centRe of Excellence in AerosoL remote rensIng technology and Science in The Indian oCean

Project Information

REALISTIC

Grant agreement ID: 101086690

DOI

10.3030/101086690

EC signature date 7 November 2022

Start date 1 December 2022

End date 30 November 2027

Funded under

• Widening participation and spreading excellence

Total cost

€ 2 494 375,00

EU contribution

€ 2 494 375,00

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITE DE LA REUNION
France

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - REALISTIC (centRe of Excellence in AerosoL remote rensIng technology and Science in The Indian oCean)

Reporting period: 2024-03-01 to 2025-11-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The overarching goal of REALISTIC is to develop a Centre of Excellence in aerosol remote sensing technology and science in the Indian Ocean, through the creation of a Chair, with La Réunion, a European Outermost region, as a strategic pivot point of the European Research Area.
REALISTIC aims at attracting and maintaining a high-profile researcher (ERA Chair holder) to lead a high profile supporting team with excellent research and technical capabilities in the aerosol remote sensing domain. In particular, specific applications and research endeavours will be conducted in the area of quantifying the impact of wildfire and volcanic emissions on the tropical atmosphere composition and on the Earth-Atmosphere radiative balance. REALISTIC is designed to catalyse and maximise the impact of the ERA Chair in order to raise the research, technical and innovation excellence of the Laboratory of Atmosphere and Cyclones (LACy), the Observatory of Atmospheric Physics of La Réunion (OPAR), the Observatory of the Universe Sciences of La Réunion (OSU-R), and the University of La Réunion (UR) to a level that makes them unique and essential references in the local R&I ecosystem, at the Indian Ocean-level as well as to the overall international community, and thus filling the R&I gap on atmospheric systems. REALISTIC will contribute to better integrate UR within the European Research Area, and better align with European standards and priorities.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Project Management
Regular meetings with the REALISTIC team have been set up, complemented by more scientifically oriented meetings set up by the ERA Chair holder with the newly created LACy team he leads.
Regular meetings and discussions are happening with the University regarding Deliverable D1.4 Appointment of the leader of the newly created research group on a permanent basis: report on the selection process.
The REALISTIC 2025 meeting was held on July 7th, 2025 involving the 2 partners (UR and UPC) and the Advisory Board (AB).

Team construction and integration in UR institution
Through consultation with the LACy and OSU-R directorates, the “ideal” REALISTIC research team was defined, job opportunities were posted, and all team members are now recruited.
To enhance scientific synergy within LACy, a new transversal team was created right from the start of the project. This new LACy team is still led by the ERA Chair holder and focuses on the physico-chemistry processes of the tropical atmosphere.
During RP2, REALISTIC team confirmed that the posted job descriptions were also aligned with the technical needs of OSU-R, OPAR and LACy, and especially the profile of the REALISTIC Research Engineer to be recruited.

Competence raising through capacity building
A 6-day seminar was held at UR by UPC staff towards the UR services in Oct. 2024, in order to present their "support to research" office, provide information on their structurization and provide inputs to UR governance on European project management. Some sessions were planned towards researchers at the University, and others directly towards UR services that are linked to European project management.
A Strategic International Integration Plan was written. In this deliverable, a gap analysis of the OPAR was made and this analysis provided material for the strategic international integration plan, identifying the priorities to better align LACy/OPAR within ACTRIS-ERIC and NDACC in the aerosol remote sensing field, the potential networks to join, proposing an action plan and the allocation of resources to achieve the plan.
The ERA Chair holder had taken the lead of the writing of an EU COST Action on EARLINET-related technological and scientific lidar developments for the global atmospheric community. The COST Action was approved for funding in May 2025.

Improvement of Reunion Island R&I capabilities to align with ERA vision and priorities
Multiple meetings with UR’s governance have taken place in order to discuss upcoming issues and processes.
The work on WP4 has started with multiple meetings with UR services, in order to present the ERA standards to UR governance and therefore provide inputs for Deliverable D4.4 ERA Alignment Plan. This deliverable is planned for RP3.

Communication, exploitation, dissemination
Organisation of international events: The Maïdo Observatory Summer School was held on Nov. 2024 and the SWIO Seminar gathering researchers from the SWIO bassin was held in Oct. 2025.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The aerosol remote sensing time series available still acts as a basis for ultimately quantifying the radiative impact of aerosol sources in the south-western Indian Ocean (further research needed, of course).
Ongoing discussions with UR on the implementation of common guidelines for all EU projects within UR will lead to smoother realization of such projects in the future.
The AEROFORCE project between LACy and EnergyLab is creating a new collaborative momentum within OSU-R.
The labelisation of OPAR as an Aerosol Remote Sensing National Facility within ACTRIS-EU is still on track thanks to the work performed around the tropospheric aerosol lidar MARLEY.
OPARMaido Aerosol lidars have been labelised withing NDACC.