Induced earthquakes at the carbon sequestration site Carbfix2, Hellisheiði, Iceland

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vala Hjörleifsdóttir ◽  
Gunnar Gunnarsson ◽  
Sigríður Kristjánsdóttir ◽  
Bergur Sigfússon ◽  
Halldór Geirsson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Power Plant ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Local Network ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Operational Parameters ◽  
Induced Earthquakes ◽  
Injection Wells ◽  
Horizon 2020 ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
Plant Operations

<p>The 303 MW Hellisheiði, Iceland geothermal power plant was commissioned in 2006 and in early September 2011, reinjection of geothermal fluid was initiated in the second reinjection site of the plant; Húsmúli.  The site has 5 injection wells in operation, with depths of over 2000 m and a total of up to 500 l/s of fluid being reinjected into the site.  Seismicity had previously been observed in the region, including both natural seismicity before power plant operations started (e.g. Foulger et al., 1988) and induced seismicity during drilling of the injection wells (Ágústsson et al., 2015).  The reinjection caused severely increased level of seismicity within days, with two earthquakes of M 4.0 and M3.9 respectively, occurring a little over a month after the start of reinjection (Icelandic Meteorological Office catalog). The injection was also accompanied by uplift of approximately 2 cm (Juncu et al., 2018).  Due to the increased level of seismicity, a committee was formed and several measures on how to control it were suggested – including starting reinjection gradually after it has been stopped (Bessason et al., 2012).</p><p>In 2014, as a part of the Carbfix2 project, the reinjection fluid in Húsmúli was combined with gas, and CO<sub>2</sub> and H<sub>2</sub>S, previously being released into the atmosphere, is now captured and reinjected into the basaltic formation (Matter et al., 2016, Gunnarsson et al., 2018).  It is estimated that the CO<sub>2</sub> and H<sub>2</sub>S are crystalized into calcite and pyrite in under 2 years (Gunnarsson et al., 2018). This project has been very successful and is currently capturing and permanently storing an estimated 33% of the CO<sub>2</sub> and 75% of the H<sub>2</sub>S extracted.</p><p>In this study we analyze seismicity data as reported by the Icelandic Meteorological Office Regional network, (1991-present) and the ON Power/ISOR local network (2016-present) and compare with operational parameters.  We show 1) how the seismicity responds to changes in flow, pressure and temperature of the injected fluid, 2) how individual wells seem to respond differently, 3) how the mitigation measures taken by the operator have worked and 4) look for changes in seismicity due to the CO<sub>2 </sub>sequestration.</p><p>This work has been funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation Program projects Carbfix2 (grant agreement number 764760) and S4CE (grant agreement number 764810).</p>

Nature-based sealing of leaky streams - Testing a bio-degradable bentonite mat for preventing infiltration losses in alpine stream

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Zieher ◽  
Jan Pfeiffer ◽  
Annemarie Polderman ◽  
Kent von Maubeuge ◽  
Helmut Hochreiter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Catchment Area ◽  
Materials Science ◽  
Laser Scanner ◽  
Repeated Measurements ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Horizon 2020 ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
Synthetic Materials

