“RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURES” AND “FACILITIES”
“Research infrastructures” (RI) is the most common general wording to evoke the set of installations and services offered to researchers to carry out their scientific activities. But as long as we consider a list, it is the word “facility” which is the most often used, including by operators themselves on their web sites. A “facility” is an installation or a service by itself, which offer a specific access to researchers, at national level at least, at transnational level when appropriate (e.g. in the framework of a European project I3 eg type), in all cases beyond the limits of the research institutes which host and operate them. A research “facility” is more than an “equipment” or a “sensor”, which themselves can be part of the facility. A research “facility” is not just a building with offices and usually equipped labs for home scientists; it should bring a specific support for a research activity.
FIRST SECTION OF INFORMATION : “FACILITY INFORMATION”
“NAME”:
The name of the facility, as it appears on the operators web site, is not always specify using an acronym or clear evident. Often, more than one word is necessary
“CATEGORY”, “SUB-CATEGORY” AND “TYPE”:
To face the complexity of the landscape and provide users with an understandable list if not perfect, we propose 15 major categories, and added the notion of sub-categories and types whenever necessary to be descriptive at the best. Categories and sub-categories are part of the search criteria, they are representatives of the skills and jobs requested to design and operate every group of facilities so categorized by “horizontal“ business lines. This approach could be compared with the scientific one, through projects usually “vertically” organized from experiments and data acquisition to scientific knowledge and dissemination, relying on different technical skills and related RI. It is also a choice guided by the existence of ESFRI and I3 projects and their perimeter, by the idea that operational coordination at European level with a central governance will develop more easily and naturally within these “horizontal” consortia.
“YEAR BUILT”, “YEAR OF LAST REFIT”:
It is an interesting data when available and/or relevant, as statistics could be derived on the age of a given population of facilities, and so to contribute to a needs and gaps analysis.
“ACCESS CONDITIONS”
Link to the operator dedicated web page or description.
“EXAMPLES OF SCIENTIFIC PROJECTS AND DATA ACQUIRED”:
Link to the operator dedicated web page or description.
“SERVICES CURRENTLY OFFERED”:
Link to the operator dedicated web page or description.
“LOCATION , LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE”:
We consider several types of location depending of the facility sub-category:
- For the general case, it is the operator location : town or exactly town & address,
- For the case of fixed in situ observatories or in situ test sites, it is the facility real location,
- For the case of vessels, it is its usual home harbor, not its administrative one which could be different.
TECHNICAL DETAILS FILE:
Uploaded File.
“INFRASTRUCTURE PHOTO”:
Uploaded File.
“COUNTRY”
It is the operator country. List based on the ISO 3166 standard.
“MAIN SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINES”
List to cover all the scientific activities which could be performed with the use of a given facility.
“LAST UPDATE”:
Automatic field generated at each update.
“RELATED PROJECTS”
List of Projects or initiatives were the Infrastructure as been offered or used.
“STATUS”
Field informing if the Infrastructure is Operating, Out of Service or Under Construction.
SECOND SECTION OF INFORMATION : “ADDITIONNAL INFORMATION”
“LENGTH (M”) OR “MAX. OPERATING DEPTH” (M)”:
When relevant (e.g. length for vessels, max. operating depth for underwater vehicles or for in situ instrumentation), information is possible to retrieve useful statistics and also contribute to a needs and gaps analysis.
THIRD SECTION OF INFORMATION : “CONTACT”:
“OWNER” AND “STATUS OWNER”:
The owner could be either the head institution of the “Operator” (the most common case, e.g. “University” of which “Department xxx” operates the “Facility yyy”) or in some case a different institution.
The Status of the owner can be: Higher education (university/schools); Government entity; Public entity; Private entity with profit; Ngos/foundation etc; Research centre; Public–private partnership; International entity and Not Available
Note: Private providers of vessels, facilities, equipment or services not committed on a regular basis with the public research community are not listed in this database. In particular, all the suppliers of the offshore oil & gas industry are not listed.
“OPERATOR”:
As the database is “facility access oriented”, the mentioned operator is exactly the institution in charge of the service offered, of the access conditions and of the planning. Of course, most of such defined operators can be also in charge of long-term investment perspective, new design, updating, and refit or replacement plan. A specific case: for the satellites, the “operator” so mentioned is the ground segment in charge of the data dissemination and of specific remote sensing orders for one area/one period when this ability exists.
“CONTACT PERSON”, “EMAIL”, “CONTACT PERSON RELATION WITH INFRASTRUCTURE”, “PHONE” AND “ADDRESS”:
The “contact person” is as much as possible the one in charge (or at least to contact) for the facility access issue, and we mention it’s full coordinates to join him: “Email”, “Phone” and “Address.
