The project aims at achieving a better understanding of the processes that drive or limit the response of grassland systems in a world of increasing atmospheric pCO2. We will test the hypothesis that the previously shown increase in below-ground allocation of C under elevated pCO2 provides the necessary energy excess and will stimulate free-living N2 fixers in a low N grassland environment. The project thus aims at assessing the occurrence and importance of free-living N2 fixers under elevated pCO2 and identify the associated microbial communities involved in order to better understand ecosystems response and sustainability of grassland systems. This project had the last opportunity to obtain soil samples from a grassland ecosystem adapted to long-term (10 year) elevated atmospheric pCO2 as the Swiss FACE experiment. The project aims to identify the relevant components of free-living diazotrophs of the microbial community using 15N stable isotope - DNA probing.
*The Water Framework Directive (WFD) provides a European policy basis at the river basin scale. The river basin management and planning process prescribed in the WFD focuses on integrated management, involving all physical domains in water management, sectors of water use, socio-economics and stakeholder participation. As such, the WFD poses new challenges to water resources managers. In practise, the preparation of WFD river basin management plans is influenced by uncertainties in the underlying data and modelling results. The preparation of integrated water management plans for the WFD will require making a large number of decisions by operational agencies in Europe. A decision maker has to make decisions based on available information. In most cases this information is deficient, incomplete and uncertain. How should this affect the decision making. Therefore, there is a clear and urgent need for developing new methodologies and tools that can be used to assist in implementing the WFD. In order to support such research and development, it is necessary to have a network of representative river basins with datasets suitable for this purpose. This implies that the datasets, in addition to covering the diversity in terms of ecological regimes and socio-economic conditions found across Europe, must have built-in information on the uncertainties in the data. HarmoniRiB is a research and technological development (RTD) project funded by the European Commission (contract number EVK1-CT-2002-00109) that was initiated in October 2002 and will be completed in March 2006. The overall goal of HarmoniRiB is to develop methodologies for quantifying uncertainty and its propagation from the raw data to concise management information. Thus, the HarmoniRiB project aims to support the WFD implementation, by addressing issues of uncertainty in data and modelling, and by developing a 'virtual laboratory for modelling studies'. This virtual laboratory will comprise of a set of river basins, of which data relevant to modelling and the WFD implementation are readily available for the scientific community. The data can be used for comparison and demonstration of methodologies and models relevant to the WFD. HarmoniRiB is implemented by a Consortium of ten partners from eight European countries. It consists of three universities (UVA, TUC, UCLM), five public research institutes (GEUS, RIZA, CNR-IRSA, UFZ, CEH) one private sector research and consulting company (DHI) and one river basin authority (PM). The British partner of the Consortium is the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH). CEH role in the project is to develop a database design for data required to support river basin management,to populate the database with a dataset from the Kennet river basin, and to conduct a demonstratition case study on that basin.
The working documents on revision of the Sewage Sludge Directive (86/278/EEC) on Biowaste and the Soil Protection Communication call for standards on sampling and analysis of sludge, treated biowastes and soils. The European Directives are intended to prevent unacceptable release of contaminants, impairment of soil function, or exposure to pathogens, and to protect crops, human and animal health, the quality of water and the wider environment when sludges and treated biowastes are used on land. The EU animal by-product regulations are fixing microbiological threshold values, for which microbiological methods of analysis are needed. The European Commission wishes to cite European (CEN) standards in order that there is harmonised application of the directives and that reports from Member States (MS) can be compared. This project to develop standards for hygienic parameters in sludge, soil and biowaste, presented under the name 'HORIZONTAL-HYG', will be carried out under the umbrella of the main project HORIZONTAL 'Development of horizontal standards for soil, sludge and biowaste'. This ensures full integration in the CEN system through BT Task Force 151 specially set up in support of this project as well as direct supervision by DG ENV and MS, which form the Steering Committee of HORIZONTAL. Preparation of HORIZONTAL-HYG was taken in a full agreement with the DG ENV, DG JRC and the MS already contributing to HORIZONTAL. HORIZONTAL-HYG's objective is to produce standardised methods for sampling and hygienic microbiological parameters, as Salmonella spp, Escherichia coli, Clostridium perfringens, Ascaris ova in sludges, treated biowastes and soils written in CEN format. Validation of the methods is an essential part of the development as it quantifies performance in terms of repeatability and reproducibility. The consortium is well connected in CEN and ISO and thus provides an excellent basis for implementation of the deliverables. Prime Contractor: Energieonderzoek Centrum Nederland; Petten, Netherlands.