<p>Deep-seated landslides can pose a serious threat to settlement areas and their assets in mountain regions across the world. An important step of a holistic landslide management is the implementation of suitable mitigation measures. However, technical mitigation measures against the impacts of natural hazards often rely on synthetic materials. Progress in materials science and development often makes it possible to replace synthetic components with renewable, bio-degradable materials that provide the same functionality. These alternative, nature-based solutions can simultaneously offer co-benefits such as environmental sustainability, less maintenance efforts and a greater societal acceptance. In this context, an experimental setup was installed in the upslope catchment area of an active deep-seated landslide in Vögelsberg (community of Wattens, Tyrol, Austria). At the chosen location the infiltration losses along the unconsolidated streambed potentially contribute to groundwater recharge, which is considered a main hydrological driver of the landslide. The goal of the experiment was to efficiently seal a 25 m long section of a stream without relying on synthetic materials. To reach this goal, a prototype of a bio-degradable bentonite mat was implemented as an impermeable layer in the subsurface of the leaky stream section. The efficacy of the mat is continuously monitored by several soil moisture probes installed below and above the layer and repeated measurements of subsurface characteristics with the help of electrical resistivity tomography. Furthermore, topographic changes due to erosion or sagging of the embankments are periodically monitored using a terrestrial laser scanner. Currently, the implemented solution must be considered a concept case to help raise awareness for this nature-based alternative to conventional engineering measures based on synthetic materials. If the experiment proves successful, it could be upscaled in the upstream catchment area of the landslide to prevent infiltration along leaky streams in the same way and reduce the hydrological forcing of the landslide.</p><p>The present study has been carried out in the OPERANDUM project. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 776848.</p>

Monitoring and assessment of an oil spill event with very high resolution tools. 

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana M. Mancho ◽  
Guillermo García-Sánchez ◽  
Antonio G. Ramos ◽  
Josep Coca ◽  
Begoña Pérez-Gómez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
In Situ Observation ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Horizon 2020 ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
Port Authorities ◽  
Different Sources ◽  
Very High

<p>This presentation discusses a downstream application from Copernicus Services, developed in the framework of the IMPRESSIVE project, for the monitoring of  the oil spill produced after the crash of the ferry “Volcan de Tamasite” in waters of the Canary Islands on the 21<sup>st</sup> of April 2017. The presentation summarizes the findings of [1] that describe a complete monitoring of the diesel fuel spill, well-documented by port authorities. Complementary information supplied by different sources enhances the description of the event. We discuss the performance of very high resolution hydrodynamic models in the area of the Port of Gran Canaria and their ability for describing the evolution of this event. Dynamical systems ideas support the comparison of different models performance. Very high resolution remote sensing products and in situ observation validate the description.</p><p>Authors acknowledge support from IMPRESSIVE a project funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 821922. SW acknowledges the support of ONR Grant No. N00014-01-1-0769</p><p><strong>References</strong></p><p>[1] G.García-Sánchez, A. M. Mancho, A. G. Ramos, J. Coca, B. Pérez-Gómez, E. Álvarez-Fanjul, M. G. Sotillo, M. García-León, V. J. García-Garrido, S. Wiggins. Very High Resolution Tools for the Monitoring and Assessment of Environmental Hazards in Coastal Areas.  Front. Mar. Sci. (2021) doi: 10.3389/fmars.2020.605804.</p>

scholarly journals Aerial Campaigns for Cal/Val purposes in the Context of Copernicus - Survey Results of the Project “Copernicus Cal/Val Solution (CCVS)”

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefanie Holzwarth ◽  
Martin Bachmann ◽  
Bringfried Pflug ◽  
Aimé Meygret ◽  
Caroline Bès ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gap Analysis ◽  
Model Development ◽  
Metrological Traceability ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Horizon 2020 ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Data Policy ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
Essential Contribution

