<p>The European Plate Observing System (EPOS, www.epos-ip.org) is a multidisciplinary pan-European research infrastructure for solid Earth science. It integrates a series of domain-specific service hubs such as the Geological Information and Modelling Technical Core Service (TCS GIM) dedicated to access data, data products and services on European boreholes, geological and geohazards maps, mineral resources as well as a catalogue of 3D models. These are hosted by European Geological Surveys and national research organisations.</p><p>Even though interoperability implementation frameworks are well described and used (ISO, OGC, IUGS/CGI, INSPIRE …), it proved to be difficult for several data providers to deploy in the first place the required OGC services supporting the full semantic definition (OGC Complex Feature) to discover and view millions of geological entities. Instead, data are collected and exposed using a simpler yet standardised description (GeoSciML Lite & EarthResourceML Lite). Subsequently, the more complex data flows are deployed with the corresponding semantics.</p><p>This approach was applied to design and implement the European Borehole Index and associated web services (View-WMS and Discovery-WFS) and extended to 3D Models. TCS GIM exposes to EPOS Central Integrated Core Services infrastructure a metadata catalogue service, a series of “index services”, a codeList registry and a Linked Data resolver. These allow EPOS end users to search and locate boreholes, geological maps and features, 3D models, etc., based on the information held by the index services.</p><p>In addition to these services, TCS GIM focussed particularly on sharing European geological data using the Linked Data approach. Each instance is associated with a URI and points to other information resources also using URIs. The Linked Data principles ensure the best semantic description (e.g. URIs to shared codeList registries entries) and also enrich an initial “information seed” (e.g. a set of Borehole entries matching a search) with more contents (e.g. URIs to more Features or a more complex description). As a result, this pattern including Simple Feature and Linked Data has a positive effect on the IT architecture: interoperable services are simpler and faster to deploy and there is no need to harvest a full OGC Complex Feature dataset. This architecture is also more scalable and sustainable.</p><p>The European Geological Services codeList registries have been enriched with new vocabularies as part of the European Geoscience Registry. In compliance with the relevant European INSPIRE rules, this registry is now part of the INPIRE Register Federation, the central access point to the repository for vocabulary and resources. European Geoscience Registry is available for reuse and extension by other geoscientific projects.</p><p>During the EPOS project, this approach has been developed and implemented for the Borehole and Model data services. TCS GIM team provided feedback on INSPIRE through the Earth Science Cluster, contributed to the creation of the OGC GeoScience Domain Working Group in 2017, the launch of the OGC Borehole Interoperability Experiment in 2018, and proposed evolutions to the OGC GeoSciML and IUGS/CGI EarthResourceML standards.</p>

<p>Modern scientific endeavours already have the capacity to call upon a vast variety of data, often in huge volumes. However, the challenge is not only how to make the most of such a resource, but also how to make it available to the wider scientific community, especially for encouraging curiosity-driven research. Fifty-one institutions from 13 countries are currently working together in the Geo-INQUIRE (Geosphere INfrastructure for QUestions into Integrated REsearch) project.</p> <p>The main goal of this new project is to enhance, give access to, and make interoperable, key datasets of the Geoscience community. This will include "big" data streams and high-performance computing codes which are critical to studying the temporal variation of the solid Earth, forecasting multi-hazards, evaluating Georesources and the analysis of the interface between the solid Earth as well as oceans and atmosphere.  <span lang="EN-GB">About 150 access points – both on-site and virtually are involved. Transnational Access (TA, both virtual and on-site) will be provided at six test beds across Europe: the Bedretto Laboratory, Switzerland; the Ella-Link Geolab, Portugal; the Liguria-Nice-Monaco submarine infrastructure, Italy/France; the Irpinia Near-Fault Observatory, Italy; the Eastern Sicily facility, Italy; and the Corinth Rift Laboratory, Greece.</span></p> <p>Several European Research Infrastructure Consortia take part, namely the European Plate Observing System (EPOS) for solid Earth and geodynamics observations, the European Multidisciplinary Seafloor and Water Column Observatory (EMSO) for deep-sea and coastal observations, and ECCSEL for CO<sub>2</sub> capture, utilization, transport, and storage, and geoenergy. This 16 million Euro project started in October 2022, within the Horizon Europe Infrastructure program of the European Union.</p> <p>The presentation will briefly describe the project and give examples of curiosity-driven research topics which will be made possible through such a multi-disciplinary project. We will finally present the challenges and efforts made to comply with FAIR principles and accompany the dissemination of the data with innovative and cross-disciplinary training activities.</p>

