| projects-271 |
750553 |
RURECO |
Institutions for Resilient Groundwater Dependent Rural Economies |
H2020 |
H2020-MSCA-IF-2016 |
MSCA-IF-2016 |
2018-02-01 |
2020-01-31 |
Completed |
€ 000 173 076.00 |
Groundwater is a strategic resource for modern economies worldwide; yet it is over-exploited at an alarming rate. New forms of governance are sought, in particular in rural areas with intensive agricultural irrigation where authorities lack the means to regulate large numbers of dispersed users. During the Fellowship, I will develop new understanding of strategies and institutional arrangements for increasing the resilience of groundwater dependent rural economies, and develop and test a methodology that support local actors to design collective solutions. Overall, the Fellowship aims to: (1) carry out a global assessment of strategies and institutions currently used worldwide; (2) develop a participatory foresight methodology to support the design of innovative strategies and institutional arrangements in two case studies; and (3) promote academic exchange and disseminate research. The Fellowship will enable me to strengthen my empirical and theoretical knowledge of the design of institutions for common-pool resource management and natural resource management, and position me as a leading scholar in the competitive research community on environmental and institutional economics. A carefully crafted series of scientific exchanges and collaborations will expand my outreach to a global level, and open opportunities for new research collaborations. The French Geological Survey (BRGM), France, is the ideal host organisation to carry out this research because of its established expertise on groundwater management with an emphasis on inter-disciplinary research of high societal relevance, and its extensive global networks. I will contribute to BRGM’s current research agenda and strengthen its collaborations in and outside Europe. My research will contribute to Europe’s knowledge base economy by providing new insights to safeguard society against water-related vulnerabilities. |
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/750553 |
Groundwater' |
| projects-272 |
642047 |
KINDRA |
Knowledge Inventory for hydrogeology research |
H2020 |
H2020-WATER-2014-2015 |
WATER-4a-2014 |
2015-01-01 |
2018-03-31 |
Completed |
€ 001 119 338.00 |
Practical and scientific knowledge related to hydrogeology research and innovation are scattered amongst various actors in Europe. The overall objective of KINDRA is to create an inventory of this knowledge-base and then use the inventory to identify critical research challenges in line with the implementation of the WFD and new innovation areas within integrated water resources management based on the latest research.Project objectives:1. Create a uniform EU-harmonised categorisation approach / terminology for reporting groundwater research (a Hydrogeological Research Classification System – HRC-SYS). Since such uniform classification does not exist at the moment, ongoing research activities, national/European hydrogeological research activities, agendas and strategies are difficult to report and even more difficult to compare.2. Carry out EU-wide assessment of existing practical and scientific knowledge (using the developed HRC-SYS) focusing on EU, national, regional, international and EU-third party scientific activities. This assessment will be implemented with the help of the national members of EFG.3. Create a European Inventory of Groundwater Research and Innovation (EIGR). This register will be supported by a web-service that will be searchable by selected key-words and will support users with query functions for statistics, diagrams, and others concise data elaboration.4. Use the data in the register and the developed analytical tools (qualitative/quantitative) to assess the performance of key ongoing EU, national, regional, international and EU-third party hydrogeological scientific and innovation activities and results.5. Compare the results with existing recommendations and position papers on groundwater related research requirements.6. Define research gaps and corresponding suggestions for research agendas in line with WFD, and WssTP recommendations. |
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/642047 |
Groundwater' |
| projects-273 |
720184 |
SMART Fertigation |
Subarea specific irrigation system for pivot- and linear fertigation techniques (SMART Fertigation) |
H2020 |
H2020-SMEInst-2014-2015 |
SC5-20-2015-1 |
2016-03-01 |
2016-08-31 |
Completed |
€ 000 071 429.00 |
Uncertainties in water availability, rising fertilizer and energy costs and increasing demand for renewable raw materials impose serious challenges on the primary sector with far-reaching implications. Irrigation practices put more and more pressure on scarce freshwater resources and mineral fertilizers are often overused leading to environmental problems and heavy impacts on the production costs of producers. Increasing resource efficiency, productivity and competitiveness of agricultural practitioners are crucial for addressing the aforementioned societal challenges. Fertigation, a novel concept merging irrigation and fertilization to one process, poses an innovative alternative to conventional cultivation practices. Hydro-Air, as SME in irrigation technology development and provision, developed and integrated the concept of fertigation with pivot- and linear irrigation systems. Using GPS & GIS data in conjunction with sensor based soil and crop property parameters the SMART Fertigation system enables sub area specific