Das Projekt "The Water, Energy and Food Security Nexus" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Fachhochschule Köln, Institut für Technologie- und Ressourcenmanagement in den Tropen und Subtropen (ITT) durchgeführt. In order to understand the interlinked problems in the Nexus (Latin = connection, linkage, interrelation) of water, energy and food security, close cooperation between scientists and practitioners from different fields is necessary. The present and future challenge of a reliable supply with water, energy and food is an example, where isolated considerations do not lead to viable solutions. Sustainable action and meaningful research in these highly interconnected fields require a holistic and comprehensive perspective and a new approach. In this sense, a collaborative research structure with a holistic view on the Nexus of Water, Energy and Food security was established in 2013 at the Cologne University of Applied Sciences. The project bundles some of the research efforts of 11 professors from different faculties and institutes. The researchers jointly work on initiating new cooperation projects with partners from industry, academia and civil society. Together they aim at exploring new technologies and applying new approaches to solve major issues of efficiency and sustainability in resource use.
Das Projekt "Simulated field environment with combined salt and drought stresses as a platform for phenotyping plant tolerance to salinity" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Technische Universität München, Lehrstuhl für Pflanzenernährung durchgeführt. Salinity occurs often simultaneously with drought stress. Therefore, breeding for tolerance to combined both stresses can contribute significantly to crop yield. However, classical selection in salinity has generally been unsuccessful, partly due to high variability of salt stress resulting from the different salinity and drought status. Unfortunately, the use of unrealistic stress protocols for mimicking salinity and drought stress is the norm rather than the exception in biotechnological studies. Therefore, the great challenge is to gain knowledge required to develop plants with enhanced tolerance to field conditions. Our overall hypothesis is that a realistic stress protocol simulating a field environment with combined salt and drought stress as a platform for precision phenotyping of plant tolerance to salinity may solve this problem. This study will demonstrate that highly managed stress environments can be created and key traits of plants can be characterised by using advanced non-destructive sensors that are able to identify relevant traits of plants.
Das Projekt "Probing the Earth's subdecadal core-mantle dynamics based on satellite geomagnetic field models" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Potsdam, Institut für Mathematik durchgeführt. The CHAMP mission provided a great amount of geomagnetic data all over the globe from 2000 to 2010. Its dense data coverage has allowed us to build GRIMM - GFZ Reference Internal Magnetic Model - which has the highest ever resolution for the core field in both space and time. We have already modeled the fluid flow in the Earth's outer core by applying the diffusionless magnetic induction equation to the latest version of GRIMM, to find that the flow evolves on subdecadal timescales, with a remarkable correlation to the observed fluctuation of Earth rotation. These flow models corroborated the presence of six-year torsional oscillations in the outer core fluid. Torsional oscillation (TO) is a type of hydromagnetic wave, theoretically considered to form the most important element of decadal or subdecadal core dynamics. It consists of relative azimuthal rotations of rigid fluid annuli coaxial with the mantle's rotation and dynamically coupled with the mantle and inner core. In preceding works, the TOs have been studied by numerical simulations, either with full numerical dynamos, or solving eigenvalue problems ideally representing the TO system. While these studies drew insights about dynamical aspects of the modeled TOs, they did not directly take into account the observations of geomagnetic field and Earth rotation. Particularly, there have been no observation-based studies for the TO using satellite magnetic data or models. In the proposed project, we aim at revealing the subdecadal dynamics and energetics of the Earth's core-mantle system on the basis of satellite magnetic observations. To that end, we will carry out four work packages (1) to (4), for all of which we use GRIMM. (1) We perform timeseries analyses of core field and flow models, to carefully extract the signals from TOs at different latitudes. (2) We refine the conventional flow modeling scheme by parameterizing the magnetic diffusion at the core surface. Here, the diffusion term is reinstated in the magnetic induction equation, which is dynamically constrained by relating it to the Lorentz term in the Navier-stokes equation. (3) We develop a method to compute the electromagnetic core-mantle coupling torque on the core fluid annuli, whereby the energy dissipation due to the Joule heating is evaluated for each annulus. This analysis would provide insights on whether the Earth's TOs are free or forced oscillations. (4) Bringing together physical implications and computational tools obtained by (1) to (3), we finally construct a dynamical model for the Earth's TOs and core-mantle coupling such that they are consistent with GRIMM and Earth rotation observation. This modeling is unique in that the force balances concerning the TOs are investigated in time domain, as well as that the modeling also aims at improving the observation-based core flow model by considering the core dynamics.
