EGU General Assembly 2023  

The upcoming MicrobeX-Science Center in Zirl, close to Innsbruck (Tyrol, Austria), is focused on microorganisms governing our daily life. The storyline is crossing atmospheric microbiology related to climate change, food microbiology and environmental biotechnology like biomethanisation and wastewater treatment. A most central role, however, will have soil microbiology that is related to the effects of microorganisms on climate, in particular soil greenhouse gas production and uptake, plant-growth promoting rhizobacteria related to environmentally sound alternative agriculture, and also to microbially produced volatiles like geosmin, the scent of soil. Soil biodiversity will also be addressed, in relation to deadwood (until its microbial decomposition into the very first humus form, the so-called lignoform), soil-dwelling myxobacteria and erosion-preventing mycorrhizae. The talk will show how soil microorganisms will be embedded in a storyline that aims at promoting the public interest in microbiology, and microbes in geo- and in particular in soil sciences, with the challenging purpose of generally raising awareness about the central role of (soil) microbes in the past, presence and future.

How to cite: Insam, H., Strutzmann, C., and Ascher-Jenull, J.: MicrobeX-Science Center to feature soil and its microbes, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-241, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-241, 2023.

Ten informative panels were designed to organize an exhibition of the LAJIAL project results about the recent volcanism of El Hierro Island and the 2021 eruption in La Palma Island. The format was self-rolling panels (roll-ups) 1 m wide by 2 m high, easily transportable, and highly protective. This exhibition was entitled 'Volcanoes in motion: El Hierro and La Palma' and allows us to understand that the volcanic phenomenon is very dynamic and capable of quickly changing the forms of relief, the water network, or the land use. The presentation in all these panels always keeps the same content: an upper strip including the titles of the exhibition, the thematic block, and the panel, as well as its numbering and logos of the promoting entities; a central part with much visual information in the form of maps, figures and photos accompanied by concise and easy-to-read texts; and a lower strip with the credits of the authors and logos of their institutions.

The first block of panels, 'A sea of volcanoes', deals with the generation of intraplate volcanic islands, with the example of the Canary Islands (Panel 1: The Canary Islands, that is how it all began) and the geological evolution of the island of El Hierro (Panel 2: And El Hierro was born). The second block, 'Volcanic landscapes of El Hierro', focuses on geological structures on a large scale (Panel 3: Megastructures) and a small scale (Panel 4: Structures on the ground). The third block, 'Explore your volcanic paradise', pays homage to the geological maps and the last eruption on El Hierro island. Panel 5: Walking among volcanoes shows the Gorona del Lajial eruption, a true paradise of volcanic structures but a geological puzzle solved within the framework of the LAJIAL project. Panel 6: 'The last volcano' is dedicated to the eruption of the Tagoro submarine volcano. The fourth block, 'Living among volcanoes', focuses on the islander's adaptation to the volcanic territory through the rational exploitation of groundwater (Panel 7: Water on El Hierro), volcanic materials as construction elements, or the figure of the UNESCO Geopark of El Hierro (Panel 8: What the land tells us), which brings together the geology of the island with its inhabitants, promoting the sustainable development, its agricultural techniques or knowledge of its archaeological remains. The last block of two panels, 'La Palma: the pretty island' is devoted to the geological evolution of La Palma island (Panel 9: And La Palma was born) and the 2021 eruption of Tajogaite volcano (Panel 10: The eruption of 2021) that represent the last volcanic activity in the archipelago.

Financial support was provided by Project LAJIAL, Grant PGC2018-101027-B-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/ 501100011033 and by "ERDF A way of making Europe", by the "European Union". CPT acknowledges the PhD Grant 2021 FISDU 00347, Departament de Recerca i Universitats, Generalitat de Catalunya. This study was carried out in the framework of the Research Consolidated Groups GEOVOL (Canary Islands Government, ULPGC) and GEOPAM (Generalitat de Catalunya, 2017 SGR 1494).

How to cite: Fernandez-Turiel, J.-L., Perez-Torrado, F.-J., Rodriguez-Gonzalez, A., Cabrera, M. C., Carracedo, J.-C., Moreno-Medina, C., Criado, C., Aulinas, M., and Prieto-Torrell, C.: Volcanoes in motion: El Hierro and La Palma (Canary Islands), EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-866, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-866, 2023.

This research is the result of in-depth work and surprising discoveries on the founding role that the Earth sciences have had on historical events, social dynamics and impacts on culture, far from the usual perception of this discipline. Everyone knows the determining role of this discipline in the understanding of natural phenomena, in the knowledge of dynamics and natural risks and hazards, of environmental protection towards sustainable development. Yet years of teaching students of all ages, of practical activities and laboratory experiences in the various fields of Earth Sciences, to promote knowledge, interest and, when possible, passion for this fascinating discipline, have shown that, if taught and  transmitted without passion it can remain undeniably, inevitably, boring: a discipline that speaks of stones and catastrophes, complex and complicated.

In this research we wanted to highlight a totally different aspect: not so much the richness of themes, of intertwining that the Earth sciences have in various ways with all scientific disciplines, because they are well known to all lovers of the discipline, scientists or enthusiasts, as much as the unpredictable consequences that geological events of all kinds have had on the Earth, on living things, on humankind, our evolution, our history, our culture. Catastrophes then, volcanoes, earthquakes, but also climatic variations, instantaneous or long-lasting events, must therefore be interpreted as causes, unpredictable but indispensable, of events which, at first glance, have nothing to do with earth sciences but which, instead they made the history and culture of humanity.

The Earth sciences become, with this different and somewhat unconventional reading, a founding node of different disciplines, a tool for training and growth of skills, hard and soft, a stimulus of ability and curiosity, and hopefully of passion

How to cite: Occhipinti, S.: Passion Earth sciences: unforeseen connections and new points of view to promote interest and passion for Earth Sciences, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-1659, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-1659, 2023.

Skeptical Science (SkS) is an international, non-profit science education organization founded by John Cook in 2007. Its main purpose is to debunk misconceptions and misinformation about human-caused climate change based on peer-reviewed literature, featuring a database with more than 200 rebuttals. Many of these rebuttals date back to 2010 or earlier, some have seen updates since then but in a few cases developments in science have rendered these originals out of date. We started an updating programme some years ago, but are now taking a more structured approach.

We decided that rather than fix these rebuttals in an ad-hoc fashion, a full review would be useful as a first step. This review found that most rebuttals lacked an entry-level version, an easy read for people unfamiliar with the terminology and methods of science, identifying a major accessibility issue. Some rebuttals had a “basic” version but no “intermediate” or “advanced” equivalents. In other cases, there was only an intermediate entry. Some basic-level rebuttals were written more accessibly than others. A number of tasks were identified to undertake.

