IPSL provides the laboratories with coordination resources and services to help develop major projects and disseminate the results. In addition to its observation and modelling centres, services include the distribution of data, both from models and observations, and the related data processing, a dedicated communication service to promote the work of the laboratories and its dissemination, a service for sharing IT resources and an administrative service for joint projects.
The Climate Modelling Centre (CMC)
The objective of the IPSL Climate Modelling Centre is to study physical, chemical and biogeochemical aspects of the Earth’s climate. It brings together modelling teams from the various IPSL laboratories who study the different parts of the climate system (atmosphere, ocean, continental surfaces, cryosphere) and their couplings. Studies focus on the functioning of the climate system, its variability and climate change, whether of natural origin or due to human activities.
The Earth Observation Centre (EOC)
In Earth observation - space missions, observation services, multi-instrumented observatories, major measurement campaigns and regional projects, measuring of geochemical tracers - IPSL plays a dual role:
- a coordination role at the Île-de-France level to strengthen the collective Earth observation activities to improve our understanding of the ‘climate system’
- a data and service centre for the National Atmosphere Data Centre, comprising the CGTD ‘Ether’ and the ‘Climserv’ data service which form part of the ESPRI service of IPSL.
Research Services at IPSL (ESPRI)
The ESPRI IPSL mesocentre brings together a set of services: storage space, computer servers, virtualisation products, network infrastructure, computing and analysis software installed at École Polytechnique in a shared DSI room and on the Pierre and Marie Curie campus of the Sorbonne University in an IPSL room. This infrastructure, resulting from twenty years of pooling resources, was built as closely as possible to IPSL’s scientific projects and constitutes a magnificent asset for IPSL.