The sites are situated in different ecosystems all across the country. In addition to conducting long-term measuremts of various environmental parameters, these field sites often offer opportunities for experimental research and provide accommondation and technival support for researchers. CSC, although not being a physical site, provides data services to support the data management of the LTER Finland sites.
Helsinki Metropolitan Area (HMA) combines ecological and sociological research. At the moment there are measurements in Kumpula (SMEAR III), in Viikki (SMEAR-Agri), and in Haltiala (GHG measurements). In addition, several research project study for example the physiology of trees in cities.
The main research fields at SMEAR II are biogeochemical cycles of carbon, water and energy, biosphere - aerosol - climate interactions and forest tree ecophysiology. Long term, continuous measurements have been conducted since 1996 and cover various fields of observations related to meteorology, atmospheric properties, aerosol formation, fluxes of energy and matter and soil and tree properties and functioning. SMEAR II is also an
Hyytiälä is also an
Kevo is also an
Most research work in Kilpisjärvi Biological Station is carried out by visiting scientists from Finnish and foreign Universities and institutes with their own research money. The staff of the station takes care of only a small part of these studies (mainly long-term monitoring) and provides the facilities and assistance for researchers.
The University of Helsinki’s
Lammi is also an
Oulanka is also an AnaEE platform.
(photo by Lasse Lecklin)
A wide range of top-class research encompassing multiple disciplines is conducted at the various research stations and measurement sites established within the Pallas area by the FMI. The main research themes include greenhouse gas concentrations and ecosystem–atmosphere fluxes, the climate effects of atmospheric aerosols, aerosol–cloud interactions and air quality. Pallas is one of the sites of the Finnish network for monitoring the concentrations of mercury and other heavy metals, benzo(a)pyrene, ozone and other air pollutants, as required by the European legislation on ambient air quality. Pallas also serves as a platform for scientific collaboration with international as well as national research institutes (
Sodankylä site hosts programs exploring upper-air chemistry and physics, atmospheric column measurements, snow and soil hydrology, biosphere-atmosphere interaction and satellite calibration-validation studies. Arctic Space Centre at Sodankylä hosts also the main infrastructure of FMI for Earth Observation satellite data reception, storage and distribution.
SYKE conducts at Pallasjärvi and its catchment long-term hydrological, chemical and biological monitoring at lake and stream/river stations using manual sampling and continuous automatic measurements. The main studies utilizing these measurements include air pollution effects on ecosystems, climate change, interactions between these global pressures, and changes in hydrological processes and biogeochemical cycling of substances – particularly C and N - in the catchment and the lake itself. SYKE has built research and monitoring infrastructure particularly in Lompolojänkkä subcatchment with FMI, Luke and University of Oulu for automatic runoff, dissolved organic material and other water chemistry measurements.
Recently more multidisciplinary approaches have been developed at TZS, as the marine ecology and biogeochemistry researchers have joined forces with atmospheric researchers to form the Centre for Coastal Ecosystem and Climate Change Research (
TZS is part of the
As of 2024, Finland is a member of the European Marine Biological Resource Centre
TZS is also an
CSC – IT Center for Science is a Finnish center of expertise in information technology owned by the Finnish state and higher education institutions. CSC provides internationally high-quality ICT expert services for higher education institutions, research institutes, culture, public administration and enterprises to help them thrive and benefit society at large.
CSC research data management services offer support and hands on help with planning and developing research data management for organisations, infrastructures and research projects.
Data management is a set of practices to handle collected and created information. It consists of a wide range of practices, concepts, procedures, processes, policies, and of accompanying systems. It enhances the value of data by making it interoperable, easier to find and understand, less likely to be lost, and more likely to be used and reused during original use and beyond. Data management practices involve, but are not limited to, data management planning, documentation, organization, storage, dissemination, preservation, and if need be, deletion. Effective data management is an ongoing process which is structured and aligned with the use context and life cycle stages.