Das Projekt "Carbon, water and nutrient dynamics in vascular plant- vs. Sphagnum-dominated bog ecosystems in southern Patagonia" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Münster, Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät, Fachbereich 14 - Geowissenschaften durchgeführt. In bog ecosystems, vegetation controls key processes such as the retention of carbon, water and nutrients. In northern hemispherical bogs, a shift from Sphagnum- to vascular plant-dominated vegetation is often traced back to Climate Change and increased anthropogenic nitrogen deposition and coincides with substantially reduced capacities in carbon, water and nutrient retention. In southern Patagonia, bogs dominated by Sphagnum and vascular plants coexist since millennia under similar environmental settings. Thus, South Patagonian bogs may serve as ideal examples for the long-term effect of vascular plant invasion on carbon, water and nutrient balances of bog ecosystems. The contemporary balances of carbon and water of both a bog dominated by Sphagnum and vascular plants are determined by CO2- H2O and CH4 flux measurements and an estimation of lateral water losses as well as losses via dissolved organic and inorganic carbon compounds. The high time resolution of simultaneous eddy covariance measurements of CO2 and H2O in both bog types and the strong interaction between climatic variables and the physiology of bog plants allow for direct comparisons of carbon and water fluxes during cold, warm, dry, wet, cloudy or sunny periods. By the combination with leaf-scale measurements of gas exchange and fluorescence, plant-physiological controls of photosynthesis and transpiration can be identified. Long-term peat accumulation rates will be determined by carbon density and age-depth profiles including a characterization of peat humification characteristics. A reciprocal transplantation experiment with incorporated shading, liming and labeled N addition treatments is conducted to explore driving factors affecting competition between Sphagnum and vascular plants as well as the interactions between CO2-, CH4-, and water fluxes and decisive plant functional traits affecting key processes for carbon sequestration and nutrient cycling. Decomposition rates and driving below ground processes are analyzed with a litter bag field experiment and an incubation experiment in the laboratory.
Das Projekt "Effects of water content, input of roots and dissolved organic matter and spatial inaccessibility on C turnover & determination of the spatial variability of subsoil properties" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Kassel, Lehr- und Forschungsgebiet Umwelt- und Lebensmittelwissenschaften, Fachgebiet Umweltchemie durchgeführt. It is well established that reduced supply of fresh organic matter, interactions of organic matter with mineral phases and spatial inaccessibility affect C stocks in subsoils. However, quantitative information required for a better understanding of the contribution of each of the different processes to C sequestration in subsoils and for improvements of subsoil C models is scarce. The same is true for the main controlling factors of the decomposition rates of soil organic matter in subsoils. Moreover, information on spatial variabilities of different properties in the subsoil is rare. The few studies available which couple near and middle infrared spectroscopy (NIRS/MIRS) with geostatistical approaches indicate a potential for the creation of spatial maps which may show hot spots with increased biological activities in the soil profile and their effects on the distribution of C contents. Objectives are (i) to determine the mean residence time of subsoil C in different fractions by applying fractionation procedures in combination with 14C measurements; (ii) to study the effects of water content, input of 13C-labelled roots and dissolved organic matter and spatial inaccessibility on C turnover in an automatic microcosm system; (iii) to determine general soil properties and soil biological and chemical characteristics using NIRS and MIRS, and (iv) to extrapolate the measured and estimated soil properties to the vertical profiles by using different spatial interpolation techniques. For the NIRS/MIRS applications, sample pretreatment (air-dried vs. freeze-dried samples) and calibration procedures (a modified partial least square (MPLS) approach vs. a genetic algorithm coupled with MPLS or PLS) will be optimized. We hypothesize that the combined application of chemical fractionation in combination with 14C measurements and the results of the incubation experiments will give the pool sizes of passive, intermediate, labile and very labile C and N and the mean residence times of labile and very labile C and N. These results will make it possible to initialize the new quantitative model to be developed by subproject PC. Additionally, we hypothesize that the sample pretreatment 'freeze-drying' will be more useful for the estimation of soil biological characteristics than air-drying. The GA-MPLS and GA-PLS approaches are expected to give better estimates of the soil characteristics than the MPLS and PLS approaches. The spatial maps for the different subsoil characteristics in combination with the spatial maps of temperature and water contents will presumably enable us to explain the spatial heterogeneity of C contents.