The Contact Person Relation with Infrastructure specifies the affiliation of the contact to the infrastructure and can be: Manager; Owner; Researcher; Administrative; Operator or Technician.
FOURTH SECTION OF INFORMATION : “SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNIICAL CAPACITIES”:
This database allows a dynamic structure with a core module and additional specialised modules, of technical and scientific capacities, associated specifically with the existing categories. Presently, 3 modules are present, for the categories Research Vessels, Underwater vehicles and large equipment and Aquaculture research facilities. The fields of information to be available within any new module will be proposed by experts and will be added to the database when required.
The present section lists the available fields for the three modules.
“RESEARCH VESSELS”:”
| General Information |
| | Class Notation |
| | URL Schedule |
| | Pogo |
| | Eurocean |
| | NODC Code |
| | Cal Sign |
| | ICES Shipcode |
| | MMSI Code |
| | IMO Code |
| Technical Capacities |
| | Icebreaking |
| | Instrumentation/Equipment |
| | Fisheries |
| | Instrumentation/Equipment |
| | Physical Oceanography |
| | Instrumentation/Equipment |
| | Geosciences |
| | Instrumentation/Equipment |
| | Deployment of towed or submarine equipment |
| | Instrumentation/Equipment |
| | <1000m class equipment |
| | Instrumentation/Equipment |
| | >1000m class equipment |
| | Instrumentation/Equipment |
| Activity |
| | National public funded research |
| | % |
| | European/International funded research |
| | % |
| | Survey |
| | % |
| | Charter or public/private cooperation |
| | % |
| | Logistics |
| | % |
| | Maintenance |
| | % |
| | Education |
| | % |
| | Other |
| | % |
| Access |
| | Included in a barter or a scheduling cooperation agreement with other operators |
| | Name of the barter or agreement |
| | Access through an external (national or international) peer review |
| | Access through in-house peer review process |
| Main Characteristics |
| | Breadth (m) |
| | Max displacment (T) |
| | Gross Tonnage (T) |
| | Freeboard to Work Deck (m) |
| | Draft (m) |
| | Beam (m) |
| | Hull Material |
| | Electrical propulsion |
| | Silent Ship Operation Abilities |
| | Capacity Dry Cargo Area (m3) |
| | Fuel Capacity (m3) |
| | Water Capacity (m3) |
| | Water Gen (m3) |
| | Range (n mi) |
| | Speed Cruise (kt) |
| | Speed Max (kt) |
| | Endurance (days) |
| | Vessel Builder |
| Accommodation and scientific spaces |
| | Officers (Number) |
| | Crew (Number) |
| | Scientists and technicians (Number) |
| | Air conditioning |
| Scientific Working Spaces |
| | Free Deck Area (m2) |
| | Area Wetlab (m2) |
| | Area Drylab (m2) |
| | Area Chemical lab (m2) |
| | Area scientific spaces (m2) |
| | Nbr 10' Cont Labs Supported |
| | Nbr 20' Cont Labs Supported |
| | Radioactive Isotope Support |
| Acoustics Equipments ( multibeams, ADCP, sub bottom profilers,…) |
| | Acoustic equipments Type |
| | Acoustic equipments Make |
| Data Processing Equipment |
| | Data Processing Computers |
| | Data Processing Printers |
| | Computer network |
| | Centralized scientific acquisition system |
| CTD Specifications |
| | CTD Capabilities |
| | CTD Make |
| | CTD Towable |
| | CTD Oxygen Sensor |
| | CTD Transmissivity Sensor |
| | CTD Fluorometer |
| | CTD Rosette |
| Coring Specifications |
| | Coring Capabilities |
| | Core Grab |
| | Core Box |
| | Core Gravity |
| | Core Piston |
| | Core Multi |
| Underwater Vehicle Capabilities |
| | Underwater Vehicles Rov |
| | Type |
| | Underwater Vehicles Auv |
| | Type |
| | Underwater Vehicles Manned Submersible |
| | Type |
| Diving Support |
| | Diving Capabilities |
| | Type |
| Engineering Design Particulars |
| Engines |
| | Engine Number |
| | Engine Make |
| | Engine Power |
| | Propeller Diam |
| | Propeller Max RPM |
| | Aux Diesel Power |
| Electrical Systems |
| | AC Voltage |
| | AC Voltage KVA |
| | AC Voltage Phases |
| | AC Voltage Freq |
| | AC Voltage Stabilized (Science use) |
| | AC Freq Stabilized (Science use) |
