This community brings together scientists, practitioners, and a wide range of stakeholders engaged in the study of the Earth and its atmosphere, with the goal of understanding the processes that shape the planet’s physical structure, climate system, oceans, land surfaces, and environmental dynamics. It supports interdisciplinary research spanning geophysics, atmospheric science, oceanography, climate modelling, natural hazards, and Earth observation. Its development started in the context of D4Science and D4Science-II EU Projects, led by the European Space Agency (ESA), where Virtual Research Environments were established to facilitate access to satellite data, environmental datasets, and analytical tools for collaborative experimentation and knowledge sharing. The community was further strengthened through initiatives such as ENVRI and ENVRI PLUS, which promoted interoperability among environmental research infrastructures and fostered harmonised data management practices. Through the GEMex project, the infrastructure supported cross-border scientific collaboration on geothermal resource assessment and sustainable energy exploitation, enabling shared data analysis environments and interoperable geoscientific datasets. With FAIR-EASE, the community advanced the adoption of FAIR principles across Earth science research infrastructures, enhancing discoverability, accessibility, and interoperability of environmental data and services within the European Open Science Cloud ecosystem. The IRISCC initiative further expanded the community by enabling transnational access to distributed research infrastructures dedicated to climate change risk assessment, supporting researchers with integrated services, datasets, and modelling environments. More recently, through ITINERIS, the Italian integrated environmental research infrastructure hub, the community has reinforced national coordination and interoperability among Earth and environmental research infrastructures, aligning services and data resources with EOSC standards and fostering long-term sustainability.
Overall, the Earth Science Community represents a federated digital ecosystem where research infrastructures, data services, computational platforms, and collaborative environments converge to enable open, reproducible, and policy-relevant Earth system science.
Earth science is a dynamic and interdisciplinary field that integrates various branches of science to explore and understand the complexities of our planet. It combines aspects of geology, such as the study of rocks, minerals, and Earth's structure, to investigate processes like plate tectonics, volcanic activity, and mountain formation. This helps in understanding the Earth's history, natural hazards, and resource distribution.
Incorporating meteorology, Earth science examines atmospheric phenomena and weather patterns. It explores the dynamics of the atmosphere, climate systems, and the impact of human activities on weather and climate. This meteorological perspective is crucial for predicting weather, understanding climate change, and mitigating its effects.
Oceanography plays a vital role in Earth science by studying the physical, chemical, and biological properties of the oceans. Understanding ocean currents, marine ecosystems, and the interactions between the ocean and the atmosphere is essential for comprehending global climate systems and marine biodiversity.
Hydrology is also integral to Earth science, as it involves the study of water in all its forms, including rivers, lakes, groundwater, and glaciers. Hydrological research helps in managing water resources, predicting floods and droughts, and understanding the water cycle's role in Earth's climate.
Technology is a cornerstone of modern Earth science, providing advanced tools and techniques for exploration and research. This includes the use of remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS), and satellite imagery to collect data, map geological features, and monitor environmental changes. Technological advancements have significantly expanded our ability to study the Earth in greater detail and over larger scales.
Gateway
FAIR-EASE Gateway
The first interdomain digital architecture for integrated use of environmental data. This gateway is an access point to the rich world of FAIR-EASE via the user-friendly D4Science platform. If you already have an account, simply sign in using your existing credentials, including those in the EOSC AAI federation.
GEMex Gateway
This gateway is an access point to a Virtual Research Environment (VRE) deployed and operated in the context of GEMex EU-project (Cooperation in Geothermal energy research Europe-Mexico for development of Enhanced Geothermal Systems and Superhot Geothermal Systems) to support participants in data and information management and collaboration.
IRISCC Gateway
Integrated Research Infrastructure Services for Climate Change Risks Climate change presents a complex challenge, demanding a deep understanding of its impacts on human systems, natural environments, and production processes. IRISCC is a powerful consortium of leading European research infrastructures. Our collective goal is to empower society to address and strengthen resilience to climate change risks, ultimately fostering a more sustainable future for Europe
ITINERIS Gateway
ITINERIS establishes the Italian Hub of Research Infrastructures in the environmental sciences domain, focusing on the observation and study of environmental processes across the atmosphere, marine systems, terrestrial biosphere, and geosphere. It provides access to data and services while supporting the country in addressing current and emerging environmental challenges. The primary goal is to foster cross-disciplinary research in environmental sciences by leveraging and reusing existing or pre-operational data and services, alongside new observations.