Das Projekt "Quantification of functional hydro-biogeochemical indicators in Ecuadorian ecosystems and their reaction on global change" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Gießen, Institut für Landschaftsökologie und Ressourcenmanagement, Professur für Landschafts-, Wasser- und Stoffhaushalt durchgeführt. Water is an intrinsic component of ecosystems acting as a key agent of lateral transport for particulate and dissolved nutrients, forcing energy transfers, triggering erosion, and driving biodiversity patterns. Given the drastic impact of land use and climate change on any of these components and the vulnerability of Ecuadorian ecosystems with regard to this global change, indicators are required that not merely describe the structural condition of ecosystems, but rather capture the functional relations and processes. This project aims at investigating a set of such functional indicators from the fields of hydrology and biogeochemistry. In particular we will investigate (1) flow regime and timing, (2) nutrient cycling and flux rates, and (3) sediment fluxes as likely indicators. For assessing flow regime and timing we will concentrate on studying stable water isotopes to estimate mean transit time distributions that are likely to be impacted by changes in rainfall patterns and land use. Hysteresis loops of nitrate concentrations and calculated flux rates will be used as functional indicators for nutrient fluxes, most likely to be altered by changes in temperature as well as by land use and management. Finally, sediment fluxes will be measured to indicate surface runoff contribution to total discharge, mainly influenced by intensity of rainfall as well as land use. Monitoring of (1) will be based on intensive sampling campaigns of stable water isotopes in stream water and precipitation, while for (2) and (3) we plan to install automatic, high temporal-resolution field analytical instruments. Based on the data obtained by this intensive, bust cost effective monitoring, we will develop the functional indicators. This also provides a solid database for process-based model development. Models that are able to simulate these indicators are needed to enable projections into the future and to investigate the resilience of Ecuadorian landscape to global change. For the intended model set up we will couple the Catchment Modeling Framework, the biogeochemical LandscapeDNDC model and semi-empirical models for aquatic diversity. Global change scenarios will then be analyzed to capture the likely reaction of functional indicators. Finally, we will contribute to the written guidelines for developing a comprehensive monitoring program for biodiversity and ecosystem functions. Right from the beginning we will cooperate with four SENESCYT companion projects and three local non-university partners to ensure that the developed monitoring program will be appreciated by locals and stakeholders. Monitoring and modelling will focus on all three research areas in the Páramo (Cajas National Park), the dry forest (Reserva Laipuna) and the tropical montane cloud forest (Reserva Biologica San Francisco).
Das Projekt "Origin and fate of dissolved organic matter in the subsoil" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Leibniz Universität Hannover, Institut für Bodenkunde durchgeführt. Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is one major source of subsoil organic matter (OM). P5 aims at quantifying the impact of DOM input, transport, and transformation to the OC storage in the subsoil environment. The central hypotheses of this proposal are that in matric soil the increasing 14C age of organic carbon (OC) with soil depth is due to a cascade effect, thus, leading to old OC in young subsoil, whereas within preferential flowpaths sorptive stabilization is weak, and young and bioa-vailable DOM is translocated to the subsoil at high quantities. These hypotheses will be tested by a combination of DOC flux measurements with the comparative analysis of the composition and the turnover of DOM and mineral-associated OM. The work programme utilizes a DOM monitoring at the Grinderwald subsoil observatory, supplemented by defined experiments under field and labora-tory conditions, and laboratory DOM leaching experiments on soils of regional variability. A central aspect of the experiments is the link of a 13C-leaf litter labelling experiment to the 14C age of DOM and OM. With that P5 contributes to the grand goal of the research unit and addresses the general hypotheses that subsoil OM largely consists of displaced and old OM from overlying horizons, the sorption capacity of DOM and the pool size of mineral-associated OM are controlled by interaction with minerals, and that preferential flowpaths represent 'hot spots' of high substrate availability.
