| projects-041 |
251785 |
FRESIS |
Freshwater invasive species in Europe: control, prevention and eradication |
FP7 |
No data |
FP7-PEOPLE-2009-IEF |
2010-05-01 |
2012-04-30 |
Completed |
€ 000 172 740.80 |
Invasive species together with climate change are currently the greatest threats to biodiversity worldwide and constitutes a great challenge to scientist, environmental managers, the water industry and the society at pan-European and international levels. Consequently, national and international organizations have defined action plans to control and prevent invasions which are structured into three main axes: (i) control, (ii) prevention and (iii) eradication. The FRESIS project proposes an integrative and multidisciplinary approach to implement these three major axes of action that will contribute towards and enhance the competitiveness of Europe in the management of biological invasions. First, multivariate statistical modelling will be used to identify multiple factors that affect the occurrence and abundance of freshwater invasive species. Second, the artificial-intelligence algorithm GARP will be used to model the ecological niche of freshwater invasive species that are afterward mapped using GIS tools. Spatial modelling is directed to (i) understand the actual distribution of invasive species, (ii) their potential range-of-invasion, and (iii) forecast shifts in geographical range due to global changes. Finally, bioassays will be designed to evaluate an innovative cost-efficient green technology to mitigate biofouling: the BioBullets. The combination of traditional and modern statistical modelling together with ecological niche models and bioassays constitutes an innovative approach to freshwater invasive species and will provide outstanding and unique results regarding the ecology, distribution and eradication of aquatic invasions. I highlight the multidisciplinary aspect of this project requiring abilities in ecology, limnology, geography, statistics and chemical engineering. Given the high ecological and economic costs of invasive species, the project has a strategic impact in Europe, both from scientific, economic and social points of view. |
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/251785 |
Rivers and estuaries', 'Water reservoir', 'Lake', 'Groundwater', 'Wetlands', 'Urban water' |
| projects-042 |
223925 |
LENVIS |
Localised environmental and health information services for all: User-centric collaborative decision support network for water and air quality management |
FP7 |
No data |
ICT-2007.6.3 |
2008-09-01 |
2012-01-31 |
Completed |
€ 003 131 818.00 |
The main goal of the LENVIS project is to develop an innovative collaborative decision support network for exchange of location-based environmental and health services between all stakeholders, for enhanced capacity to assess population exposure and health risks and better management of the concerned ecosystems. LENVIS will include health indicators as integral part of the environmental management.<br/>There is a growing demand for real time and integrated environmental and health risk information. Provision of such location-based services linked to the state of the environment at particular geographical locations (addresses) is necessary for improving the quality of life of all people. This is essential for mitigation of environmental-related health threats associated to water quantity and quality, and outdoor air pollutions.<br/>LENVIS project aims to fill the existing gap between environmental management and the health management systems. This will be done by developing a generic ICT solution that combines service-oriented-architecture (SOA) and user-centric approach (peer-to-peer network, P2P) by fusion of location-based environmental and health data, information and modelling services. This novel collaborative peer-to-peer network, as an integral part of the Single Information Space for the Environment in Europe, will be validated through test cases on fresh surface water and outdoor air quality in the Netherlands, Portugal and Italy.<br/>LENVIS project will facilitate collaboration between different stakeholders, such as environmental protection agencies, health institutions and service providers, policy makers, citizens in general and environmental communities in Europe. |
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/223925 |
Urban water', 'Rivers and estuaries', 'Coastal waters' |
| projects-043 |
237203 |
POSTOROLAND |
The evolution of post-orogenic landscapes: bedrock rivers, lithology and relief development |
FP7 |
No data |
FP7-PEOPLE-IEF-2008 |
2009-06-01 |
2011-05-31 |
Completed |
No data |
Post-orogenic landscapes occupy by far and away the bulk of the Earth’s surface but their evolution remains under-researched and poorly understood, providing the central motivation for this proposal. The principal outcome will be the testing of competing models for post-orogenic landscape evolution. The proposal is strongly linked to studies that analyse how climatic and tectonic factors influence landscape evolution, and relies on leading-edge techniques such as cosmogenic nuclide analysis and DEM analyses; the work will have important implications for the parameterisation of numerical modelling of landscape evolution. The project will combine digital terrain analysis, long profile analysis and cosmogenic nuclide analysis in the 20,000 km2 Lachlan River catchment, a bedrock river catchment draining the inland (western) side of Australia's southeast