Objectives: The PASAD project aims at contributing to a deeper understanding of sustainable rural development. Its major objective is to draw a more comprehensive picture of the rural economy through integrating various determinants of rural development and several methodologies, which allows the evaluation of linkages and interaction effects. Decreasing soil fertility implies decreasing yields over time and hence lowers the real incomes of already poor farmers even further. Sustainability in agricultural production depends on various interdependent aspects that require integrated analytical approaches to address the complexity involved. Smallholder production of food crops in poor countries is particularly vulnerable to hazards that are related to (i) production technologies as well as (ii) factor and commodity markets. The former aspect includes appropriate input use and land management, while the latter particularly considers rural labor markets, intermediate input markets, and commercial output markets. In this context, the project focuses on three crucial aspects, namely (i) institutional and other determinants to foster the degree of commercialization of agricultural small-scale produce, (ii) alternative occupational choices in rural labor markets with respect to agricultural and non-agricultural employment, and (iii) biophysical aspects concerning soil-conserving production technologies. The main hypothesis is that all three aspects need to be addressed sufficiently and simultaneously in order to promote sustainable smallholder agricultural production that is able to contribute to overall economic growth and development and, consequently, to food security. Methodology: The project follows an interdisciplinary approach, which combines several methodologies within economic and social sciences: Computable general equilibrium (CGE) modelling, Bio-economic household modelling, Household and labor force survey analysis, Institutional analysis, GIS-based spatial econometrics.
MORSE was a joint European project, carried out by six partner institutions in France, Great Britain, and Germany. It was financially supported by the Commission of the European Community as a part of the Marine Science and Technology (MAST) program under contract no. MAS3-CT95-0027. The objective of the project was to gain an understanding of the physical processes involved in radar signatures of internal waves using laboratory tank, airborne radar, and satellite imagery. To achieve the ultimate goal, independent numerical models are needed which are capable of predicting radar backscattering for all radar bands, extracting ocean surface characteristics at high spatial resolution, predicting internal wave fields in time and space, and inverting radar signatures into geophysical parameters. Existing models were not sufficiently reliable to produce quantitative results in order to retrieve the three-dimensional structure of the ocean's hydrodynamic processes. Progress in the understanding and mathematical description of different processes and increasing capacity of modern computers opens doors towards much more detailed, comprehensive models. The activities of the Satellite Oceanography group of the University of Hamburg within the framework of MORSE focused on theoretical considerations regarding the hydrodynamic modulation of ocean waves by spatially varying current fields over internal waves and the radar imaging of the resulting roughness variations. This research was based on our advanced radar imaging model which describes the modulation of the complete two-dimensional ocean wave spectrum according to wave-current interaction theory and the backscattered radar signal by a composite surface model. In addition, the Satellite Oceanography group has wide experience regarding the analysis of radar signatures of internal waves. A large number of ERS-1 / ERS-2 SAR images of internal waves in the Strait of Gibraltar and in the Strait of Messina was analyzed. Furthermore, numerical hydrodynamical models were developed, which are capable of describing the generation and propagation of internal tides and their disintegration into internal solitary waves. The MORSE project has provided an opportunity to exploit and extend the knowledge obtained in previous remote sensing projects and to calibrate and validate the corresponding numerical models.
Recent events such as the Pakistan earthquake, Hurricane Katrina, the Indian Ocean tsunami and the European heat waves of 2003 reveal the vulnerability of societies to extreme events. The goal of this project is to strengthen prevention, mitigation and preparedness strategies in order to reduce the health, social and economic impacts of extreme events on communities. The objectives of the MICRODIS project are to strengthen the scientific and empirical foundation on the relationship between extreme events and their impacts; to develop and integrate knowledge, concepts, methods and databases towards a common global approach and to improve human resources and coping capacity in Asia and Europe through training and knowledge sharing. This integrated project involves 19 partners from Asia and Europe, including research, policy and ground roots institutions. The outputs will include an evidence-base on impacts, field methodologies and tools for data compilation, impact models, and integrated vulnerability assessments. It will also strengthen standardised data collection of extreme events and their impacts at local, regional and global levels. Prime Contractor: Université Catholique de Louvain; Louvain-la-neuve; Belgium.