farmland management and fertigation. Optimised resource application leads to an immense savings potential in production costs (water & fertilizer by 20%) besides increasing crop yield from growth phase adjusted water and nutrient supply. This ‘saving & gaining’ makes Hydro-Air confident to supply an internationally growing market demand for resource efficient, green technologies. Based on encouraging results in field trials Hydro-Air prepares advances towards market introduction. Hydro-Air will apply and use the funding in Phase 1 to conduct a feasibility study which will reveal the European market potential of SMART Fertigation. Client groups in targeted countries will be evaluated and a business plan will developed considering estimated costs and revenues including return of investment schemes. The results and experiences will feed into the continuous improvement of the SMART Fertigation system preparing for subsequent development phases. |
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/720184 |
Urban water' |
| projects-274 |
642088 |
SWOS |
Satellite-based Wetland Observation Service |
H2020 |
H2020-SC5-2014-2015 |
SC5-16-2014 |
2015-06-01 |
2018-11-30 |
Completed |
€ 004 979 189.36 |
The objective of the project SWOS is to develop a monitoring and information service focussing on wetland ecosystems.Globally wetlands are the ecosystems with the highest rate of loss. This is alarming, considering their significance as biodiversity hotspots and ecosystems with a central role in the water cycle, including improving water quality and reducing water scarcity, in climate regulation and the economic benefit gained from using their services.A key limitation to their more effective conservation, sustainable management and restoration is the missing knowledge underpinning the application of European policy by Member States. Under the Biodiversity Strategy, Member States have recently committed to the mapping and assessment of ecosystem services (MAES); this provides a key instrument for an improved integration of wetlands in policy.SWOS will take full advantage of the Sentinel satellites and integrate results from the ESA Globwetland projects. Status maps and indicators, as well as near real-time observations will allow the assessment of biodiversity and the monitoring of dynamic changes in an unmatched temporal and spatial resolution.The Service Portal will allow the integration and web-based analysis of new maps and in-situ measurements and provide a unique entry point to locate, access and connect existing information and databases. It follows a GEOSS compatible data-broker approach and adopts international standards.SWOS contributes to establishing a Global Wetland Observing System, as requested by Ramsar, it will facilitate local and EU monitoring tasks and input into international reporting obligations. SWOS will position Europe in a leading role for wetland activities within the GEO ecosystem, biodiversity, water, land cover tasks. The direct involvement of users working at different scales and support of key user organizations ensures the usability and acceptance of the service, the harmonization with related activities and a long-term impact. |
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/642088 |
Wetlands' |
| projects-275 |
840264 |
MULTIPIR |
Multiscale modelling of migration of pollutant particles in rivers |
H2020 |
H2020-MSCA-IF-2018 |
MSCA-IF-2018 |
2020-12-01 |
2022-11-30 |
Completed |
€ 000 224 933.76 |
River pollution has become a serious environmental problem in the Europe and worldwide as it dramatically affects the freshwater quality and human health. A major source of chemical and physical pollution in rivers is small particles known as fine-grained sediment (FGS). Intensified agricultural practices and the associated increase in soil erosion in Europe has caused a shape increase in the supply of FGS to water streams. Consequently, the water quality in many rivers in Europe have deteriorated and are failing to meet minimum water quality standards. Hence, there is a urgent need to address the river pollution problem through a thorough understanding on how much supplied FGS infiltrates into the river bed and how much is resuspended and migrated at different hydrodynamic conditions, i.e. the dynamics of FGS. MULTIPIR takes an inter-disciplinary approach to tackle this challenge heads-on by combining the extraordinary experience of the researcher in erosion, sand production, hydraulics and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) with the expertise of the supervisor in coupled discrete element methods with CFD (DEM-CFD) and solid-liquid flows. A combined experimental and numerical investigation on the migration of FGS in the river will be performed, from which multiscale models will be developed to predict the infiltration and re-suspension of FGS at the microscopic level and the transport of FGS at different hydraulic conditions at the macroscopic scale. Using the developed model, a river pollution control map will be developed to guide the river managements. It is for the first time that advanced engineering approaches, e.g. DEM-CFD and advanced imaging techniques, are employed to address the challenging environmental problem and to develop a science-based river pollution control strategy that can benefit European citizens and beyond. |
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/840264 |
Rivers and estuaries' |
| projects-276 |
633945 |
FATIMA |
FArming Tools for external nutrient Inputs and water MAnagement |
H2020 |
H2020-SFS-2014-2015 |
SFS-02a-2014 |
2015-03-01 |
2018-02-28 |