As an initial step, we took a sample of the most frequently-read rebuttals and updated them to include entry-level versions. These “at-a-glance” sections are short (ideally <500 words) and written in a style that hopefully holds the reader via the following three key principles:

ENGAGE

This term refers to engaging with and gently leading the reader into a rebuttal, using things they can relate to: the writer is starting a conversation and needs to do that in an accessible way. Questions can feature here but where appropriate, analogy can be used too. Relating the topic to things in everyday life should always be considered.

HOLD

Avoid all trip-wires. These can be poorly-written or over-lengthy sentences, overly technical terms without proper and full introduction, grammatical issues, repetition: anything that distracts a reader, including links embedded within the text. You want to hold the reader from the start to finish of the rebuttal without distraction.

FINISH

Always try to have an especially memorable short finishing-sentence, a take-home that stays with the reader.

In order to check the effectiveness of these at-a-glance sections, we accompanied the prototyping with a blog post to make our readers aware of these additions and to actively ask for their feedback. By the time the EGU meeting takes place we expect to have received enough feedback to be able to judge how helpful and effective these new plain language additions to our basic rebuttals have turned out to be.

How to cite: Winkler, B. and Mason, J.: Adding plain language summaries to rebuttals on Skeptical Science, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-1667, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-1667, 2023.

We present the outcomes and lessons from our 2022 Public Engagement with Research (PER) project, ‘Climate Change: Science, Research and Performance’. We combined science, theatre and music to explore climate change with children and young people through a series of workshops and live performances in Oxford, United Kingdom. These shows and workshops were funded by the University of Oxford PER Seed Fund and the EGU Public Engagement grant.

Climate change communication for children often focuses on a limited set of approaches to tackling the climate crisis which emphasise the responsibilities of individuals, such as cycling to school, recycling, or turning off the lights. While these actions are important, they can struggle to match the scale of the problem that children see on the news or in their real lives, and may do little to address the climate anxiety that many young people experience. Additionally, much of the formal climate education in the UK addresses climate change through science or geography, with little opportunity to discuss its wider implications for our lives and mental health.

As both scientists and writers, we aimed to address these gaps with our storytelling musical for ages 8+. We (Roberta Wilkinson and Matthew Kemp) have been writing and performing shows themed around science as Geologise Theatre since 2016. In 2022, we created ‘Chrissie & the Skiddle Witch: A climate change musical’, inspired by interviews with climate researchers at the University of Oxford. Rather than shying away from the realities of climate change, the show aims to be emotionally truthful and scientifically accurate about the nature and scale of the problem and the required solutions, taking the concerns of young people seriously. Through the emotional journeys of the characters, songs and comedic moments, the show allows the audience to explore the possible responses to these issues from the safety of their seats.

For the second strand of the project, we ran drama workshops which connected local young people with climate researchers from a range of disciplines – from oceanography to solar panel physics. In these workshops, the teenagers interviewed the climate researchers about their work and then devised their own dramatic scenes based on their discussions. This allowed the young people to learn about climate research and provided an immediate creative outlet through which they could process the information and its implications, and experiment with their own ideas.

We created bespoke evaluation tools, including feedback forms and interactive activities to suit our young audience. Average enjoyment scores were 4.9/5 (36 responses) for the shows and 4.5/5 (20 responses) for the workshops. The feedback suggested the show was impactful: the word ‘action’ cropped up multiple times in the responses to our evaluation questions on how the show left the audience feeling about climate change. One of the children who attended also told us the show inspired them to write a letter to their local council asking them to put solar panels on the streetlights.

How to cite: Wilkinson, R., Kemp, M., and Johnson, H.: Climate change communication through live theatre and drama workshops, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-2635, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-2635, 2023.

The widespread deployment of Raspberry Shake seismometers around the world has already been used to document global ‘quieting’ during COVID-19 lockdown (Lecocq et al., 2020). These devices are sensitive to high frequencies (>> 1 Hz) but much less so for lower frequencies (< 0.5 Hz). This instrument response can be put to good use in urban environments to record anthropogenic ‘noise’ from traffic. We are now in a climate emergency (IPCC, 2021). Global greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations in the atmosphere have risen and are driving global warming. The key component in GHG is carbon dioxide (CO₂), generated by the burning of fossil fuels. In Manchester, transport is the largest contributor to atmospheric CO₂ (35% of total; BEIS, 2019). The ‘data’ used in the official government calculations are based on national traffic estimates (BEIS, 2019). Calibrated measurements of local traffic volumes could produce better estimates of CO₂ emissions. A separate issue is that student enrollments in undergraduate earth science degree programs are falling across the world. Anecdotal evidence suggests that this is due, in part, to the subject being seen as ‘dirty’ – i.e., contributing to environmental damage through polluting extractive industries which traditionally employ graduate geologists.

The Listen to Manchester project has been designed to tackle these issues. Raspberry Shakes have been deployed across Manchester to continuously record traffic ‘noise’. The timeseries data have been analyzed to calibrate them to measured traffic volumes from traffic cameras and ‘in person’ traffic counts, and thereby provide a low cost, continuous alternative to existing methods. Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are fascinating, but in the UK, we rarely experience events of major significance, and this makes it challenging to connect students with the impact of these processes. But there are many other acoustic signals that can be recorded, such as traffic noise, football crowds and even loading from ocean tides (e.g., Diaz et al., 2020). A key component of the project includes the involvement of local schools to show how skills in maths, physics and coding can be applied to tackle anthropogenic urban ‘noise’ and natural earthquake ‘signal’. Preliminary results show that both the temporal patterns and magnitude of the seismological response correlate well with measured traffic counts. Data from the Manchester Urban Observatory is used to compare traffic counts and air quality indices to the Raspberry Shake response. Work is on-going to define quantitative relationships between the seismological signal and the traffic volumes for different sites through the implementation of the new Clean Air Zone.

For the Energy Transition to succeed we must leverage open citizen science technologies to foster social acceptability and community engagement. Given the centrality of traffic volumes to the actions required to reduce atmospheric CO₂, listening to the ‘noise’ transmitted by the Earth is a win-win option: for climate action around Manchester and for re-affirming the links between people and place by learning more about the ground beneath our feet.

How to cite: Healy, D.: Listening to Manchester: using Raspberry Shake seismometers in urban environments to monitor traffic and improve atmospheric CO2 estimates, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-2793, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-2793, 2023.

Smart cities, sustainable and resilient urban centres, are now being designed and implemented all over the world – including in the Arctic. They are a major part of the European Union's Green Deal transformation and the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 (sustainable cities and communities), but opinions of those living in such cities can be divided. Additionally, most Smart City frameworks have focused on technological advances and have excluded climate change and environmental aspects. The URSA MAJOR project targets education and science communication to future urban stakeholders, such as civil engineers, ecologists, urban architects, city managers and administrators. The holistic educational approach includes digitalising, collecting, storing and analysis of social and environmental information, visualising in different ways through digital technology, and education and training to use the data.