| | AC Amps Stabilized (Science use) |
| | DC Voltages |
| Navigation and Communication |
| | Navigational Equipment |
| | Dynamic Positioning |
| | Communications |
| | Satellite Communications |
| | Global Positioning System Equipment |
| Oceanographic |
| Winches |
| | Number of Winches |
| | Winch Steelwire Length (m) |
| | Winch Stellwire Max Load (T) |
| | Winch Conductor Cable Length (m) |
| | Winch Conductor Cable Max Load (T) |
| Gantries |
| | Gantry Location |
| | Gantry Height Abovedeck (m) |
| | Gantry Max Outboard Extension (m) |
| | Gantry Max Load (T) |
| Crane |
| | Crane Location |
| | Crane Max Height Abovedeck (m) |
| | Crane Max Outboard Extension (m) |
| | Crane Max Load (T) |
“UNDERWATER VEHICLES AND LARGE EQUIPMENT”:
| LEXI Information |
| | Model |
| | Mission type |
| | System Description |
| | Manufacturer |
| General Specifications |
| | Beam (m) |
| | Draft (when resurfaced) (m) |
| | Frame |
| | Tether Description |
| | Height (m) |
| | Gross Weight (in air) (kg) |
| Support Vessel Requirements |
| | ISO Shipping Containers |
| | Control Vane |
| | Station Keeping Requirements |
| | Vessels normally used |
| | Other Shipment Requirements |
| Winches |
| | Safe Working Load of Steel Wire (tons) |
| | Safe Working Load of Cond. Cable (tons) |
| | Steel Wire Length (m) |
| | Conducting Cable Length (m) |
| | Other Winch (Specify) |
| Crane |
| | Clearance Above Deck (m) |
| | Safe Working Load of Cond. Cable (tons) |
| | Position |
| | Outboard Extension (m) |
| A-Frame |
| | Outboard Extension (m) |
| | Clearance Above Deck (m) |
| | Safe Working Load at Max. Reach (tons) |
| Speed Duration and Range of Operation |
| | Diving and Resurfacing speeds (m/s) |
| | Max. Cruising Range (Km) |
| | Normal Dive Duration (hours) |
| | Cruising Speed (m/s) |
| | Max. Speed: |
| | Forward (m/s) |
| | Lateral (m/s) |
| | Vertical (m/s) |
| Crew and Scientific Observers |
| | Scientific Observers (number) |
| | Pilots (number) |
| Energy |
| Total Energy Available: |
| | Propulsion and Steering (kWH) |
| | Scientific Payload (kWH) |
| | Other |
| Propulsion and Steering |
| Thrusters (Thrust Force) |
| | Aft (N) |
| | Lateral (N) |
| | Fore (N) |
| | Vertical (N) |
| | Control Planes Arrangement |
| Pressure Hull (Manned Sphere) |
| | Inside Diameter (m) |
| | Material |
| | Portholes |
| | Thickness (m) |
| Trim Adjustment and Ballasting |
| | Trim Adjustment and Ballasting |
| Navigation Equipment |
| Non-Acoustic |
| | Altitude and Heading |
| | Pressure Sensor |
| Acoustic |
| | Doppler |
| | Altimeter |
| | Longbaseline System |
| | Ultrashort Baseline System |
| | Other Equipment |
| Automatic Guidance and Control Capabilities |
| | Depth Control |
| | Altitude Control (above the seabed) |
| | Heading Control |
| | Speed Control |
| | Way-Point Tracking |
| | Path Following |
| | Other |
| Customer - Defined Instrumentation Support |
| | Dimensions |
| | Communication Links |
| Power |
| | Frequency |
| | Voltage |
| | KVA |
| | Max Ampss |
| | Other power requirements |
| Scientific Instrumentation and Tools |
| | Still Cameras (number) |
| | Lighting (number) |
| | Manipulator/Sampling |
| | Video Cameras (number) |
| | Total power (kW) |
| | Other |
“AQUACULTURE RESEARCH FACILITIES”:
| AF Information |
| | Description |
| | Departments |
| | Historic outline |
| | Principal Investigators |
| FACILITY RESEARCH TOPICS |
| | Facility research topics |
| SPECIES HELD AT FACILITY |
| | Species held at facility |
| PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE FACILITY |
| | Scientific staff (number) |
| | Administrative staff (number) |
| | Technical staff (number) |
| | Other staff (number) |
| | Water supply - temperature range and granularity |
| | Water supply – salinity and granularity |
| | Water supply – pH-value range and granularity |
| SUPPORTING FACILITIES AT SITE |
| | Supporting facilities at site |
| SPECIAL EQUIPMENT AT THE FACILITY |
| | Special equipment |
| | Special facilities |
| LODGING |
| | Lodging |
| | Amenities |
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