Completed |
€ 007 966 697.00 |
FATIMA addresses effective and efficient monitoring and management of agricultural resources to achieve optimum crop yield and quality in a sustainable environment. It covers both ends of the scale relevant for food production, viz., precision farming and the perspective of a sustainable agriculture in the context of integrated agri-environment management. It aims at developing innovative and new farm capacities that help the intensive farm sector optimize their external input (nutrients, water) management and use, with the vision of bridging sustainable crop production with fair economic competitiveness.Our comprehensive strategy covers five interconnected levels: a modular technology package (based on the integration of Earth observation and wireless sensor networks into a webGIS), a field work package (exploring options of improving soil and input management), a toolset for multi-actor participatory processes, an integrated multi-scale economic analysis framework, and an umbrella policy analysis set based on indicator-, accounting- and footprint approach.FATIMA addresses and works with user communities (farmers, managers, decision makers in the farm and agribusiness sector) at scales ranging from farm, over irrigation scheme or aquifer, to river-basins. It will provide them with maps of fertilizer and water requirements (to feed into precision farming machinery), crop water consumption and a range of further products for sustainable cropping management supported with innovative water-energy footprint frameworks. All information will be integrated in leading-edge participatory spatial online decision-support systems. The innovative FATIMA service concept considers the economic, environmental, technical, social, and political dimensions in an integrated way.FATIMA will be implemented and demonstrated in 8 pilot areas representative of key European intensive crop production systems in Spain, Italy, Greece, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Austria, France, Turkey. |
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/633945 |
Rivers and estuaries', 'Groundwater', 'Urban water' |
| projects-277 |
822927 |
pHenom |
A cost effective, self-calibrating, low maintenance pH sensor for an integrated approach to monitoring sea and drinking water, facilitating improvements in ocean, animal and human health |
H2020 |
H2020-EIC-SMEInst-2018-2020 |
EIC-SMEInst-2018-2020 |
2018-08-01 |
2020-09-30 |
Completed |
€ 001 124 210.00 |
ANB Sensors (ANB) is a company set up to develop the next generation of pH Sensors for oceanographic, source water andaquifer monitoring and water resource management applications. In a short period of time, ANB has won innovation awardsand grant funding and registered intellectual property (IP) (3 patents pending with a further 5 patents in the filing stage)covering new, fundamental pH sensor technology.The key failing of existing pH sensors is the short life and high maintenance costs of the sensors, which is a result ofreference electrode drift giving unreliable measurements. The impact of reference drift is that most current ISE sensorscannot be used for long duration monitoring, cannot be used autonomously in smart sensor networks and require frequent,labour intensive calibrations. The only solution to reference drift currently available is expensive manual calibration.ANB’s innovative pH sensor, the pHenom, is based on a voltammetric electrochemical technique, which utilises a pHresponding molecule bound within a solid-state matrix. This is combined with a novel means of verifying the performance ofthe pHenom’s reference electrode through an additional in-situ electrochemical measurement.For the first time, the pHenom sensor provides a pH sensor that is capable of smart, networked sensing allowing companiesand government funded agencies to use their scarce monitoring management resources more efficiently.ANB’s overall objective for this project, therefore, is to develop the pHenom technology to the point where it can be placedon the market as-soon-as-possible, through technology licensing and sales. To meet this objective, in this project ANB willdevelop and produce four commercial prototype sensor systems specifically tailored for the biggest pH sensor market, thewater monitoring and management industry. These commercial prototypes will be used to demonstrate the operationaladvantages of the pHenom technology to gain market acceptance. |
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/822927 |
Coastal waters', 'Urban water', 'Groundwater' |
| projects-278 |
870518 |
COALA |
COpernicus Applications and services for Low impact agriculture in Australia |
H2020 |
H2020-SPACE-2018-2020 |
DT-SPACE-06-EO-2019 |
2020-01-01 |
2023-06-30 |
Completed |
€ 001 698 736.28 |