Context: With increasing global change pressures, and due to existing limitations, and un-sustainability factors and risks of conventional urban water management (UWM), cities experience difficulties in efficiently managing the ever scarcer water resources, their uses/services, and their after-use disposal, without creating environmental, social and/or economic damage. In order to meet these challenges, SWITCH calls for a paradigm shift in UWM. There is a need to convert adhoc actions (problem/incident driven) into a coherent and consolidated approach (sustainability driven). This calls for an IP Approach. Research conceptSWITCH therefore proposes an action research project which has as a main objective: The development, application and demonstration of a range of tested scientific, technological and socio-economic solutions and approaches that contribute to the achievement of sustainable and effective UWM schemes in 'The City of the future'.The project will be implemented by different combinations of consortium partners, along the lines of seven complementary and interactive themes. The research approach is innovative for the combination of: action research: address problems through innovation based upon involvement of users.learning alliances: to link up stakeholders to interact productively and to create win-win solutions along the water chain; multiple-way learning: European cities learn from each other and from developing countries, and vice versa.multiple-level or integrated approach: to consider the urban water system and its components (city level) in relation to its impacts on, and dependency of, the natural environment in the river basin (river basin level), and in relation to Global Change pressures (global level).Instruments and scopeAn IP with 30 partners, their resources, and a total budget of 25,191,396 EURO including budget for demonstration activities in 9 Cities in Europe and developing countries. Prime Contractor: UNESCO - Institute for Water Education, Delf, Netherlands.
With a focus on transport, the project intends to increase the understanding among relevant actors of the benefits of environmental technologies for a wider application of these technologies. It will build on the ETAP actions on targeted training and awareness raising. Pursuing this aim, the following support activities will be undertaken: 1) conceptualising and organising of 3 workshops with relevant stakeholders for stock taking, identifying obstacles and possible solutions as well as best practice examples; 2) organising a concluding conference on the basis of experiences made in the course of the project (to produce recommendations); intended for senior executives within the sector in order to ensure that the learning from the project is communicated at a level that can help to ensure as broad a take-up and dissemination as possible. 3) Producing Background Notes and Policy Briefs on training needs and awareness raising. The Background Notes will serve as a basis for the Conference discussions; the Policy Briefs will disseminate the projects findings and recommendations beyond the project to a wider public. 4) Specifying a low-cost, easily disseminated e-learning solution that addresses the overall objective of the project: increasing awareness amongst those working in this sector of underlying issues and dilemmas as well as of solutions and good practice. This activity also includes recommendations for routines to maintain the awareness and competence in order to ascertain continuous, long-term effects of the efforts.
Objective: New process route for lightweight, unbreakable and economically feasible solar panels on the basis of amorphous silicon. Results: From a number of canditates enamel-coated steel sheet as substrate and an organic barrier as protective layer was chosen as an alternative to the dual glass panels. Criteria were vacuum compatibility, surface rougness and insulating properties. This concept requires that the production order of the thin film solar cell is reversed into back electrode, active stack, front transparent electrode. Inverted processes and low temperature processes were investigated in parallel. Protection against damage due to permeating water was reduced with an improved organic barrier coating. Also, less vulnerable back electrode materials were studied. Fluorine doped tin oxide, tin-doped indiumoxide and aluminium-doped zinc oxide were studied. However, the best and most economical results were optained with ITO. For monolithic integration mechanical masking and laser scribing were investigated. Mechanical masking failed due to the uneveness of the enamel surface. Laser scribing is possible due to the diminished power need with each consecutive layer. Some concepts for better light capture (texturing, optical coatings) were investigated. Based on the inverted process route small scale and full scale panels were manufactured and tested. Ultimately, the full scale failed due to the built-up of stress which caused delamination and could not sufficiently be reduced. The panel costs of the new route proved very similar to the existing product, but required an additional investment in vacuum deposition equipment. Surprisingly, ITO with recycling proved to be the most cost effective transparent electrode material.
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