<p>The Geo-INQUIRE (Geosphere INfrastructure for QUestions into Integrated REsearch) project, supported by the Horizon Europe Programme, is aimed at enhancing services to make data and high-level products accessible to the broad Geoscience scientific community. Geo-INQUIRE’s goal is to encourage curiosity-driven studies into understanding the geosphere dynamics at the interface between the solid Earth, the oceans and the atmosphere using long data streams, high-performance computing and cutting-edge facilities.</p> <p>In the framework of Geo-INQUIRE, Transnational Access (TA, both virtual and on-site) will be provided at six test beds across Europe: the Bedretto Laboratory, Switzerland; the Ella-Link Geolab, Portugal; the Liguria-Nice-Monaco submarine infrastructure, Italy/France; the Irpinia Near-Fault Observatory, Italy; the Eastern Sicily facility, Italy; and the Corinth Rift Laboratory, Greece. These test beds are state-of-the-art research infrastructures, covering the Earth’s surface, subsurface, and marine environments over different spatial scales, from small-scale experiments in laboratories to kilometric submarine fibre cables. The TA will revolve around answering scientific key-questions on the comprehension of fundamental processes associated with geohazards and georesources such as: the preparatory phases of earthquakes, the role of the fluids within the Earth crust, the fluid-solid interaction at the seabed, and the impact of geothermal exploitation. TA will be also offered for software and workflows belonging to the EPOS-ERIC and the ChEESE Centre of Excellence for Exascale in Solid Earth, to develop awarded user’s projects. These are grounded on simulation of seismic waves and rupture dynamics in complex media, tsunamis, subaerial and submarine landslides. HPC-based Probabilistic Tsunami, Seismic and Volcanic Hazard workflows are offered to assess hazard at high-resolution with extensive uncertainty exploration. Support and collaboration will be offered to the awardees to facilitate the access and usage of HPC resources for tackling geoscience problems. Geo-INQUIRE will grant TA to researchers to develop their own lab or numerical experiments with the aim of advancing scientific knowledge of Earth processes while fostering cross-disciplinary research across Europe. To be granted, researchers submit a proposal to the yearly TA calls that will be issued three times during the project life. Calls will be advertised at the Geo-INQUIRE web page https://www.geo-inquire.eu/ and through the existing community channels.</p> <p>To encourage the cross-disciplinary research, Geo-INQUIRE will also organize a series of training and workshops, focused on data, data products and software delivered by research infrastructures, and useful for researchers. In addition, two summer schools will be organized, dedicated to cross-disciplinary interactions of solid earth and marine science.</p> <p>The proposals, for both transnational access and training, will be evaluated by a panel that reviews the technical and scientific feasibility of the project, ensuring equal opportunities and diversity in terms of gender, geographical distribution and career stage. The first call is expected to be issued by the end of Summer 2023. The data and products generated during the TAs will be made available to the scientific community via the project’s strict adherence to FAIR principles.</p>

<p>This study presents an approach on how to establish Conceptual Interoperability for autonomous, multidisciplinary systems participating in Research Infrastructures, Early Warning, or Risk Management Systems. Although promising implementations already exist, true interoperability is far from being achieved. Therefore, reference architectures and principles of Systems-of-Systems are adapted for a fully specified, yet implementation-independent Conceptual Model, establishing interoperability to the highest possible degree. The approach utilises use cases and requirements from geological information processing and modelling within the European Plate Observing System (EPOS).