<p>The objective of the H2020 project “Copernicus Cal/Val Solution (CCVS)” is to define a holistic Cal/Val strategy for all ongoing and upcoming Copernicus Sentinel missions. This includes an improved calibration of currently operational or planned Copernicus Sentinel sensors and the validation of Copernicus core products generated by the payload ground segments. CCVS will identify gaps and propose long-term solutions to address currently existing constraints in the Cal/Val domain and exploit existing synergies between the missions. An overview of existing calibration and validation sources and means is needed before starting the gap analysis. In this context, this survey is concerned with measurement capabilities for aerial campaigns.</p><p>Since decades airborne observations are an essential contribution to support Earth-System model development and space-based observing programs, both in the domains of Earth Observation (radar and optical) as well as for atmospheric research. The collection of airborne reference data can be directly related to satellite observations, since they are collected in ideal validation conditions using well calibrated reference sensors. Many of these sensors are also used to validate and characterize postlaunch instrument performance. The variety of available aircraft equipped with different instrumentations ranges from motorized gliders to jets acquiring data from different heights to the upper troposphere. In addition, balloons are also used as platforms, either small weather balloons with light payload (around 3 kg), or open stratospheric balloons with big payload (more than a ton). For some time now, UAVs/drones are also used in order to acquire data for Cal/Val purposes. They offer a higher flexibility compared to airplanes, plus covering a bigger area compared to in-situ measurements on ground. On the other hand, they also have limitations when it comes to the weight of instrumentation and maximum altitude level above ground. This reflects the wide range of possible aerial measurements supporting the Cal/Val activities.</p><p>The survey will identify the different airborne campaigns. The report will include the description of campaigns, their spatial distribution and extent, ownership and funding, data policy and availability and measurement frequency. Also, a list of common instrumentation, metrological traceability, availability of uncertainty evaluation and quality management will be discussed. The report additionally deals with future possibilities e.g., planned developments and emerging technologies in instrumentation for airborne and balloon based campaigns.</p><p>This presentation gives an overview of the preliminary survey results and puts them in context with the Cal/Val requirements of the different Copernicus Sentinel missions.</p><p>This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the grant agreement No 101004242.</p>

The European Union and Israel since Oslo

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harry van Bommel
Keyword(s):  
The European Union ◽  
Cooperation Agreement ◽  
Scientific Cooperation ◽  
Association Agreement ◽  
Horizon 2020 ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
Political Relations ◽  
Peace Initiatives ◽  
The Eu

This chapter discusses the strengthening of ties between the EU and Israel during the breakdown of Oslo as well as during other fruitless peace initiatives. Shortly after the Oslo process began, the EU and Israel initiated negotiations on broadening their cooperation. This led to the signing of the EU–Israel Association Agreement in 1995. As well as economic cooperation, which was established as early as 1975 in a cooperation agreement, this new treaty included other areas, such as scientific and technical research. In more recent years the relationship between the EU and Israel has been deepened further. In 2014 the EU and Israel signed the Horizon 2020 scientific cooperation agreement, which gives Israel equal access with EU member states to the largest-ever EU research and innovation program. In itself, there is nothing wrong with the deepening of economic, scientific, cultural, and political relations between countries. However, the deepening of relations between the EU and Israel means indirect support for the Israeli occupation and the policy of expanding the settlements.

Definition of a Protocol for the Knowledge, the Analysis and the Communication of the Architectural Heritage

2017 ◽  
pp. 94-131
Author(s):  
Marinella Arena
Keyword(s):  
New Media ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Architectural Heritage ◽  
Horizon 2020 ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
A Value ◽  
New Frontier ◽  
Definition Of

The communication of architecture is a complex and multidisciplinary process, indispensable for enhancing a monument properly and to allow understanding and knowledge to a large number of users. The European Architectural Heritage, and the Italian one in particular, is enormous; the processes of knowledge, cataloguing and analysis are far from being complete. This fact has prompted the European Union to invest, especially in recent years, in research projects designed to increase the communication strategies and put a value on the present assets in its territory. For example, the programs of the European Commission for Research and Innovation, found in “Horizon 2020”, define the communication based on the new media as the new frontier for the enhancement of architectural heritage (Reflective Cities). The main goal is to develop a better awareness of the Architectural Heritage through increased interaction between the citizen, the monument and the scientific community.

