The European Commission has officially established ACTRIS as a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC). With its ERIC status, ACTRIS is now officially recognised as a European research infrastructure for atmospheric research. It provides science, industry and public authorities with access to a wide range of high-quality data, technologies, services and resources, and to promote cutting-edge research and international cooperation in the field of atmospheric research.
![[Translate to English:] Sicht auf Lidar-System KARL, der deutsch-französischen Forschungsbasis AWIPEV, Ny Alesund Spitzbergen](/fileadmin/_processed_/c/3/csm_20160207_KARL_023_RBuergi_63740b8143.jpg "Atmospheric Research at AWIPEV")
The statutory seat of the ERIC is Finland and the Head Office is located in Helsinki. Other central institutions as well as the national institutions providing ACTRIS services are spread across the 17 ACTRIS member countries. A total of eleven universities, research institutes and authorities are involved in the German ACTRIS contribution (ACTRIS-D). The establishment of the German calibration centres, observation stations, atmospheric simulation chambers and mobile measurement platforms is being funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) with a total of 86 million euros over eight years. At the same time, the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) has taken over the financing of the German member contribution and the operation of the German calibration centres. ACTRIS-D is coordinated by the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS) in Leipzig. The Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research is participating with measuring systems at the AWIPEV station on Svalbard. Further information can be found in this TROPOS press release.