Aspects of the project include eLearning opportunities, urban modelling, citizen science, use of open available data and climate change education. The educational aspects are focused on university students, but the local communities in four cities, as well as Arctic stakeholders are also part of the scope. This presentation will focus on the four main working packages of the project, the needs of an interdisciplinary project team and the results of the science communication efforts, which are now two years in.

How to cite: Turton, J., Ezau, I., Pettersson, L., Kuklina, V., Temeljotov-Salaj, A., and Abbas Petersen, S.: Urban Sustainability in Action - Multi-disciplinary Approach through Jointly Organised Research Schools (URSA MAJOR), EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-2842, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-2842, 2023.

Science communication exists on a spectrum: from dissemination to dialogue. While participation is likely to be the most effective way of helping to truly diversify science, there is still a need for geoscience communication initiatives that exist across this spectrum. In this Katia and Maurice Krafft Award lecture I will present an overview of my research into using poetry and games as facilitatory media to help disseminate knowledge, develop dialogue between scientists and non-scientists, and engender participation amongst diverse publics, including those audiences that have previously been marginalised by the geosciences.

By presenting a series of case studies, published works, and works in progress, I aim to demonstrate how this creative approach can help to address a lack of diversity in the geosciences. This lack of diversity should be paramount to anyone who is involved in either the geosciences or geoscience communication, not only because it is ethically the ‘right thing’ to do, but because ultimately greater diversity results in better science.

In addition to my own research, I will also explore how the work that we are doing with the EGU journal Geoscience Communication is supporting others in developing innovative and effective research and practice in this space, and how this in turn is helping to provide greater recognition for science communication in the geosciences.

How to cite: Illingworth, S.: From Dissemination to Participation – A Creative Approach to Geoscience Communication, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-3055, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-3055, 2023.

As scientific models continue to grow in complexity and the level of detail they capture, so too does the size and complexity of the data outputs. Managing the overwhelming amounts of data and curating it into key insights and messages following FAIR (findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reusability) data principles can promote effective communications among scientific teams. This talk presents the ongoing development of “Foresight”, an online platform to visualize and interact with data outputs from the Global Change Intersectoral Modeling System (GCIMS) eco-system of human-Earth system models. The presentation discusses the challenges of managing data storage, selecting and curating key visualizations, as well as the balance between providing simplified digestible results while still ensuring transparency and access to reproducible and detailed results.

How to cite: Khan, Z., Vernon, C., Zhao, M., Waite, T., and Niazi, H.: Foresight – Global Change Analytics: Communicating complex science through interactive dashboards, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-4534, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-4534, 2023.

An effective volcanic risk management is a collective responsibility for all individuals and groups who work or live in areas with volcanic activity. This includes scientists, authorities, civil protection specialists, communication professionals, sociologists, psychologists, health specialists, urban and territorial planners, economists, educators, and the general public. While some may have more specific roles and responsibilities in this effort, communication professionals can make a significant contribution to volcanic risk management efforts.

Journalists and the media have the ability to impact the success of volcanic risk management efforts and can potentially save lives by accurately reporting on and informing the public about volcanic hazards. In order to fulfill this role effectively, media professionals should be knowledgeable about the unique characteristics of volcanoes and the methods used to volcanic risk management. However, it is important to note that the media also has a responsibility to critically evaluate and report on the effectiveness of risk management efforts. This dual role of the media can be complex, but it is essential for ensuring transparency and accountability.

This research aims to assess the level of understanding and interest that media professionals have about volcanoes and volcanic risk managment in Spain, and to examine the potential and desired role of the media in enhancing the effectiveness of volcanic risk management efforts.

In order to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of journalists regarding volcanoes, volcanic risk management, and communication in Spain, we developed an online questionnaire. The questionnaire consists of approximately 25 questions and can be completed in about 15 minutes. Approximately 24% of the questionnaire consists of general questions such as residence, gender, age, education level, etc. Questions and comments related to volcanoes and volcanic risk management make up approximately 42% of the questionnaire, while the remaining 32% focus on communication and the role of the media in volcanic risk management in Spain. The questionnaire was released on December 26 and by the end of the year 2022, a total of 105 journalists had completed it. Here we present some preliminary results obtained including qualitative data on needs and sentiment towards volcanic risk.  

How to cite: Rodríguez-Pérez, C., Pérez, N. M., Rodríguez, F., and Solana, C.: Journalists, Communication and Volcanic Risk Managment in Spain, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-4553, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-4553, 2023.

GeoLatinas is a member-driven organization that inspires, embraces and empowers Latinas to thrive in Earth and Planetary Sciences (E&PS) by creating initiatives to address and overcome career progression barriers for the representation of the Latin American community. The GeoLatinas’ Voice your needs survey, conducted in English and Spanish, showed in 2020 that many respondents in our community (42%) found language barrier as one of the most pressing issues.

Perceiving English as the main communication language in the science community creates a barrier for non-native English speakers, hindering their inclusion and representation. Bilingual education in Latin American schools is uncommon. The high cost of learning and obtaining proof of English proficiency, results in limited access to higher education. The English barrier is also a challenge when publishing in indexed journals or presenting research at international events. Consequently, education and employment opportunities for aspiring scientists and professionals decrease. 

GeoLatinas transforms the language barrier into an opportunity by communicating in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, thus contributing to a diverse E&PS community. Specifically, we continuously develop strategies to overcome language-related issues like: (1) English as a requirement for inclusion and recognition in the science community; (2) lack of access to opportunities for Non-English speaking experts and non-experts; and (3) limited recognition of Latin American scientists’ work.

Initiatives addressing the first issue include Conversando con GeoLatinas (Chatting with GeoLatinas), a space to improve English and Spanish conversational skills; Dry Runs & Peer Review, a comprehensive database of native English, Spanish and Portuguese-speaking reviewers, allowing members to receive feedback on written and oral pieces; and GeoSeminars, where leaders of GeoLatinas por Mexico host presentations in Spanish and English, with diverse experts sharing their knowledge with a broader community online. Lastly, collaborations with Nature Reviews Earth and Environment help our members publish short scientific articles in English, and Spanish or Portuguese.

Regarding the second issue, the GeoLatinas Blog gives members and invited experts a platform to share their research and thoughts on diverse topics in blogs available in our three languages. In addition, GeoLatinas has fostered partnerships for specific translations to Spanish, such as Eos.org short science articles (with science communication production entity Planeteando); and also to English, like the booklet GEAS: Women who study the Earth (with the ENGIE project).

Confronting the third issue, the GeoLatinas’ social-media based initiative Friday Feature in Geo has broadcasted over 160 profiles highlighting the work and contributions of Latinas in E&PS across all career stages. Together with the GeoLatinas around the world podcast in Spanish and Portuguese, we inspire and inform new generations, sharing funding opportunities and experiences from latinx scholars.

