Das Projekt "Soil moisture in mountainous terrain and its influence on the thermal regime in seasonal and permanently frozen terrain" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von University of Fribourg, Geosciences Departement, Geography Unit durchgeführt. In many geoscientific problems, the water content of the near subsurface plays a major role not only regarding the energy and water budget of the soils and at the atmosphere-subsurface interface, but also regarding stability issues on sloping mountainous terrain. This includes the influence of water content on the thermal and hydraulic conductivity of frozen soil as well as the influence of latent heat during freeze and thaw processes. In spite of this importance, soil moisture is currently not measured operationally at middle or high altitudes, where a seasonally and perennially frozen subsurface (permafrost) prevails. The proposed project will close this gap regarding data availability and process understanding about the influence of spatially and temporally variable water content on the ground thermal regime in the context of freezing and thawing processes. Specifically, the project aims at: 1) setting up a network of soil moisture monitoring stations at middle and high altitudes in Switzerland 2) applying innovative geophysical approaches to determine the 2-dimensional distribution of liquid water and ice content 3) using the coupled heat and mass transfer subsurface model COUP to estimate the influence of temporally and spatially changing soil moisture on the thermal regime of partly and permanently frozen ground. The combination of a new, operationally maintained soil moisture network, novel geophysical approaches for analyzing the spatial variability and the transient subsurface simulations including all important energy and water fluxes will allow a detailed assessment of the influence of temporally varying water content on the future evolution of the subsurface thermal regime in the mountainous regions of Switzerland.
Das Projekt "Soil contamination: advanced integrated characterisation and time-lapse monitoring (SOILCAM)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Norwegian Institute for Agricultural and Environmental Research (Bioforsk) durchgeführt. Objective: This project is aimed at improving current methods for monitoring contaminant distribution and biodegradation in the subsurface. Currently proven methods (based on invasive sampling of soil, soil water and gaseous phase) are unable to provide sufficiently accurate data with high enough resolution. Resulting in inability to assess of bioremediation progress and quantification of the processes involved in such bioremediation at field sites. Consequently, present assessment strategies to decide on optimal remediation approach, including design of monitoring systems, and evaluation of degradation progress, are severely flawed by uncertainty. Geophysical time-lapse measurements in combination with novel ground truthing methods give the possibility to determine: absolute contamination levels, spatial spreading, and reduced concentrations of contaminants in a heterogeneous environment. Geophysical methods of data acquisition alone are presently unable to provide absolute levels of biodegradable contamination concentrations. We aim to make improvements of fundamental constitutive relations between soil physical and degradation activity parameters and geophysically measurable parameters. Despite current improvements, there is a strong need to test these theories in practical field situations. Our project is dedicated to improving both site contamination assessment and the monitoring of bioremediation processes, and changes in soil environmental conditions. We suggest combining improved conventional soil monitoring techniques with state-of-the-art geophysical approaches. Partners in the project range from microbiologists to geophysicist, all with working experience from contaminated sites. Process studies involving lysimeters, and testing of the combination of technologies at two field sites are the major aims of the project. Focus on practical field situations and strong communication with stake-holders and SMEs will ensure high relevance for society.