SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIVES

RESIF was born from a desire to be able to carry out high tech research at a time when our understanding of earthquakes, seismic wave propagation and the dynamics of the European lithosphere is developing fast, and thus to help improve the identification and management of risks and natural resources.

Data from RESIF are distributed free of charge and in almost real time. Inter-operability with other European centres will ensure that RESIF is used by national and international scientific communities, as well as by operational actors. Furthermore, RESIF aims to facilitate the transfer of derivative products to the public authorities, education sectors and the general public.

SCIENTIFIC STAKES

Knowledge of the earth

The RESIF infrastructure is intended to observe the earth’s deformations, from their static component measured by geodetic techniques through to the highest seismic frequencies recorded by the RESIF seismometers. RESIF also plans to develop a Fundamental Geodetic Observatory, which will contribute to setting absolute references (terrestrial and celestial) to enable the identification of precise positions on the earth’s surface, in association with global navigation systems (Galileo, GPS etc.). This project thus encompasses all the fields of land and space seismology and geodesy. The entire geophysics community will be concerned by data analysis and the results will affect all user disciplines (tectonics, geology, geotechnics, hydrology, meteorology, etc.). RESIF will thus enable major progress on fundamental subjects like knowledge of the dynamics of Europe’s crust and lithosphere, which is the major objective cited by the EPOS, "European Plate Observing System"project. On a wider scale, RESIF is part of the European and worldwide instrument network enabling imaging of the deep Earth and the understanding of major phenomena, like earth core dynamics, mantle convection, subduction, mountain chains, earthquakes, volcanoes, etc.

Risks

Metropolitan France is up to moderately seismic, but is highly vulnerable due to its high level of urbanisation and industrialisation, while the French Antilles can potentially be impacted by major earthquakes. RESIF will be an essential tool to measure, study and explain the risks related to the earth's movements, whether they are short or over a long period, caused naturally (earthquakes, landslides, tidal waves, etc.) or manmade (dams, mines, underground storage, explosions, etc.), In the same way that a high quality physical or electronic communication infrastructure acts as a catalyst to a modern country, representing one of its assets, RESIF will provide civil society and the scientific, industrial and economic communities in France with its equivalent in the field of seismic risk. Part of the facilities will be shared with specific alert systems. RESIF, whose principle and governance have been validated by the Ministry of Research, will also contribute to the large-scale European research infrastructure, EPOS "European Plate Observing System".

Natural resources

The coming decades will witness significant changes in our management of the planet. Detailed studies of the earth’s crust will provide insight to the potential of storing transformed products and the natural resources available (geothermics, deposits, underground water) whose reasoned management represents one of the major challenges of the 21st century.