As a multicultural organization, we see strength in our differences and leverage them diversifying the E&PS. Together, we nurture our multilingual communication skills and use them as high-value traits for the scientific community. By embracing our heritage and communicating science in our native languages, GeoLatinas brings down the language barrier, democratizes science communication and increases Latin American representation in science.

How to cite: Barragán-Montilla, S., Navarro-Perez, D., Guatame-Garcia, A., Avila-Velasquez, D. I., Jimenez Soto, G., and Caballero-Gill, R. P.: GeoLatinas: bringing down the language barrier to increase Latin American representation and democratize science communication in Earth and Planetary Sciences, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-5172, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-5172, 2023.

Science communication is important for researchers, including those working in the geosciences. However, much of this work takes place in “shadowlands” that are neither fully seen nor understood. With the increasing expectation in academia that all researchers should participate in science communication, there is an urgent need to address some of the major issues that lurk in these “shadowlands”. Here the editorial team of Geoscience Communication seeks to shine a light on the “shadowlands” of geoscience communication and suggest some solutions and examples of effective practice. The issues broadly fall under three categories: 1) unclear or harmful objectives; 2) poor quality and lack of rigor; and 3) exploitation of science communicators working within academia. Ameliorating these will require: 1) clarity in objectives and audiences; 2) adequately training science communicators; and 3) giving science communication equivalent recognition to other professional activities.

How to cite: Gani, S., Arnal, L., Beattie, L., Hillier, J., Illingworth, S., Lanza, T., Mohadjer, S., Pulkkinen, K., Roop, H., Stewart, I., Stiller-Reeve, M., von Elverfeldt, K., and Zihms, S.: The shadowlands of science communication in academia — definitions, problems, and possible solutions, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-5568, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-5568, 2023.

The IMPACT workshop series was developed in direct support of the 2050 Framework for Scientific Ocean Drilling and its call to "communicate far-reaching scientific ocean drilling knowledge to the broader community." IMPACT's goal is to build relationships and collect information from an array of different voices. Collectively, the Scientific Ocean Drilling IMPACT workshop series strives to chart the future course of science communication and outreach for scientific ocean drilling.

The summer 2021 virtual workshops explored STEM education and science communication, engaging workshop participants as collaborators, while paying special attention to issues related to diversity and inclusion. The 2022 IMPACT in-person workshop built on and drew from the summer 2021 virtual workshops to move the community forward in its approach to broader impacts for scientific ocean drilling. The findings from the workshop series are helping to create a blueprint for a science communication strategy that is an integral part of implementation of the 2050 Framework for Scientific Ocean Drilling.

In this paper we present a set of strategies with actionable plans for the next 5 years and beyond, through the evolution of 5 “Big Idea” topics and 19 projects that resulted from group brainstorming. Each idea is being led by a community-based group, who have worked to identify possible funding streams, partners and desired outcomes. This grassroots approach gives strength to the proposed ideas, coming from the community and charting the course for the community going forward.

How to cite: Cotterill, C., Cooper, S., White, L., and Haas, D.: Using the expertise within our communities to advance the IMPACT of scientific ocean drilling, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-7048, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-7048, 2023.

Informal science learning has been shown to increase interest in and understanding of geoscience. Creative geoscience communication efforts through collaboration with the arts and cultural performances are an effective tool in reaching new and under-engaged audiences to increase science capital.

Given that groundwater is largely unobservable to the naked eye, people’s conceptions of groundwater and other underground resources are typically naive and in the absence of visible cues, spatial reasoning plays an important role in the development of people’s understanding and conceptions of groundwater when constructing mental models of groundwater environments. Here we present an immersive science communication experience, “Inception Horizon”, as a case study in creative public engagement with groundwater and karst systems through the interlinked medium of song, performance and short film. The science communication project took place over a three year period, involving 30 members of the Mellow Tonics community choir and composer Norah Constance Walsh in the creation of an original musical piece, two performances (one above ground and one in a cave) and the creation of an accompanying short-film of the same name.

“Inception Horizon” follows the path of atmospheric water above karstified terrain, through the soil and into the layers of rock that lie beneath. It seeps, drips and then gains traction, creating and passing through various pathways with its laminar and then increasingly turbulent flow. Over time it carves out a vast cave before finding its way back to the air via a spring. The concept of an inception horizon features strongly in the music of the work - this is the crucial point that facilitates the initial passage of water and then stretches out like a constant ceiling above further descending erosion. Whispers of the corrosive forces at work echo in the space against an overall trajectory of descent, until the final upwards rush when the audience can breathe again.

Evaluation of audience members and choir members was carried out using mixed-methods: Q&A audio recordings on hand-held mic, on-camera interviews, a post-event survey email to all attendees and choir members, and mood boards. Evaluation found that 89% of attendees indicated that the event increased their understanding of karst, and 63% of attendees reported an improvement in confidence about Earth Science issues. Using a logic modelling approach as part of a wider Theory of Change, the evaluation results are taken as an indication of increased empowerment in earth sciences, showing that engagement through the arts can be used as an important medium on the pathway towards informed decision making on water resources. In terms of demographics the Inception Horizon events were successful in attracting attendees from both STEM (42%) and Arts/Music (32%) backgrounds, with the latter being a key audience due to their high cultural capital, but not necessarily high science capital.

How to cite: McAuliffe, F., Gill, L., and Walsh, N. C.: Inception Horizon: a case study in the science communication of groundwater through song, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-7765, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-7765, 2023.

Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) subjects have historically struggled to be inclusive and accessible to students from diverse backgrounds. The field of geoscience, in particular, has also had challenges in diversity with respect to staff and student recruitment. The consequence of non-inclusive practices still propagates today, with certain demographics not engaging in STEM activities. As a result, there needs to be conscious efforts to adopt equity, diversity, and inclusive (EDI) initiatives for subjects such as geoscience to grow. In this submission, we outline the steps we have taken to break down known (and unknown) barriers to education in the teaching of a science outreach course to a diverse student body. Our outreach course, Think Like A Scientist, has been running in a number of English prisons since 2019, and starts in Canada in 2023. This course won the EGU Outreach Award in 2019. Although the programme is tailored to the restrictive prison environment, the application of its core principles to education are fundamental EDI practices that could be beneficial to a wide audience. In this submission, we outline our reasoning for specific pedagogical choices in the classroom when working with students that have low confidence in STEM education, and we highlight the need for engagement that is not only relatable, accessible, and inclusive but also offers encouragement. An accompanying publication of this work was published in Geoscience Communication in 2022 (https://doi.org/10.5194/gc-5-355-2022).

How to cite: Heron, P. and Williams, J.: Building confidence in STEM students through breaking (unseen) barriers, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-8581, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-8581, 2023.