Das Projekt "Sustainable Water Resources Management in the Yanqi Basin, Sinkiang, China" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, Institut für Verkehrsplanung und Transportsysteme durchgeführt. Irrigation in the Yanqi Basin, Sinkiang, China has led to water table rise and soil salination. A model is used to assess management options. These include more irrigation with groundwater, water saving irrigation techniques and others. The model relies on input data from remote sensing.The Yanqi Basin is located in the north-western Chinese province of Xinjiang.This agriculturally highly productive region is heavily irrigated with water drawn from the Kaidu River. The Kaidu River itself is mainly fed by snow and glacier melt from the Tian Mountain surrounding the basin. A very poor drainage system and an overexploitation of surface water have lead to a series of environmental problems: 1. Seepage water under irrigated fields has raised the groundwater table during the last years, causing strongly increased groundwater evaporation. The salt dissolved in the groundwater accumulates at the soil surface as the groundwater evaporates. This soil salinization leads to degradation of vegetation as well as to a loss of arable farmland. 2. The runoff from the Bostan Lake to the downstream Corridor is limited since large amount of water is used for irrigation in the Yanqi Basin. Nowadays, the runoff is maintained by pumping water from the lake to the river. The environmental and ecological system is facing a serious threat.In order to improve the situation in the Yanqi Basin, a jointly funded cooperation has been set up by the Institute of Environmental Engineering, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) , China Institute of Geological and Environmental Monitoring (CIGEM) and Xinjiang Agricultural University. The situation could in principle be improved by using groundwater for irrigation, thus lowering the groundwater table and saving unproductive evaporation. However, this is associated with higher cost as groundwater has to be pumped. The major decision variable to steer the system into a desirable state is thus the ratio of irrigation water pumped from the aquifer and irrigation water drawn from the river. The basis to evaluate the ideal ratio between river and groundwater - applied to irrigation - will be a groundwater model combined with models describing the processes of the unsaturated zone. The project will focus on the following aspects of research: (...)
Das Projekt "Dissolved organic matter driven changes in minerals and organic-mineral interactions during paddy soil development" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Institut für Agrar- und Ernährungswissenschaften, Professur für Bodenkunde und Bodenschutz durchgeführt. Previous studies indicated that the development and biogeochemistry of paddy soils relates to the parent material, thus the original soil paddies derive from. The proposed research focuses on redox-mediated changes in mineral composition and mineral-associated organic matter (OM) during paddy transformation of different soils. We plan to subject soil samples to a series of redox cycles, in order to mimic paddy soil formation and development. Soils with strongly different properties and mineral composition as well as at different states of paddy transformation; ranging from unchanged soils to fully developed paddy soils, are to be included. We hypothesize that dissolved organic matter is one key driver in redox-mediated transformations, serving as an electron donator as well as interacting with dissolved metals and minerals. The extent of effects shall depend on the parent soil's original mineral assemblage and organic matter and their mutual interactions. The experimental paddy soil transformation will tracked by analyses of soil solutions, of the (re-)distribution of carbon (by addition of 13C-labelled rice straw), of indicative biomolecules (sugars, amino sugars, fatty acids, lignin) and of minerals (including the redox state of Fe). For analyses of organic matter as well as of mineral characteristics we plan to utilize EXAFS and XPS, for Fe-bearing minerals also Mößbauer spectroscopy. This approach of experimental pedology seems appropriate to give insight into the major factors during paddy soil formation and development.
Das Projekt "Quantification of active interfaces with respect to dissolved chemicals in unsaturated structured soil" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung GmbH - UFZ, Department Bodenphysik durchgeführt. During the first project period we developed a general approach to quantify soil pore structure based on X-ray micro-tomography Vogel et al. (2010) which is applicable at various scales to cover soil pores larger that 0.05 mm in a representative way. Based on this method we generated equivalent network models to numerically simulate flow and transport of dissolved chemicals. The existing network model was extended to handle reactive transport and infiltration processes which are especially critical for matter flux in soil. The results were compared to experimental findings. The original research question 'what does a particle see on its way through soil' could be answered quantitatively for various boundary conditions including steady state flux and infiltration. However, we identified various critical aspects of the proposed modeling concept which will be in the focus of the second period. This includes 1) the spatial arrangement of interfaces having different quality which is crucial for chemical interactions and pore scale water dynamics, 2) the realistic multiphase dynamics at the pore scale which need to reflect the dynamic pressure and movement of trapped non-wetting phase and 3) the parametrization of structural complexity which need to be developed beyond the measurement of continuous Minkowski functions to allow the development of quantitative relations between structure and function. These aspects will be explored in a joint experiments in cooperation with partners within the SPP.
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