Das Projekt "The effect of water storage variations on in-situ gravity measurements and their use for hydrology (HYGRA)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Helmholtz-Zentrum Potsdam Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum durchgeführt. Water storage variations in the soil, groundwater, snow cover and in surface water bodies cause a gravitational effect due to mass attraction. Thus, there exists a strong interrelation between hydrology and gravity. From a hydrological perspective, the estimation of water storage and its spatio-temporal changes is essential for setting up water balances and for effective water use and management. However, direct measurements of local water storage changes are still a challenging task while time-variable gravity observations are a promising tool as an integrative measure of total water storage changes. From a geodetic perspective, the hydrological gravity effect is an interfering signal, which imposes noise on gravimetric measurements and thus has to be eliminated from the gravity records. Superconducting gravimeters (SG) enable the in situ observation of the temporal changes of the earth gravity field. These SG data contain information about polar motion, earth tides, oscillations of the earth, atmospheric pressure and hydrology. But still variations in local water masses have a significant influence on SG measurements. Hence, the question is: How does local water storage change influence the signal of SG measurements? Objective: The objective of the HYGRA project is to separate the local hydrological signal from the integral signal of the SG records. From the geodetic perspective, this will provide a tool to remove the unwanted hydrological noise in SG recordings. At the same time, the hydrological gravity signal bears the potential to estimate hydrological state variables (ground water, soil moisture). Study Area: The HYGRA project focuses the relation of local hydrology and gravity in following study areas: Geodätisches Observatorium Wettzell, Deutschland; South African Geodynamic Observatory (SAGOS). Method The investigation of the interrelation between hydrology and geodesy is done by following worksteps: 1. 4D Simulation of the influence of water storage changes on the superconducting gravimeter; 2. Measuring and modelling of the different water storages; namely groundwater, soil moisture and snow; 3. Transformation of the water storage changes to a gravimetric signal; 4. Comparison between the measured gravity change by the SG and the estimated hydrological gravity response.
Das Projekt "A 1: Potential and constraints of participatory research approaches for sustainable development in mountainous regions of Southeast Asia - Phase 1" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Hohenheim, Institut für Agrar- und Sozialökonomie in den Tropen und Subtropen durchgeführt. Research in this project area is directed at the process of cooperation between researchers, farmers and local institutions (A1) and between researchers of different disciplines and cultural backgrounds (A2). Subproject A1 aims at evaluating the concept of integrating farmers into the research process. In this phase of the SFB the subproject intends to assess the potential and limits of participatory research and to design and test suitable institutional frameworks for integrating local knowledge and experience of farmers, extension agents, development projects and NGOs in the research process. It will analyze which forms of participation are suitable in which phases of the research process, differentiated by different research subjects. The project will pay particular attention to gender-specific issues of participation. Research under this subproject will be carried out by the SFB's Hohenheim coordinator in close cooperation with the Thai and Vietnamese counterparts. Closely linked to these activities will be the second subproject A2. It will focus on specific issues of interdisciplinary cooperation within an intercultural context. Interdisciplinary cooperation between German, Thai and Vietnamese research institutions and their researchers will present a particular challenge. Moreover, participating farmers in the mountainous areas belong to different ethnic groups with their own cultural traditions and values which again may differ from those of researchers and their institutions. In the SFB's first phase work will focus on research processes in Vietnam. It will observe the process and raise the sensitivity of actors involved with the objective of ensuring the effectiveness and smooth running of interdisciplinary and intercultural cooperation. It is expected that the results will contribute to conceptualizing a theory of intercultural research cooperation. In the next phase of the SFB it is intended to extend the work of subproject A1 to the interaction between farmers in the uplands and lowland dwellers. It is also planned to link up more closely with research programs of other organizations (e.g. IRRI, ISBSRAM, ICRAF, CIRAD). The interdisciplinary-intercultural component (A2) is planned to be expanded in the subsequent phase to include also Thailand.