highlands on the 90 Myr-old Tasman continental margin. The Lachlan drainage basin is a classic post-orogenic landscape that has a very well-constrained Cenozoic evolution. The aim of the proposal is to assess the key controls on the rate and style of landscape evolution in this typical post-orogenic setting (1) by quantifying rates of landscape evolution, and (2) by assessing the ways in which landscape evolution is slowed by resistant lithologies. Thus, the research will provide an assessment of one of the major neglected controls of post-orogenic landscape evolution, namely, lithology. The role of lithology in landscapes evolution lies at the heart of some of the enduring questions in geomorphology, such as: Do hard rocks slow landscape evolution, and if so, how do they do this? Providing answers to these questions using the most up-date-date techniques of cosmogenic nuclide analysis and DEM analyses will help to bring the much-neglected post-orogenic terrains back into 21st century main-stream geomorphological research. |
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/237203 |
Rivers and estuaries' |
| projects-044 |
909457 |
CFD-DEM |
NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF SEDIMENT ENTRAINMENT |
FP7 |
No data |
FP7-PEOPLE-IIF-2008 |
2011-12-07 |
2012-12-06 |
Completed |
€ 000 015 000.00 |
"Sediment transport is important for predicting the impact of human intervention on river and coastal systems. The numerical modelling of individual particles on the bed of a turbulent open channel is particularly difficult because it not only involves the correct modelling of the turbulence but also the movement of the particles themselves. This project is aimed at investigating the influence of turbulence on the entrainment and movement of coarse particles on the bed of an open channel. In order to do this it will be necessary to couple existing in-house discrete element and computational fluid dynamics codes. The final code will be able to correctly model the turbulence in the channel and around the particles. From a geomorphological point of view, the research will be a major contribution to the understanding of sediment dynamics by focusing on the movement of individual particles, turbulence around these discrete particles and the role of turbulent eddies in particle entrainment. It will lead to improved understanding of bed mobility in rivers with non-cohesive sediment. Simulations will be carried out to investigate the influence of turbulence on the entrainment of the particles. We shall look at factors that influence the stability of the particles, such as: drag and lift forces, degree of protrusion, blocking by particles upstream, effect of particles downstream on the points of rotation of a moving particle." |
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/909457 |
Rivers and estuaries', 'Coastal waters' |
| projects-045 |
273049 |
DILREACT |
Compound-dependent dilution and reactive processes in groundwater |
FP7 |
No data |
FP7-PEOPLE-2010-IOF |
2011-10-01 |
2014-09-30 |
Completed |
€ 000 221 920.00 |
"The quantitative understanding of contaminant transport is a fundamental requirement for the protection and management of groundwater resources and for the implementation of natural attenuation and/or engineered remediation technologies. Dilution and mixing processes play a pivotal role for solute transport in porous aquifer systems. In fact, the limited extent of mixing usually controls reactive transport and natural attenuation of contaminant plumes. Laboratory and field investigations have demonstrated the presence of narrow bioactive zones at the fringes of organic contaminant plumes, where reaction partners (i.e. different substrates) are brought into contact by mixing processes. Therefore, the correct quantification of mixing is of utmost importance for an accurate description of reactive transport of contaminants in groundwater. The objective of the present DILREACT project is to deepen and improve the current understanding of mixing and mixing-controlled reactions in the subsurface. The proposed approach is based on a tight coupling between high-resolution data at the laboratory and field scales and mathematical modelling including both the development of theoretical concepts and the use of numerical codes to simulate conservative and reactive transport. Characteristics of dilution and mixing processes such as the recently observed compound-dependency in the transverse component (Chiogna et al., 2010) will be investigated in detail. Appropriate measures able to capture these effects as well as the influence of flow focusing on mixing intensity in complex heterogeneous porous media will be proposed and validated against high-resolution experimental observations. Numerical tools accurately describing mixing processes and their coupling with biogeochemical reactions will be developed and tested in a series of remediation scenarios and in an applied reactive transport modelling study at an aquifer contaminated by petroleum hydrocarbons." |
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/273049 |
Groundwater' |
| projects-046 |
220620 |
GWAT-LCA |
Revising the Role of Groundwater in Life Cycle Assessment |
FP7 |
No data |
PEOPLE-2007-2-1.IEF |
2008-02-15 |
2010-02-14 |
Completed |
€ 000 178 927.59 |