Despite being a very common experience for most people, rainfall essentially remains a mystery for them. They unfortunately remain unaware of the underlying complexity of this geophysical field which exhibits extreme variability over wide ranges of scales in both space and time. 

In order to overcome this lack of knowledge and push people to pay more attention to rainfall and more generally their geophysical environment, we designed and implemented “rainfall snacks”. It basically consists of a snack designed as a small drop of science, in which each item conveys a simple take home message on rainfall. 

In order to fulfil the overall purpose, few basic principles are followed for each item / activity: 1) They have a clear and simple take home message on a given rainfall feature. 2) The studied feature is immediately visible at first sight, for example by systematic comparison between two situations to highlight the targeted feature very easily. 3) The snack somehow mimics or enables to visualise actual data, and a more scientific display of the corresponding data is prepared for discussion (pictures, graphs). When possible, we used data tailored to the target audience, i.e. coming from a place they know. 4) The activity is designed as a whole from an initial game to actively engage the audience to the tasting / savouring and the scientific explanation.

Snacks with four different items were tested:

• Rainfall Drop Size Distribution variability with cookies (macaron / “baci di dama”) representing drops variability in shape and in the actual size in their fall.
• Rainfall monthly distribution and its variability, using glass with liquid (champagne, soda, water…) height corresponding to rainfall depth during a month
• Rainfall intermittency at various time scales using small cakes decorated with two different colours
• Spatial pattern of convective vs. stratiform event represented by fruits or cream coverage of tarts. 

Each item has been tested in various contexts (family / friends meetings, lab meetings), and improved step by step. Presentation will describe in detail each “rainfall snack item”, and discuss the implementations and improvements.

We found that people prefer a game approach, and this increases their active involvement and curiosity: they have to think more about the topic and to use their own reasoning, and this stimulates asking questions. The tasty food is a good motivation to participate (and to win the game). Although we did not really expect this at the beginning, it also sometimes enabled us to initiate a dialogue on what we did as researchers and as such bring research closer to the general public. In general, rainfall snacks enable us to communicate some science in a rather innovative, tasty and good looking way.

How to cite: Gires, A. and Dallan, E.: Design and implementation of “rainfall snacks”: new opportunity for conveying drops of science, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-9073, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-9073, 2023.

Unfolding climate crisis, loss of biodiversity, mounting trash heaps, dwindling resources: our common home is in a deep crisis. Research tells us what we need to do for building a sustainable society: limit the consumption of resources to the carrying capacity of the planet, circulate materials in the technosphere and power sustainable material cycles with renewable energy. However, conditions, pathways and constraints are not very tangible, intuitive or aspirational. Envisioning how we may live, interact, collaborate, move around and work within a sustainable circular economy is important to drive change towards a desirable future. This presentation showcases a co-creation process for such visions, bringing together the imaginative power of school children with the bio-physical perspectives of scientists. The process builds on design thinking approach, divergent-convergent ideation and allows different parts of the future scenarios come together over time. The visions will be created over the course of one term in a gifted program at public schools, preserved in an illustrated children's book and further developed into a curriculum unit for schools. As such it aims at science communication, integration in formal education and may lead to new research directions for investigating and enabling the co-created visions.

How to cite: Desing, H., Ivanova, M., Zingg, M.-M., Hischier, R., and Rogalla, M.: Co-creating circular futures – developing scenarios with school children's imagination and scientists' biophysical perspectives, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-9097, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-9097, 2023.

Understanding how warming temperatures will alter the Arctic region and how these changes impact other parts of the globe are both scientifically valid and societally relevant. However, many perceive the Arctic Ocean and related environmental issues as remote, disconnected, and irrelevant to their lives. This is partly because scientific research in the Arctic Ocean is often undertaken with little input from or communication with the public. In particular, school communities which act as important gateways to the public, have few opportunities to engage in and contribute to knowledge generation and sharing related to the Arctic Ocean.

To address this issue, the 2022 AKMA2 OceanSenses expedition (11-23 May) bridged researchers with other societal actors including schoolteachers and artists to integrate different kinds of knowledge and co-create educational materials that allow for a closer connection to the Arctic Ocean. Since our five senses (touch, sight, smell, hearing, and taste) are the primary channels through which we experience the world, the educational materials developed during this expedition were based on these senses.

We created a series of lesson plans to engage learners of different ages (from kindergarten to secondary education) to explore different aspects of the Arctic Ocean. Lesson topics range from ocean acidification and seafloor methane seep environments to Arctic ecosystems and food webs. Each lesson takes a unique approach to introduce and explore the lesson topic. For example, the lesson based on “smell” is a boardgame that covers some of the chemicals found in the deep ocean. Players work collaboratively to identify chemical compounds (e.g., methane and sulfur) by smelling already prepared testers. The lesson based on “hearing” encourages students to make sounds of their own to re-create and discuss a selection of sounds recorded on board and in the ocean by the expedition participants. For the lesson based on “touch”, students use modelling clay to sculpt enlarged foraminifera (single cell organisms that live in the ocean), allowing them to feel and learn about these very small organisms that scientists use to learn about past environments. In the “sight” lesson, students learn how water filters out color in the sea and how organisms adapt to live in different light conditions. They do this by searching for marine organisms made from paper cutouts with different colors while wearing blue goggles in a dark room.

In this presentation, we share and discuss examples of our multisensory lesson plans. These lesson plans and accompanying materials will be available on the expedition website (https://akma-project.com/akma2-oceansenses) by April 2023.  

How to cite: Mohadjer, S., Panieri, G., Stiller-Reeve, M., Aune, V., Clerici, M., Holm, V. D., Losleben, K., Maric, F., Os, V., Poto, M. P., Poddevin, V., and Zimmermann, H. J.: OceanSenses 2022: Using Our Primary Senses to Connect with the Arctic Ocean , EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-9377, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-9377, 2023.

Climate change communication has been and remains to be challenging, even when there is no controversy amongst actual climate science experts anymore. However, it is an uphill battle in cases where the science is less clear or where consensus has emerged only very recently. Exemplified for global and regional (or national for that matter) warming levels to date (with reference to the quasi-preindustrial baseline 1850-1900), I will demonstrate what sci-comm problems we face and which ways there are to resolve it. This includes the discussion of strategies to raise awareness within the expert community as well as suggestions for clear, salient and perhaps emotional communication to the public (or media for that matter). The fact that we get ever close to the 1.5°C warming threshold adds considerable urgency to the issue.

I will first introduce the method(s) to estimate the human-induced level of global and regional warming, i.e. how much of the observed warming of the past 150 years is attributable to anthropogenic climate change. I will then highlight the comms failures along the lines of erring on the side of least drama and ask the question when such tendency to 'remain on the safe side' are bordering on actual (unconscious) misinformation. In the second step, I will present results from a questionnaire where we have sampled the climate change knowledge of school students (age 14-19), with particular regard to the attributable warming fraction of global and regional climate. The results will be discussed in light of the unclear messaging from scientists, followed by what I think are the best long-term strategies to improve the situation.

