National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics

The National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics Italian: Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale, also known as OGS, is an Italian public research body supervised by the Italian Ministry of University and Research which conducts research in the field of earth science and oceanography at the international level.[1]

History

The origin of OGS dates back to 20 August 1753 when, at the request of the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, the Jesuits established the School of Astronomy and Navigation[2] to meet the development needs of the free port of Trieste. Since then, the Institute has gone through a series of reorganizations and name changes: the Trieste Applied Geophysical Observatory was established as a public research body in 1958, and it was renamed to the National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics in 1999.[3][4]

Research fields

The research activity of OGS is aimed at basic and applied research in the following sectors[5]

These research capabilities are applied in the fields of Earth, Sea and Polar Sciences, to contribute to the improvement of basic scientific knowledge, to technological innovation and to the practical resolution of environmental, economic and social challenges.

Missions

The Institute carries out its activities as part of the following scientific research and innovation missions:[5]

  1. Understanding Seas and Ocean to promote sustainability and ecosystem health, including: ecosystem functioning and biodiversity, observation and prediction, climate change and ocean acidification, pollutants and plastics, sustainable ecosystems and blue economy;
  2. Understanding Earth Processes to drive sustainable development, including: Earth dynamics and basin evolution, mapping and monitoring processes, sustainable geo-resources, integrated water systems, net carbon zero solutions;
  3. Understanding Disaster Risk to build prepared and resilient communities, including: hazard processes and mechanisms, forecasting and risk scenarios, integrated multi-risk, impact assessment and risk mitigation, rapid emergency response;
  4. Exploring Polar Areas to understand the Planet and its changes, including: solid Earth and cryosphere, monitoring Polar ocean, mapping subglacial lithosphere, paleoclimate and climate change, protection of polar ecosystems
  5. Fostering Open Science to widen the user community of scientific data, including: findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable (FAIR) data; risk education and ocean literacy; high-performance computing, artificial intelligence and digital twins; Citizen Science; Science and environmental diplomacy.

Organization

The institution is organized into four scientific and technological research structures which aggregates groups of expertise:[5]

Section of Oceanography

  • Physical oceanography
  • Chemical and biological oceanography
  • Dynamics of ecosystems and computational oceanography

Section of Geophysics

  • Geology and marine geophysics
  • Applied and exploration geophysics

Center for Seismological Research

  • Seismology and geodesy
  • Engineering seismology

Center for Management of Maritime Infrastructures

  • Ship management

Locations

The main offices of the OGS are in Sgonico (Trieste), Trieste and Udine.[6]

New offices and laboratories were opened in Venice,[7] Latera (Viterbo),[8] and Panarea (Messina).[9]

Research infrastructures

Since 2019 OGS operates the Italian icebreaker R/V Laura Bassi, capable of operating in polar regions for the objectives of the National Antarctic Research Program and for supporting Italian research in polar areas. The R/V Laura Bassi is in operational continuity with the R/V OGS Explora that is involved in Italian polar scientific research since 1989.[10][11]

OGS is the national coordinator of the following European infrastructures (ESFRI):

  • EURO-ARGO: the European component of the worldwide system for in situ observation of oceans, polar seas and marginal seas;[12]
  • ECCSEL: the European infrastructure on capture, utilization, and storage of carbon dioxide.[13]

The institute also participates in other European infrastructures coordinated by other research bodies in the field of Earth and Ocean Sciences (EUROFLEETS,[14] EMSO,[15] EPOS[16] LIFEWATCH-Italy,[17] EMBRC-IT,[18] ICOS,[19] ECORD[20]).

References
  1. "List of the Italian Research bodies supervised by the Italian Ministry of University and Research". Retrieved 2022-10-07.
  2. A. Böhm, Conrad (1998). 250 anni di astronomia a Trieste [250 years of astronomy in Trieste] (in Italian). Trieste: MGSpress. ISBN 88-86424-51-5.
  3. "Provvedimenti per l'Osservatorio geofisico sperimentale di Trieste". Act No. 73 of February 11, 1958 (in Italian). Retrieved 2022-10-07.
  4. ""Istituzione dell'Istituto nazionale di geofisica e vulcanologia, nonché disposizioni concernenti gli enti di ricerca vigilati dal Ministero dell'università e della ricerca scientifica e tecnologica, a norma dell'articolo 11 della legge 15 marzo 1997, n. 59. - Art. 7 "Norme sull'Osservatorio geofisico sperimentale e sull'Istituto di ottica". Act No. (Legislative decree) 381 of September 29, 1999 (in Italian). Retrieved 2023-01-16.
  5. [Three-year activity plan 2021-2023 https://www.ogs.it/PTA_OGS_2021_2023.pdf]
  6. Zar, Federica; Poduie, Aldo (2019). Trieste for Science. APS. ISBN 978-8888291239.
  7. "Official opening of the OGS new office in Venice" (in Italian). 23 September 2021. Retrieved 2023-01-16.
  8. "Latera Natural laboratory". Retrieved 2023-01-16.
  9. "Panarea Natural Laboratory". Retrieved 2023-01-16.
  10. "R/V Laura Bassi on eurofleets.eu". Retrieved 2022-10-07.
  11. Bellon, Cristina (Dec 23, 2020). "In viaggio verso l'Antartide: la rompighiaccio italiana riparte per studiare il clima". La Repubblica. GEDI. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  12. "EURO-ARGO partners'list eu". Retrieved 2022-10-07.
  13. "ECCSEL partners'list on eccsel.org". Retrieved 2022-10-07.
  14. "EUROFLEETS partner list". Retrieved 2023-01-12.
  15. "EMSO Italy members". Retrieved 2023-01-16.
  16. "EPOS members". Retrieved 2023-01-12.
  17. "LIFEWATCH ITALY members list". Retrieved 2023-01-12.
  18. "EMBRC-IT network". 2023-01-12.
  19. "ICOS Italy Partners". Retrieved 2023-01-12.
  20. "ECORD Management structure". Retrieved 2023-01-12.
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