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is the standardised method for assessing the environmental impacts of any product or service. After quantifying all associated emissions and the consumption of resources, this impact is expressed with respect to a few common impact categories. These are supposed to reflect major societal and environmental priorities. Although groundwater is the most extracted raw material in the world, and extraordinarily important for most parts of the EU, it is virtually ignored in LCA. To overcome this deficiency, an interdisciplinary approach is needed. The proposed fellowship integrates a hydrogeologist into a prominent group of LCA experts, in order to develop the initial steps for tackling groundwater quality and quantity issues within an LCA framework. The fellow is offered extensive training on LCA concepts to combine the perspectives of both LCA expert and hydrogeologist. The research work includes a general gradation of threats to groundwater and the development of a competent modelling framework. The latter task is dedicated to the improvement and consistent development of modelling tools. This is to enable a balanced simulation of different hydrogeological threats, and to uniformly account for the spatial variability of environmental conditions. A major focus is placed on the issues of whether, and how, groundwater can be considered a safeguard object within impact assessment, assumed that it represents a separate receptor. The scientific results of this project are expected to be fundamental but still incomplete in achieving a generally valid methodology, which complies with the holistic requirements of LCA practice. However, it will be a necessary starting point for revealing the principal relationships between LCA and hydrogeology and ultimately defining the research needs in this highly timely subject. For the fellow, the profound thematic and social expertise gained will be ideally suited to a novel and ambitious field of science. |
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/220620 |
Groundwater' |
| projects-047 |
247514 |
CREC |
Coastal Research Network On Environmental Changes |
FP7 |
No data |
FP7-PEOPLE-2009-IRSES |
2010-06-01 |
2014-05-31 |
Completed |
€ 000 267 600.00 |
Coastal wetlands experience dramatic changes as a consequence of temperature increase, sea level rise, or nutrient accumulation. This has raised great concern about the future fate of such systems, their functioning and services. Conservation policies are in need of new approaches in order to understand the complex feedback mechanisms driving organismic responses to environmental changes, and improving our capability to forecast future changes in higher hierarchical levels of the ecosystems. The CREC consortium will address these issues by investigating: (i) effects of interacting environmental drivers, (ii) combined changes in biotic interactions, and (iii) feedback loops between hierarchical levels within ecological systems. We selected mangroves as our core topic since these wetlands are particularly threatened by environmental changes but provide multiple functions to be conserved in the future. Nevertheless, the research techniques applied in the working packages will form an ecological know-how that scientists will easily transfer to other ecosystems including European ones. This will significantly improve both, the strength and impact power of the applying consortium, and the scientific base for conservation, rehabilitation and management of coastal ecosystems. The CREC network brings together 9 participants from 3 European countries and 5 Third countries. The network builds on a strong base of already established co-operations but will also provide new cross-links of expertise on empirical, theoretical, and applied aspects of wetland research. In this frame, the merging of ecophysiological research and computer modelling is seminal and strategically important for the development and implementation of innovative and scientifically sound technologies for coastal conservation and environmental management. The CREC research activities are thus in agreement with the UN Convention on Biological Diversity and the World Summit on Sustainable Development. |
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/247514 |
Wetlands', 'Coastal waters' |
| projects-048 |
299035 |
CRAG |
A coupled ice sheet - ocean model for calibrated prediction of the future contribution to sea level change from the Pine Island Glacier, Antarctica |
FP7 |
No data |
FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IOF |
2013-07-01 |
2016-06-30 |
Completed |
€ 000 381 525.10 |
The potential of marine ice sheets to undergo rapid irreversible retreat has been considered in the glaciological community since the 1970s. One of the world’s major marine ice sheets, the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS), contains enough ice to raise global mean sea level by approximately 5m. However, of immediate relevance to policy makers, the likely rate of WAIS contribution to sea level change on century timescales is not known.This project will couple a state of the art ice sheet model and ocean circulation model. Ice sheet models are only now reaching sufficient maturity to be applied to predictive studies of marine ice sheet behaviour, partly due to the candidate’s recent advances in modelling the grounding line (the line dividing ice grounded on bedrock from the floating part of the ice sheet). Ocean models incorporating ice shelf cavity processes are also emerging, and the candidate’s collaborators at the outgoing host are leading development in this area. Ice sheet – ocean model coupling is essential in predictive studies