Study of Tropical Cyclones in the North Indian Ocean basin using Percolation in Climate Networks

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shraddha Gupta ◽  
Jürgen Kurths ◽  
Florian Pappenberger
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Tropical Cyclones ◽  
Ocean Basin ◽  
North Indian Ocean ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Horizon 2020 ◽  
The North ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
Interacting Systems ◽  
Climate Networks

<p>Every point on the Earth’s surface is a dynamical system which behaves in a complex way while interacting with other dynamical systems. Network theory captures this feature of climate to study the collective behaviour of these interacting systems giving new insights into the problem. Recently, climate networks have been a promising approach to the study of climate phenomena such as El Niño, Indian monsoon, etc. These phenomena, however, occur over a long period of time. Weather phenomena such as tropical cyclones (TCs) that are relatively short-lived, destructive events are a major concern to life and property especially for densely populated coastlines such as in the North Indian Ocean (NIO) basin. Here, we study TCs in the NIO basin by constructing climate networks using the ERA5 Sea Surface Temperature and Air temperature at 1000 hPa. We analyze these networks using the percolation framework for the post-monsoon (October-November-December) season which experiences a high frequency of TCs every year. We find significant signatures of TCs in the network structure which appear as abrupt discontinuities in the percolation-based parameters during the period of a TC. This shows the potential of climate networks towards forecasting of tropical cyclones.</p><p> </p><p>This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 813844.</p>

Climate Advanced Forecasting of sub-seasonal Extremes (CAFE), ITN Project

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alvaro Corral ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Climate Science ◽  
Extreme Weather ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Atmospheric Flow ◽  
Horizon 2020 ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
Seasonal Time Scale

<p>The CAFE Project is a Marie S. Curie Innovative-Training-Network (ITN) project funded by the EU. The ultimate goal of the CAFE project is to contribute to the improvement of sub-seasonal predictability of extreme weather events. This will be addressed through a structured and cross-disciplinary program, training 12 early stage researchers who undertake their PhD theses. CAFE brings together a team of co-supervisors with complementary expertise in climate science, meteorology, statistics and nonlinear physics.</p><p>The CAFE team comprises ten beneficiaries (seven academic centres, one governmental agency, one intergovernmental agency and one company: ARIA, CRM, CSIC, ECMWF, MeteoFrance, MPIPKS, PIK, TUBAF, UPC, UR) and ten partner organizations (CEA and Munich Re, among them).</p><p>CAFE research is organized into three main lines: Atmospheric and oceanic processes, Analysis of extremes, and Tools for predictability, all focused on the sub-seasonal time scale. This includes the study of Rossby wave packets, Madden-Julian oscillation, Lagrangian coherent structures, ENSO-related extreme weather anomalies, cascades of extreme events, extreme precipitation, large-scale atmospheric flow patterns, and stochastic weather generators, among other topics.</p><p>Information about the CAFE project will be updated at:</p><p>http://www.cafes2se-itn.eu/</p><p>https://twitter.com/CAFE_S2SExtrem</p><p>This project receives funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 813844.</p>

Planets in a Room: an educational tool for Europlanet

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Livia Giacomini ◽  
Francesco Aloisi ◽  
Ilaria De Angelis ◽  
Stefano Capretti
Keyword(s):  
Online Community ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Planetary Science ◽  
Science Museum ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Non Profit ◽  
Horizon 2020 ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
3D Printed