How to cite: Haustein, K.: Are we past the point where it is acceptable to err on the side of least drama?, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-9424, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-9424, 2023.

One of the challenges to establishing and maintaining momentum for community-driven science communication efforts is engaging participation from the wider scientific community. Launched in early 2022, the s-Ink project (www.s-Ink.org) aims to make high-quality (geo)scientific figures freely available via an accessible online platform. The platform hosts figures that can be searched and downloaded by the entire community, including students, researchers, teachers, the media, and the general public. Hosted content is intentionally broad in nature, and can include data visualisations, animations, artistic impressions, icons, templates, and more. Guidelines for generating accessible, eye-pleasing, modifiable, and scientifically-effective graphics are provided. As such, it is envisaged that the initiative will be of direct use to the entire geo(science) community; somewhat of a holy grail of science communication. Importantly, all content on s-Ink.org has metadata and is available via a Creative Commons licence, so those who create the images (and the sources that they are based on) will receive credit.

s-Ink.org is currently coordinated by three scientists, working on a volunteer-based approach with non-permanent contracts (one a free-lancer, two with the backing of employers). In order to make the community aware of the resource and to increase the number and breadth of content hosted, we have actively pursued several avenues since launch. These include establishing a social media account, running free graphics short-courses and providing graphic-specific feedback, applying for small funding opportunities (to run short-courses and for gift cards to compensate students, where applicable, such as from the Norwegian iEarth consortium), directly inviting creators, presenting dedicated abstracts at conferences (such as at EGU), spreading the word via mailing lists and through colleagues and networks, and mentioning the resource during invited presentations (e.g. by using graphics). We have also written a pre-print that has been posted on the EarthArXiv server (Crameri et al., 2022, https://doi.org/10.31223/X51P78) with more details. To-date, there are nearly 200 individual graphics available from 13 contributing creators. However, this is far fewer than the number of course students (over 50 to-date) and reach that we aimed for and envisaged at launch. In this presentation, we will present some of the lessons learned to-date from our experience, present some of the access statistics (e.g. the latest website traffic and figure downloads). We wish to engage in a discussion about other small-scale science outreach initiatives, and invite feedback about how best to continue our initiative.

How to cite: Shephard, G. E., Crameri, F., and Straume, E. O.: Ongoing experiences in establishing and maintaining a grass-roots science outreach initiative; the s-Ink.org graphics repository, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-10129, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-10129, 2023.

Being aware of the geological processes that shape our planet is fundamental for the sustainability of our communities. For example, in active tectonic regions such as the Chilean Andes, where earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and flash floods occur frequently, understanding these processes is vital to act resiliently against them. However, it is frequent that the population outside of the scientific world is not necessarily familiar with these topics, leaving a knowledge gap that must be covered.      

Because of its exceptional characteristics to showcase part of the geological evolution of the Andes, we designed and constructed a didactic and interactive geologic exhibition of the Pan de Azúcar National Park in the Atacama Region of Chile, where visitors can have a memorable experience and learn about geological concepts whilst using the same resources the park has to offer. The Park is a protected area in the coast of the most arid desert in the world, hosting endemic plants, mammals, and birds, such as cacti, guanacos, and Humboldt penguins respectively. These unique species and the desertic coastal landscapes are thus the park’s main attractions, receiving nearly 10.000 visitors every year. However, its most striking, yet unrecognized feature, is the privileged display of rocks that tell a story of 300 million years, representing the most fundamental geological processes in the formation of the Andes. From Palaeozoic metamorphic rocks that tell the story of an ancient subduction zone, Permo-Triassic igneous rocks that represent the roots of an old volcanic arc and its violent eruptions, Mesozoic limestones bursting with Jurassic wildlife fossils, to unconsolidated sedimentary deposits related to flash floods that affected northern Chile in 2015, the park has an immense value for education and research in the Earth Sciences.

The exhibit consists of two main spaces: (a) a geological trail along an outdoor rock garden, where large, up to 3 tons rocks of the main geologic units of the Park are displayed, and (b) an interactive indoor exhibition. The latter is equipped with a lab where visitors can explore the properties of rocks, minerals and fossils, and relate that knowledge to that they can observe in the park. This project, CIENCIA PÚBLICA-1201219 was developed through national public funds, with the active participation of public, private and academic institutions throughout the design, construction and implementation process. The geological content of the exhibition was originally produced throughout 4 semesters of the Capstone Field Geology course at PUC, designed so that the knowledge acquired could be transferred to society. Moreover, early and active incorporation of educators, park rangers, tour guides, tourists and the local community was considered to determine the needs of the target audience and increase the impact of the exhibition in younger generations of the local community. Connection with the audience and the collaboration between the Chilean National Parks Service (CONAF), local authorities and communities, Earth scientists, and the tourism industry , was essential to the success of this project, and is suggested as a requirement for the development of similar projects elsewhere.

How to cite: Ruz-Ginouves, J., Cornejo, A., Aguilera, F., Sielfeld, G., and Aron, F.: The Secrets of Rocks: using the geologic heritage of the Pan de Azúcar National Park for earth science communication in the Atacama desert, Chile., EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-10473, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-10473, 2023.

Climate awareness is the starting point for understanding how climate change triggers and contributes to the climate crisis. A public that is aware is made up of citizens who are able to manage the best way to learn about the climate system and its changes and to understand how climate interacts with the individual and collective sphere of each person. Climate awareness provides everything citizens need to play an active role in addressing the negative impacts of climate change on people's lives, seize opportunities and be conscious actors in the present we are living and the future we shape for younger generations. Given the multidisciplinary, cross-cutting and all-comprehensive dimension of the interaction between climate and socio-economic systems (both on a local and global scale), improving Climate awareness requires more than just making reliable information and data available. There is an urgent need for strategic perspectives, critical thinking, and innovative outreach platforms and tools. 

To answer this challenge, the CMCC is implementing an outreach and communication strategy that addresses the complexity of the issue by implementing a multi-platform approach to climate literacy. The target audiences for this approach are as diverse as many social actors are involved in the process of improving their own climate literacy and, thus, contribute to the spread of more advanced climate awareness. These include public opinion as a whole, but specific initiatives and languages should be used to target specific audiences, such as students, journalists, policymakers, and civil society. Thus, the CMCC multi-platform approach addresses the climate crisis in the relationships between target audiences and media in their cultural, social, historical, economic and technological contexts. We present a series of concrete and ongoing initiatives that make up an integrated climate literacy strategy combining storytelling of climate impacts and adaptation solutions, the journalistic vision of a magazine, visual storytelling, podcast, art/science dialogue, science/communication collaboration about IPCC reports and the building of a community/network of climate communication initiatives through a climate communication international award.