</p><p>Conceptual Interoperability can be accomplished by enabling Service Composability. Unlike integration, composability allows interactive data processing and beyond, evolving systems that enable interpretation and evaluation by any potential participant. Integrating data from different domains often leads to monolithic services that are implemented only for a specific purpose (Stovepipe System). Consequently, composability is essential for collaborative information processing, especially in modern interactive computing and exploration environments. A major design principle for achieving composability is Dependency Injection, allowing flexible combinations (Loose Coupling) of services that implement common, standardised interfaces (abstractions). Another decisive factor for establishing interoperability are Metamodels of data models that specify data and semantics regardless of their domain, based on a common, reusable approach. Thus, data from different domains can be represented by one common encoding that e.g. abstracts landslides (geophysical models) or buildings (urban planning) based on their geometry. An indispensable part of a Conceptual Model is detailed semantics, which not only requires terms from Domain-Controlled Vocabularies, but also ontologies providing qualified statements about the relationship between data and associated concepts. This is of major importance for evolutionary systems that are able to comprehend and react to state changes. Maximum interoperability also requires strict modularisation for a clear separation of semantics, metadata and the data itself.</p><p>Conceptual models for geological information that are governed by the described principles and their implementations are still far away. Moreover, a route to achieve such models is not straightforward. They span a multitude of communities and are far too complex for conventional implementation in project form. A first step could be applying modern design principles to new developments in the various scientific communities and join the results under a common stewardship like the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). Recently, a Metamodel has been developed within the OGC’s Borehole Interoperability Experiment (BoreholeIE); initiated and led by the French Geological Survey (BRGM). It combines the ISO standard (19148:2012 linear referencing) for localisation along borehole paths with the adaption of different encodings of borehole logs based on well-established OGC standards. Further developments aim at correlating borehole logs, geological or geotechnical surveys, and geoscientific models. Since results of surveys are often only available as non-schematised interpretations in text form, interoperability requires formal classifications, which can be derived from machine learning methods applied to the interpretations. As part of a Conceptual Model, such classifications can be used for an automated exchange of standard-conform borehole logs or to support the generation of expert opinions on soil investigations.</p>

The European Plate Observing System (EPOS, www.epos-eu.org) is a multidisciplinary pan-European research infrastructure for solid Earth science. It integrates a series of domain-specific service hubs (Thematic Core Service, TCS) such as the Geological Information and Modelling, which provides access to data, data products and services on European boreholes, geological maps, mineral occurrences, mines and 3D models. TCS GIM services are hosted by a group of European Geological Surveys and a couple of national research organizations. This paper presents novel data discovery and integration, facilitated using borehole logging information with on-demand web services to produce 3D geological structures. This domain interoperability across EPOS was created for the purpose of research, but it is also highly relevant for the response to societal grand challenges such as natural hazards and climate change. European and international interoperability implementation frameworks are well described and used (e.g., INSPIRE, ISO, OGC, and IUGS/CGI). It can be difficult for data providers to deploy web services that support the full semantic data definition (e.g., OGC Complex Feature) to expose several millions of geological entities through web-enabled data portals as required by pan-European projects. The TCS GIM group implemented and innovatively extended two standardized descriptions, i.e. GeoSciML-Lite and EarthResourceML-Lite, with an important reuse of content from Linked Data Registries. This approach was applied to design and implement the European Borehole Index and associated web services (View-WMS and Discovery-WFS), extended to 3D models, geological maps as well as mineral occurrences and mines. Results presented here apply the Linked Data approach ensuring optimal semantic description and enriching the data graphs, with complex descriptions and contents. In this way, it is now possible to traverse from one Borehole Index instance to linked richer information such as the borehole geological log, groundwater levels, rock sample description, analyses, etc. All this detailed information is served following international interoperability standards (Observations & Measurements, GroundWaterML 2.0, GeoSciML4, amongst others).