COALA will develop Copernicus-based information service for irrigation and nutrient management for the Australian agricultural systems, starting from the consolidated past experiences of the proposed European partnership, but based on strong collaboration with Academic Australian institutions and business players in the agricultural sector of Australia. Operational farming advisory services will be further developed on one hand to include nutrient managements on the other to provide water accounting data from the farm to the district and/or basin scale. COALA will monitor crops development, water and nutrient status, irrigated areas by means of innovative algorithms based on Sentinel Earth Observation data, which will be accessed by means of the new cloud platforms (DIAS) of Copernicus. In-situ and other source of data will be used to improve the accuracy of the products for the final users, which will be on three different levels: i) farmers, ii) irrigation infrastructure operators, iii) basin authorities. COALA will demonstrate that Copernicus data and new DIAS infrastructure can greatly improve the availability of information for management decisions on irrigation and nutrient management at all decision levels, from the Water Authority in charge of monitoring the implementation of the basin exploitation plan, to the farm level, passing through the irrigation infrastructure operators, in charge of managing irrigation distribution infrastructures. COALA tools and data will improve the decision making and policy for sustainable use of water and nutrients in multi-functional ecosystems. Through this project, it will be possible to explore new business opportunities in Australia for the European industry of Earth Observation services. |
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/870518 |
Urban water', 'Water reservoir', 'Rivers and estuaries' |
| projects-279 |
759800 |
RAINDROPS |
Resilience and Adaptation in Drylands. Identifying past water management practices for drought-resistant crops |
H2020 |
ERC-2017-STG |
ERC-2017-STG |
2018-01-01 |
2023-12-31 |
Completed |
€ 001 488 506.00 |
RAINDROPS will investigate cultivation practices that support human resilience and adaptation in drylands, by developing an innovative and reliable methodology for the identification of water management practices from archaeobotanical remains. Irrigation, river floods or permanent water sources are often deemed necessary for cultivation to be practised in drylands. However, there are modern examples that testify to the existence of successful rain-fed cultivation systems, even in hyper-arid environments. Quantification of the extent of these practices in the past has the potential to dramatically change our understanding of human adaptation and agriculture. By establishing a protocol for the accurate identification of rain-fed cultivation, RAINDROPS will pave the way for the investigation of this practice in the past. Highly controlled data on phytolith ratios, and carbon, oxygen and silicon isotopes from macro- and micro-remains from experimental fields of finger millet Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn. and sorghum Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench will be validated with ethnographic evidence before being applied to selected key archaeological case studies.RAINDROPS will advance research in: (a) archaeobotanical methodology; (b) resilience theory; (c) physiology of drought-resistant crops; and (d) TEK of cultivation systems in drylands. This will for the first time allow a thorough evaluation of the relative importance of different water management practices in dryland cultivation in the past, and their significance for human adaptation to arid environments. The experimental work on finger millet and sorghum, at present two of the most important dryland crops, will provide valuable information on cultivation practices and plant physiology that will also inform current research on improvements of drought-resistant species –thereby contributing to work on improving the livelihood for over two billion people currently at risk from arid or changing environmental conditions |
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/759800 |
Rivers and estuaries', 'Groundwater', 'Urban water' |
| projects-280 |
687323 |
BASE-platform |
Bathymetry Service Platform |
H2020 |
H2020-EO-2015 |
EO-1-2015 |
2015-12-01 |
2017-11-30 |
Completed |
€ 002 222 394.95 |
BASE-platform provides an innovative service for satellite derived bathymetric data for a broad range of users through a commercial service platform. Bathymetry is the measure of the water depth similar to underwater topography. BASE-platform has the ambition to establish a commercial service platform for bathymetric data, which is sharpened to user needs and provides most easy access. Its impact is expected to significantly influence the current market, its survey methodologies and the way bathymetric data can be accessed and used. Up-to date bathymetric data are essential for multiple purposes such as navigation, port and offshore construction, security, coastal zone management, fishery, cruising and tourism and required accordingly by various user groups. Conventional survey methods are either ship or airplane based and costly and time consuming. For these reasons, extended areas of shallow and deep water areas in Europe and worldwide are not mapped within an adequate accuracy or existing data are out of date. Earth Observation data, especially the Copernicus mission will play a key role to overcome this lack of data. BASE-platform focuses on Satellite Derived Bathymetry (SDB) as an innovative, rapid and cost effective approach to determine bathymetry from space. SDB in combination with hydrodynamic models to minimize tidal effects and crowd sourced bathymetric for validation purposes will provide those data. The BASE-platform service will be accessible through a commercial platform, which includes relevant components for a sustainable and client focused business. The services will be demonstrated, validated and improved in use cases. Relevant key players are involved for this purpose. The economic benefits of this new EO service will be analysed in a business analysis and model. Finally several dissemination actions will race awareness and increase the potential client group. |
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/687323 |
Coastal waters' |