How to cite: Buonocore, M., Santin, S., Carlon, O., Mazzai, A., Michielin, D., Acierno, A., Glauda, A., and Bassetti, F.: Increasing climate awareness through science/communication collaboration: the CMCC multi-platform approach, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-10926, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-10926, 2023.

According to various recent studies, Austrian citizens have a lower interest in science and are less likely to belief in the benefits of science and technology than the average EU citizen. Limited trust and interest in science are closely linked to a lack of knowledge of the research process and scientifically generated data. Projects and networks at the interface of science and education provide an excellent opportunity to develop innovative ways of science communication, raise scientific literacy and influence the attitude towards scientific findings positively. Thus, scientists from several disciplines, educators, and administrative authorities teamed up to form the partnership “Interdisciplinary network for science education Lower Austria (INSE)”, led by WasserCluster Lunz and funded by GFF NÖ. Our partnership aims at (i) raising school students’ and the public’s understanding of science by demonstrating and involving them into the scientific process of different scientific disciplines, (ii) increasing the interest in science by using innovative forms of science communication, and (iii) strengthening the belief in the benefits of science by highlighting the contributions of science to existing and emerging societal and ecological challenges.  We will present our partnership project, show examples of concepts for science education and science communication, and hope to initiate contact with other (inter)national partners (e.g. interested scientists from other disciplines, existing networks for science communication…) to strengthen and expand our partnership network.

How to cite: Feldbacher, E., Weigelhofer, G., Panzenböck, M., Sippl, C., and Jöstl, G.: Joining efforts to improve Science Communication and Science Education - a new Austrian partnership project, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-11335, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-11335, 2023.

Mineral dust can travel thousands of kilometers up in the atmosphere from the Saharan desert all the way to Finland, landing through snowfall and freezing rain. Inspired by events like the one that occurred in Finland on 23 February 2021 (Meinander et al., 2022), an initiative is being developed to promote knowledge about aerosol science among schoolchildren through activities in the fields of arts and science.

“Learning through atmospheric events: Citizen science and citizen arts educational material”, is the first Finnish Meteorological Institute-led project, funded by the Kone Foundation aiming at bringing science and arts together in the form of educational materials for different educational levels around the topic of desert dust transportation and deposition, connecting to its climate implications.

The project aims are varied and try to respond to scientific and societal questions and needs: 1) to be better prepared for future citizen science campaigns, by disseminating knowledge and clear sample collection guidelines, adapted for different age groups; 2) highlighting the human and artistic aspects of natural processes and events, therefore, connecting with the emotional side of living in a changing world and environment.
By having citizens contribute and helping scientists understand climate change and atmospheric processes, we also aim to engage society in the process of science-making, building trust in scientific institutions, and raising awareness about climate change. 

The focus of this project is on an exploratory approach carried out by a multidisciplinary team from diverse fields and backgrounds. The outcome is Oranssi Lumi (the name deriving from the orange snow phenomenon), an initiative created within the project, in which the core team, in contact with other researchers and educational professionals, ideates and designs informative, inspiring educational materials through a framework of steps. The core team developed the structure, visual identity, and contents of the educational materials in a series of co-creation workshops, with helpful feedback from a group of educators supporting the project. The direct collaboration with education professionals guarantees that the contents and activities are framed within the Finnish educational curriculum for grades 1-9. The materials will contain scientific knowledge and activities connected to artistic and scientific disciplines inspired by the dust transport and deposition phenomenon. The materials will be available in Finnish, Swedish, and English, and suitable to be used in the context of a classroom or other informal learning environments. More information about the initiative can be found through Oranssi Lumi’s communication channels (IG @oranssi_lumi).

This work was supported by the Kone Foundation through the granted project “Learning through atmospheric events: Citizen science and citizen arts educational material”.

References: Meinander, O. et al. Saharan dust transported and deposited in Finland on 23 February 2021, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-4818, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-4818, 2022.

How to cite: Piedehierro, A. A., Montalvao, I., Fiebig, I., Meinander, O., and Kouki, H.: Oranssi Lumi: Learning through Atmospheric Events, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-11760, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-11760, 2023.

The International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy (IAGA) is one of the associations under the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) and acts as a non-governmental body to serve scientists and decision-makers in research establishments, government agencies, intergovernmental bodies, and private enterprises. IAGA promotes the work of Earth and space scientists studying the magnetic and electrical properties of the Earth, other planets, the Sun and their phenomena, and interplanetary bodies.

Since December 2019, IAGA has had a dedicated social media group (under the Interdivisional Commission on Education and Outreach - ICEO) to promote the work of the organisation and encourage the building of an online community. IAGA social media platforms (including Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and a blog) started as an alternative version of mailing lists but have expanded into creating original content. We aim to provide an easily accessible platform for news and an online community for IAGA members; to increase awareness of the varied work of IAGA, both within the community and to the general public; and to promote the work of early career researchers (ECRs) and under-represented groups in IAGA. In this talk we present the successes of our most recent undertaking, the filming of outreach materials. These have fallen into two main categories: 1) outreach films, and 2) filmed interviews with IAGA (and wider IUGG) members.

Evidence of success in the first category include the “Magnetic Mosaic” film (directed by Katia Pinhero), which was a finalist film in the “Women in GeoScience” category and finished 5^th in the Public Choice at the Earth Futures Film Festival out of 972 initial entries. In this film 10 female scientists take the viewer on a tour as they build a magnetic mosaic from the Earth’s core into the solar system. We have also won a grant to facilitate a children’s outreach project where puppet theatre is used for Bimbim the dog to learn the differences between planets in the solar system with his friends.

Secondly, we have won an outreach Grant from the IUGG where we will produce a documentary and short movies containing interviews with researchers to connect a variety of subjects under the 8 IUGG associations. The documentary will be about the structure and science of IUGG while the short movies will contain interviews of Early Career Researchers. We wish to promote this ongoing work and direct listeners to how to access these materials for their own use.

How to cite: Rogers, H., Pinheiro, K., Sharan, S., Leichter, B., Di Chiara, A., and Sanaka, S.: Outreach Films from the IAGA Social Media Working Group, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-14298, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-14298, 2023.

Twenty years ago in 2003 the climateprediction.net project was launched. It gave members of the public the opportunity to engage in climate modelling and climate prediction by downloading a comprehensive climate model and running it on their PCs. Participants contributed their results to a large perturbed-parameter ensemble and thus supported an exploration of uncertainty in climate projections. What the project did not do was give the participants much opportunity for participating in the experimental design or data analysis.