<p>Planets in a room (PIAR) is a DIY kit to build a small, lowcost spherical planet simulator and planetarium projector. Teachers, science communicators that run a small museum or planetarium, planetary scientists, amateur astronomers and other individuals can easily build it and use it on their own, to show and teach the Earth and other planets and to develop and share material with a growing online community. Having started in 2017 with a first version made using 3d-printed technology, PIAR has lately gone green, with a new wooden, plastic-free version of the kit. (http://www.planetsinaroom.net/)</p> <p>The project has been developed by the italian non-profit association Speak Science, with the collaboration of the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) and the Roma Tre University, Dipartimento di Matematica e Fisica.</p> <p>It was funded by the Europlanet Outreach Funding Scheme in 2017 and was presented to the scientific community at EPSC and other scientific Congresses in the following years. Today, it is being distributed to an increasing number of schools, science museum and research institutions. PIAR is also one of the projects selected by the Europlanet Society for education and public outreach of planetary science: in 2020, it is being distributed to the 12 Europlanet Regional Hubs all around Europe, to be used in a number of educational projects.</p> <p>In this talk we will review the state of the art of the project presenting a selection of educational material and projects that have been developed for PIAR by scientists, teachers and communicators and that are focused on planetary science and on planetary habitability.</p> <p> </p> <p>Acknowledgements</p> <p>We acknowledge for this project the vast community of amateur and professionals that is actively working on innovative educational systems for astronomy such as planetarium and virtual reality projects (both hardware and software). Planets in a room is based on the work of this vast community of people and their experiences and results. We also acknowledge Europlanet for funding this work: the project Europlanet 2024 RI has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 871149.”</p> <p> </p> <p>References</p> <p>Giacomini L., Aloisi F., De Angelis I., “Planets in a room”, EPSC Abstracts Vol. 11, EPSC2017-280, 2017</p> <p>Giacomini L., Aloisi F., De Angelis I., Capretti S., “Planets in a Room: a DIY, low-cost educational kit”, EPSC Abstracts Vol. 12, EPSC2018-254, 2018</p> <p>Giacomini L., Aloisi F., De Angelis I., Capretti S., “Planets on (low-cost) balloons”, EPSC AbstractsVol. 13, EPSC-DPS2019-1243-1, 2019</p> <p>Giacomini L., Aloisi F., De Angelis I., Capretti S, “(Green) Planets in a Room”, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-22153, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-22153, 2020</p>

The EU H2020 programme NEOROCKS

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabetta Dotto ◽  
Marek Banaszkiewicz ◽  
Sara Banchi ◽  
Maria A. Barucci ◽  
Fabrizio Bernardi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Scale Up ◽  
Planetary Science ◽  
Public Understanding ◽  
Physical Characterization ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
Potential Hazard ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Horizon 2020

<p>The research about Near Earth Objects (NEOs) is a major topic in planetary science. One reason is the potential hazard some of them pose to human beings and, more in general, to life on our planet. Moreover, the physical characterization of NEOs allows us to put constraints on the material accreted in the protoplanetary nebula at different solar distances and can give us insights into the early processes  that  governed  the  formation and the evolution of planets - including the delivery of water and organics to Earth -, and into further evolutionary processes that acted on asteroid since their formation - such as collisions and non-gravitational effects.</p> <p>The “NEOROCKS - The NEO Rapid Observation, Characterization and Key Simulations” Collaborative Research Project has been recently approved to address the topic c) “Improvement of our knowledge of the physical characteristics of the NEO population” of the call SU-SPACE-23-SEC-2019 from the Horizon 2020 - Work Programme 2018-2020 Leadership in Enabling and Industrial Technologies – Space.</p> <p>The aims of NEOROCKS are:</p> <ul> <li>to develop and validate advanced mathematical methods and innovative algorithms for NEO orbit determination and impact monitoring;</li> <li>to organize follow-up astronomical observations of NEOs efficiently, in order to obtain high-quality data needed to derive their physical properties, giving priority to timely addressing potentially hazardous objects;</li> <li>to improve dramatically statistical analysis, modelling and computer simulations aimed to understand the physical nature of NEOs, focussing on small size objects, which are of uttermost importance for designing effective impact mitigation measures in space and on the ground;</li> <li>to ensure maximum visibility and dissemination of the data beyond the timeline of the project, by hosting it in an existing astronomical data center facility;</li> <li>to foster European and international cooperation on NEO physical characterization, providing scenarios and roadmaps with the potential to scale-up at a global level the experience gained during the project;</li> <li>to apply and guarantee continuity of educational and public outreach activities needed to improve significantly public understanding and perception of the asteroid hazard, counteracting the spreading of “fake news” and unjustified alarms.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Acknowledgement</strong>: This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 870403 (project NEOROCKS).</p>

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