5 EIFFEL partners participated in the EGU Conference 2023 that was held in Vienna and online on the 23rd – 28th of April 2023. EGU is a yearly European Geoscience Conference and brings together geoscientists from all over the world to one meeting covering all disciplines of the Earth, planetary, and space sciences. This year the event welcomed almost 15.500 attendees from 107 countries and almost 3.400 joined online from 105 countries. It was a great success with 16.300 presentations given in almost 1000 sessions.
More specifically:
Our partner IBEC gave a detailed presentation with predictions for several soil health indicators via the synergy of Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques, existing soil data archives and big data analytics supporting national and European policies.
The main objective our colleague Nikiforos Samarinas (IBEC) was to build upon current environmental awareness (e.g CAP, SDGs, etc.) to design a methodological framework for environmental performance metrics related to land degradation taking advantages of AI techniques and EO data in the framework of EIFFEL project (Pilot 2: Sustainable Agriculture National scale)
Almost 250 members from academia, universities, private sector etc. showed interest for our services and are planning to follow EIFFEL Pilot-2 activities. They were particularly impressed with the idea to combine enhanced soil spatial products to describe the land degradation with high spatial resolution.
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Our colleague Haris Ali from IHE Delft presented two research studies at EGU 2023.
The first oral presentation aimed to assess the surface-subsurface response of the Aa of Weerijs catchment under the combined effect of meteorological variables and land use future projection. The coupled MIKE-SHE and MIKE-11 modelling tools were used to analyse the surface and subsurface response of the catchment. The findings demonstrate the importance of considering both meteorological variables and landuse projections in assessing water resources and planning for sustainable water management. 50 attendees specialized in the domain of geosciences participated in the session.
In the same manner the team from IHE Delft prepared a poster presentation. Nature Base Solutions (NBS) have become a prominent alternative to conventional or grey solutions in recent years due to its flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and multi-functionality. Despite this, the efficiency and robustness of NBS remain under question. To address this, a framework of Key Performance Indicators is needed to assess NBS throughout their lifecycle under varying climate patterns. This study explores the potential use of NBS in the Aa of Weerijs catchment in the Netherlands and evaluates their performance using a fully distributed physical coupled MIKE SHE-MIKE11 model. The study results aim to support the evaluation of NBS impact as a long-term adaptation strategy.
Approximately, 40-50 persons attended on site and online, specialized in the domain of geosciences participated in the session.
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Additionally, our partner LIBRA prepared a poster presentation aiming to showcase EIFFEL Cognitive Search Engine and its potential to the geoscientists community. The EIFFEL cognitive Search Engine developed by LIBRA AI Technologies were presented as a result of an abstract acceptance entitled: “NLP-based Cognitive Search Engine for the GEOSS Platform data”. The poster was part of the ESSI2.2 Session: “Data Spaces: Battling Environmental and Earth Science Challenges with Floods of Data” and was presented on site on 27 April 2023 by the company CEO, Yannis Kopsinis.
Most of the attendees were very interested in the results presented and 20 EIFFEL leaflets were distributed.
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Furthermore, the Open University of the Netherlands (OUNL) team was highly focused on: presenting the EIFFEL project research outcomes to the Copernicus communities including geoscientists from all over the world, get feedback on research design and early outcomes, attend debates and presentations of similar and adjacent research and get a better idea of the design and impact of the research. Moreover, the goal was to successfully present the EIFFEL pilots and stakeholders design and to discuss ideas with experts in diverse fields of geoscience.
More particularly:
Angelique Lansu (OUNL) presented:
One on site oral presentation (24 April 2023):
“Effectiveness for Drought of Nature-based Flood Measures in Headwater Streams: Evidence-Based Practise in NW-Europe”, by Angelique Lansu, Charlotte Wieles-Rietveld, Nico Ruysseveldt, Borjana Bogatinoska, Jikke van Wijnen, Frank van Lamoen, and Jetse Stoorvogel. Charlotte Wieles-Rietveld and Nico Ruysseveldt are OUNL BSc’s theses students Environmental Sciences, finalising their thesis research with co-assessor PNB van Lamoen.
Lansu's oral was attended by about 100 participants in the room and another 10 participants online. Besides the discussion during the session, during the EGU-week about 8 participants asked follow-up questions on the EIFFEL project, the research design and pilot.
Jaap Bos (OUNL) presented:
One virtual poster presentation (27 April 2023):
“Climate mitigation using wood in the Netherlands: a modelling approach from family home to national scale”, by Jaap Bos, Angelique Lansu, Jikke van Wijnen and Winnie Leenes-Gerbens. Jaap Bos graduated with this OUNL MSc Thesis Environmental Sciences, now starting PhD with OUNL/EIFFEL.
Bos's poster session was attended by about 50 hybrid poster walk participants (45 onsite and 5 online in Gather Town).
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Last but not least the EIFFEL dynamic presence concludes with a powerful participation from our partner PMOD WRC with the conference poster entitled “Solar energy potential assessment on urban rooftops using digital surface models” which specifically presented EIFFEL project results from the Pilot 4: Sustainable Urban Development, for roof top PV potential.
Rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) systems have the advantage of producing electricity without air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, at the same time reducing carbon footprint as well as urban heat island effect. This study aimed to contribute to the Eiffel project pilot on sustainable development and to assess physical, geographical and economic levels of solar energy potentials in actual atmospheric conditions on urban rooftops, using two municipalities in Athens, Greece as an example.
The poster was presented in the Energy Meteorology Session of EGU2023 and a lively 2.5 hour discussion on the results was held between scientists.
The feedback received was conducive in order to finalize a relevant publication with the participation of other EIFFEL colleagues.