due to the feedback between evolving ice shelf cavity geometry/grounding line location and ice shelf cavity circulation via sub ice shelf melt rates.The model will be applied to the Pine Island Glacier (PIG), an important outlet glacier draining a portion of the WAIS, which has been studied extensively and is currently thinning at an increasing rate. The project will use new coupled model and Bayesian calibration techniques to ascertain whether the PIG has crossed a threshold for irreversible retreat and provide a probabilistic quantification of the PIG contribution to sea level change over the next two centuries.The project is novel in the ice sheet - ocean coupling (this will be the first 3D ocean circulation model fully coupled to an evolving ice sheet model) and in the use of Bayesian calibration to provide a probabilistic prediction, an approach rarely used in glaciology. |
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/299035 |
Snow and ice' |
| projects-049 |
259285 |
EXOWATER |
Chemical EXchanges On WATER-rich worlds: Experimentation and numerical modelling |
FP7 |
No data |
ERC-SG-PE9 |
2011-01-01 |
2015-12-31 |
Completed |
€ 001 481 400.00 |
The present project is dedicated to the characterization of chemical exchanges within water-rich bodies including icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn as well as exoplanets that may be discovered in a near future. Recent spacecraft missions, Galileo (1996-2003) and Cassini-Huygens (2004-today), have revealed that complex chemical exchanges between their warm silicate inner core and their water-rich outer layer have occur on Enceladus, Europa and Titan. Similar exchange processes are also likely to occur within water-rich planets outside our Solar System. Here I propose to combine experimental investigations and numerical modelling to quantify the degree of interaction between seafloors, oceans, ice shells, and surfaces, atmospheres of water-rich worlds. This innovative approach will provide the first complete description of exchange processes on water-rich bodies and will constrain the conditions for which such water-rich environments are favourable for the development of life.The proposed sophisticated modeling of interactions between the interior and surface will provide precious tools for the interpretation of Galileo/Cassini observations and will significantly improve our current understanding of planetary processes. The output of these numerical simulations will also help for the definition of measurements that should be done by future exploration missions (EJSM and TSSM) in order to constrain the composition and size of icy moon s ocean.The detection of water-rich around other stars is within our reach. When the first detections of a water-rich planet and the first identification of atmospheric components will occur, my proposed modelling efforts will provide a theoretical framework for the data interpretation in term of physical and chemical conditions of their ocean and atmosphere. This will provide key constraints to define if a detected planet outside our Solar System is a good candidate for harbouring life. |
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/259285 |
Snow and ice' |
| projects-050 |
618610 |
SEA ICE CFD |
Understanding the physics of first-year sea-ice growth using theoretical and computational fluid dynamics |
FP7 |
No data |
FP7-PEOPLE-2013-CIG |
2013-09-01 |
2017-08-31 |
Completed |
€ 000 100 000.00 |
"Sea ice provides a dramatic indicator of climate change, and is central to significant feedbacks on climate processes, weather, and polar biogeochemistry. The recently observed imbalance in the annual cycle of winter ice growth and summer melt results in a declining sea ice cover, with first year ice forming a larger fraction of the ice cover instead of the thicker multiyear ice that has been prevalent in the past. Hence, first year ice processes become increasingly important.This project will advance the state of the art in modelling of physical processes controlling sea ice growth, by applying theoretical and computational fluid dynamics tools to study 2 key elements of first year sea ice growth:1. Sea ice forms a reactive porous material of ice crystals and liquid brine, allowing fluid transport through the ice and exchange of salt and chemicals with the ocean. We will develop numerical models to directly resolve fluid flow through the interior of a growing ice layer using a continuum theory for multiphase materials. Time-dependent simulations of convection in the ice pore space will yield new insight into brine drainage from sea ice.2. A significant fraction of Antarctic sea ice has a granular texture, formed by aggregation of ice crystals that grow in turbulent waters below the ocean surface. We will develop novel direct numerical simulations of particle-laden flow with crystal growth and aggregation, to quantify the dynamics of granular ice formation.The resulting modelling tools, simulation data, and physical insight gained will complement existing observational and experimental data, and provide a basis for developing and evaluating parameterisations for climate prediction and models of sea ice biogeochemistry.This CIG project will develop a new research team on the fluid dynamics of sea ice processes, and build new collaborations that integrate the modelling work into the wider sea-ice and climate-science communities across Europe and beyond." |
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/618610 |
Snow and ice' |
