MOSES is a joint facility developed by the “Earth and Environment” research field. The participating Helmholtz Centres provide observation systems which are combined into “modules”. MOSES modules comprise either sensors that are required in order to study a certain research topic (e.g., “Module Biota” or “Module Flow and Sediment dynamics”) throughout an entire event chain or they are spatially or temporally aggregated to study processes in a certain system (e.g., “Module Fixed Point Stations” or “Module Atmospheric Systems”). MOSES therefore follows a “system of systems” approach, combining sensors across disciplines and compartments to allow for an integrated observational approach along event chains. MOSES is designed to investigate the impact of distinct dynamic events on the large-scale and long-term behavior of Earth and environmental systems. The envisaged event-driven campaigns will focus on states, fluxes and processes of the energy, water, nutrient and greenhouse gas (GHG) cycles with a cross-compartmental approach. The observational concept comprises a range of moderate to extreme and local to regional events as well as their possible interactions. MOSES modules are developed for integrated operation in the atmosphere, at the land surface, in the coastal region, in the ocean and in the cryosphere (see above). They are designed to decipher event-driven impacts and their feedbacks on the large-scale changes of the Earth’s ecosystems.
At the beginning, MOSES targets the thorough investigation of four “exemplary” event chains: heat waves, hydrologic extremes, ocean eddies and the thawing of permafrost. Due to its transdisciplinary structure across the “Earth and Environment” centres, providing expertise on the main compartments “Atmosphere”, “Pedosphere”, “Cryosphere” and “Hydrosphere”, MOSES will enable the study of such event chains with an integrated research approach across all disciplines for the first time. In the course of the planned 15-year operating period, other events such as volcanic eruptions or dust storms might be investigated. Because of their rare and short-term nature, such events require a task force operation plan, which will be addressed after the MOSES implementation phase has been completed successfully.