IR-ILICO

Established in 2016, the Coastal Ocean and Nearshore Observation French Research Infrastructure (“ILICO”) is dedicated to observing and improving our understanding of seashore environments and coastal ecosystems. ILICO is a distributed infrastructure comprised of in situ observation networks deploying a wide range of instruments to sample and measure parameters at high and / or low frequencies. 

Long-term monitoring is essential to understanding and anticipating large-scale processes and phenomena that can impact coastal and littoral zones (such as quantifying the impact of extreme and / or intermittent events such as tsunamis or cyclones). The study of these environments is notorious for the challenges posed by spatial heterogeneity and temporal dynamics at nested scales. 

ILICO is a network of 8 established observation networks COAST-HF, CORAIL, DYNALIT, MOOSE, PHYTOBS, ReefTEMPS, SOMLIT, SONEL (and BENTHOBS, applying for national observation network recognition). 

It’s also a pluri-disciplinary network of over 50 French laboratories involved in coastal and nearshore scientific research (lab correspondants work together on priority actions). 

To find out more - in English - read our review Coastal Ocean and Nearshore Observation: A French Case Study

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2019.00324/full

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