"ICOS is a great organisation. The data sets they provide are a great asset for my PhD project,” says Saqr Munassar. The PhD student works at the Max-Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry located in Jena, a small city in the Eastern part of Germany. “Jena is located in a very nice terrain because of its mountains and forests. Sometimes when I am hiking, I am stunned by the beauty of its nature. I see scientific processes everywhere I look at. In fact, science is a huge part of my life,” he says. Another huge part of Saqr’s life is climate research. The PhD student uses inverse modeling tools, developed in Jena, to estimate the surface-atmosphere exchange of carbon dioxide over the European continent in a pre-operational inverse system. To reduce uncertainty in his research outcome, Saqr makes use of ICOS’ data. “ICOS atmospheric data goes through many steps for quality checks before one can access it. That is the reason why these data products can be used in inverse modeling. I can fully trust its high quality,” Saqr explains. The ICOS research infrastructure responds to the international goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This is done, for example, by providing accurate data on greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. ICOS aims to make data accessible and interoperable in order to ensure optimal services for researchers, like Saqr Munassar, in their efforts to progress with climate research.
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