countries that would normally not have access to such unique research facility (e.g., scientists from Central and Eastern European countries (max 4 out of 20 points). A proposal should receive at least a final mark of 10 out of 20 to pass.

4 User obligations Each group leader of the TNA project supported under ACTRIS is requested to provide appropriate documentation to the Coordination Office. The documentation will allow justifying the nature and amount of access provided, including records of names, nationalities, and home institution of users as well as a summary of the scientific objectives and achievements. The documentation to be provided to the ACTRIS Coordination Office is mostly to be made through the website and includes: - a confirmation of visit document justifying the number of access days provided and the participants (cf. Appendix 1.3.3). It is signed by the project PI and as well as by the access provider of the infrastructure; - a scientific TNA Activity Report describing the objectives, method, and preliminary results; - an on-line TNA User Report with information for the EU TNA data base (cf. figure 1.3.4); - a link to the on-line EU User Group Questionnaire. Furthermore, the users are requested to report any outcome (publications, presentations, ) resulting from work carried out under the ACTRIS TNA activity using the web interface (cf. figure 1.3.5) to communicate the references for publications. It must be ensured that the outcome acknowledges the project and support of the European Community. Figure 1.3.4: On-line TNA User Report interface on ACTRIS website.

5 Figure 1.3.5: On-line TNA Publication interface on ACTRIS website. Scientific activity report A list of scientific activity reports of all ongoing or completed TNA projects successfully funded under the ACTRIS TNA1-11 activity are available for download under TNA report on the ACTRIS website.

6 (2) TransNational Access to the AERONET-EUROPE Calibration Service As part of the transnational access (TNA) activity, the AERONET-EUROPE Calibration Service offers the whole scientific community the use of a unique sun photometer facility for calibration and maintenance currently operational in the frame of AERONET. This TNA will handle calibration of AERONET and possible future AERONET sun-photometers, complementing the NASA calibration center in the USA. The AERONET-EUROPE Calibration & Maintenance Center is a multi-site European infrastructure. AERONET (AERosol RObotic Network) is a ground-based standardized automatic sun/sky-photometer network devoted to the characterization and monitoring of aerosol properties as well as water vapour water content. To enable AERONET network expansion, alternative calibration centers have been developped in Europe under the leadership of France, primarily by CNRS-LOA, Lille (PHOTONS national observatory) as well as in Spain by GOA, Valladolid and AEMET (CSIC) at Izaña Observatory, Tenerife Island. TNA call for proposals The TNA call to the AERONET-EUROPE calibration centre is an open and continuous call throughout the project duration. TNA is granted on the basis of proposals which are accepted at any time and from any eligible researcher in charge of a standard and polarized Cimel sun/sky photometer located in Europe, and the proposals are reviewed by a TNA selection panel. For selected proposals, instrument calibration and maintenance is performed free of charge (however, instrument transport from and to the user is not included and must be covered by the institution of the user). Information for users The AERONET-EUROPE calibration centre is composed of separate but complementary installations. The leading and entrance installation is the PHOTONS observatory located at CNRS-LOA coupled with a Météo France platform which is located in Carpentras, France. The other installations are located in Spain (GOA-UVA and CSIC-IZANA).The choice of the installation selected for calibration is decided internally and will be based on different conditions (e.g., distance between the calibration centre and the user site, instrument type, weather conditions, any pre-existing scientific agreements, etc. The main contact person for all requests for AERONET-EUROPE is CNRS-LOA (actris-calibration@univ-lille1.fr) Instrument calibration and maintenance is performed free of charge and is granted on the basis of proposals which will be reviewed by a TNA selection panel. The support to users includes post-field calibration-maintenance and pre-field calibration (incl filters, polarizers and internal battery changes for head and control box parts as well as microswitch and belt for robot), final functional test at CNRS-LOA or GOA-UVA, calibration update of the AERONET database, and request for QA analysis to GSFC/NASA. To be eligible for the free instrument service, the PI in charge of the photometer instrument must satisfy the following conditions: - the PI must be affiliated with an institution from an EU member, associated state, or candidate state. Participants from institutions outside EU member, associated, or candidate states are not eligible; - the home country of the PI institution must be situated in another country as the home country of the calibration installation ('transnationality' aspect). The users must be entitled to publish the results from work carried out under this ACTRIS TNA activity. Application procedure The call for TNA to AERONET-EUROPE is an open and continuous call. The proposals are accepted at any time and from any eligible researcher in charge of a sun photometer deployed for long-term measurements. Users interested in this service should send a proposal form, which is available through the ACTRIS website (cf. Appendix 1.3.4), by to the ACTRIS Coordination Office at least 2 months before the planned project start. In case of new instruments (not yet purchased or purchase in process), arrangements must be made between Cimel and the calibration infrastructure to enable calibration of

7 the instrument before transmission to the future PI. Prior contact with AERONET-EUROPE is indispensible in this case. Evaluation procedure Incoming proposals are verified by the Coordination Office for formal compliance with the EU regulations. The proposals are sent to the principal AERONET-EUROPE contact person at CNRS-LOA to confirm feasibility of the project. The proposals are forwarded to an independent TNA selection panel for peer-review based on defined criteria (cf. Appendix 1.3.5). The TNA panel is composed of international experts with strong expertise in the field to evaluate and select the proposal according to clearly defined selection criteria. The applicant is informed of the final decision by the ACTRIS Coordination Office. CNRS-LOA will be in charge of contacting the user for the subsequent steps (choice of installation, reception of instrument, etc.). Selection criteria The TNA selection panel reviews the proposals with respect to the following criteria: - Originality and scientific quality (max 5 out of 20 points). - Interest to scientific community (max 5 out of 20 points). - Geographical location of user site (max 5 out of 20 points). - Available instrumentation at atmospheric station (max 5 out of 20 points). A proposal should receive at least a final mark of 10 out of 20 to pass. User obligations After successful calibration-maintenance service, the PI of the AE-TNA project supported under ACTRIS is requested to provide appropriate documentation to the Coordination Office. The documentation will allow justifying the provision of the service, including records of user details (name, nationality, home institution of users as well as a summary of the scientific/technical objectives and achievements. The documentation to be provided to the ACTRIS Coordination Office is mostly to be made through the website and includes: - a confirmation of calibration document confirming successful calibration. It is signed by both the access provider and the project PI and; - an on-line TNA User Report with information for the EU TNA data base (cf. figure 1.3.6). - a link to the on-line EU User Group Questionnaire. Furthermore, the users are requested to report an outcome (publications, presentations, ) from work carried out under the ACTRIS TNA activity using the web interface (cf. figure 1.3.5) to communicate the references for publication. I must be ensure that the outcome acknowledges the project and support of the European Community. Once calibration/maintenance is achieved, the QA data/products will be made available via the AERONET website. To ensure production of QA data, the user agrees to the following obligations: - to perform weekly local maintenance of the instrument following AERONET rules, - to perform weekly check of instrument status available ( - to reply immediately in case of instrumental problems detected by any of the calibration centres.

8 Figure 1.3.6: On-line TNA User Report interface to AERONET-Europe on ACTRIS website.

9 Appendix 1.3.1: TNA1-11 proposal form

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11 Appendix 1.3.2: TNA1-11 reviewer evaluation form

12 Appendix 1.3.3: TNA1-11 confirmation of visit document

13 Appendix 1.3.4: TNA12 proposal form

14 Appendix 1.3.5: TNA12 reviewer evaluation form