Nowadays the questions regarding uncertainty in model-based predictions remain. Unlike twenty years ago, however,  there are many more individuals in our societies who have skills in computing, statistics, physics, geophysics etc. and who have an interest in research but are not part of the research community and don’t want a career in academia. Here I will present a potential project to engage such individuals in exploring and quantifying uncertainty in real-world extrapolatory forecasts of the climate system - that’s to say of climate change. Key to this would be the use of a range of simple, low-dimensional stochastic models founded on the Hasselmann model. Participants would be asked to both code and run ensembles of various versions of the model to explore physical science uncertainties in feedback processes, ocean heat uptake, the scale and type of the stochastic forcing, and even the structure of the model. They would participate in a collection of standardised experiments - common across multiple individuals - to allow for verification of results but they would also be encouraged to run their own experiments and to propose extensions to the main project in collaborative teams.

Such a project would provide a route to enable skilled and interested individuals throughout society to participate in climate research and also to contribute to the wider communication and understanding of the climate prediction and uncertainty quantification problems. This proposal is for a citizen science project that takes scientific engagement to a new level - a project that enables those in society who want to contribute as active researchers to do so but on a voluntary basis without the pressures and demands of a typical academic career.

How to cite: Stainforth, D. A.: A proposal for engaging amateur scientists in climate forecasting, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-14431, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-14431, 2023.

Recent efforts in Ireland to bring geoscience to primetime and make it a national topic of conversation have proven effective. Successful annual participation by Geological Survey Ireland in a primetime science research series encouraged the development of a three-part series fully dedicated to the geology of Ireland and current work happening to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing climate and the need to manage resources in a sustainable way. The hour-long shows were broadcast at a prime Sunday evening time on autumn 2022 and attracted 20 – 27% of the audience share. They were a production for RTÉ (Ireland’s national broadcaster) and BBC Northern Ireland and being named The Island, the shows covered the whole island of Ireland and featured scientists working in all areas. The Island was led by an internationally known presenter, and this ensured high-profile coverage in advance of the broadcast. The content was a mix of classic geological locations, beautiful photography, input from scientists, well-designed educational graphics, and inspiring music. The audience was guided gently through the science by enthusiastic scientists from the opening tectonic history of Ireland, a story not known by the public, to positive discussions on the future. There was something for everyone and it encouraged ownership and engagement of the science by the audience. The television shows were well-received on social media, both by geoscientists and people with very little previous exposure to the topics on the show.  Since broadcast, the shows have remained on a streaming service and are being used by schools for the teaching of geography – the main subject for geoscience in the national curriculum. Use of national television, with the accompanying use of post-broadcast streaming, and social media, has been an effective way to introduce the science around the critical topics related to climate change and natural resource management. Being presented in a beautiful way by ordinary voices and engaging scientists, and with very little emotive undertones, has allowed the audience to take ownership of the topics as they are local and applicable to their lives and futures.

How to cite: Power, S., Verbruggen, K., Dunbar, J., and Cunningham, N.: Geoscience on television – it’s applied, it’s local, and it shows that scientists are ordinary people., EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-15138, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-15138, 2023.

Climate change and decreasing biodiversity are currently hot topics in the media. Freshwaters in the alpine region are good indicators of climate change and, hence, perfect examples for illustrating these threats. Here, we want to share our idea for a Geocaching path (similar to the popular treasure hunt game) that is used to educate the public about the biology of freshwaters. We want to educate the visitors about the natural environment and the consequences of climate change and decreasing biodiversity for our aquatic ecosystems and livelihoods. In particular, we want to show the approaches of scientists to understand and predict these threats and, furthermore, how our society can find solutions to protect aquatic ecosystems. Lake Lunz is a very popular place for tourists. Visitors enjoy walks around the lake as well as swimming. Close by is also one of the oldest lake research stations (WasserCluster Lunz - Biologische Station), where scientists from all over the world are currently conducting on aquatic ecosystems. The project received funding from the EGU Public Engagement Grant in 2019. The GPS coordinates for the Geocache (a small treasure box in an insect hotel) are hidden in the answers to several questions about freshwater biology that lead the participants around the lake, a search we termed "Biogeocaching". The answers can be found on different informational signs that are set up around the lake and at the experimental sites and research facilities of WasserCluster Lunz. After finishing the path, the participants will have learned about ecology of alpine lakes and the research activities at WasserCluster Lunz. We think that geocaching as a treasure hunt is a playful way for people of all ages to discover nature. The combination of an outdoor recreational activity with information about freshwaters, climate change, and decreasing biodiversity -Biogeocaching - will sensitize the public to and raise awareness of these hot topics in the field of Earth Sciences. We hope to encourage other researchers and research institutes to develop something similar on their topic and research.

How to cite: Hödl, R., Attermeyer, K., Coulson, L., and Harjung, A.: Biogeocaching - a scavenger hunt for the treasures of biology around Lake Lunz, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-15815, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-15815, 2023.

Geoscience is vital to our society’s sustainable future. In Ireland, students are introduced to geoscience at Post-Primary level in the non-compulsory subject of geography, yet there are limited resources available to assist geography teachers on their teaching of current  topics and developments in geoscience. To address this, iCRAG (the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre in Applied Geosciences) and Geological Survey Ireland, part of the Government of Ireland, developed the Geoscience for Leaving Certificate Geography Continuing Professional Development Course. The course was piloted in 2021, continued in 2022, and due to successful outcomes, it is planned to run in the future. In this presentation we will outline the design and delivery of the course, and share our experience, evaluation data and learnings. The CPD course pairs teachers with geoscience practitioners  to co-create a curriculum-aligned geoscience educational resource. The participants are given freedom over the topic and nature of the resource but it should assist in the teaching of  the Irish Leaving Certificate (Key Stage 5, UK or grades 11-12, USA). In the co-creative partnership, teachers contribute their curriculum expertise and pedagogical experience, and geoscientists contribute their subject knowledge and current research. The course runs over six evening sessions every two weeks and it is split into four different phases – learning, design, development, and presenting. So far, the CPD course has resulted in the co-creation of twelve resources: one field guide, one story map, two module plans and eight lesson plans, which are publicly available. Furthermore, selected evaluation data from the 2021 iteration of the course shows that students’ ability to identify geoscience related subjects within the geography curriculum had increased by 33%, and 100% of the teachers that attended felt more confident in teaching geoscience subjects after taking part. We hope to present further evaluation data from the 2022 iteration at EGU 2023.

How to cite: Sinclair, E., McAuliffe, F., Power, S., and Dubois Gafar, A.: Co-creating curriculum-aligned geoscience resources with teachers, for teachers, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-15929, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-15929, 2023.

How to cite: Daniell, J., Mysiak, J., Vanneuville, W., Schaefer, A., Claassen, J., Skapski, J., de Ruiter, M., and Romero, R.: Communicating the EEA-CATDAT database of past and present European disaster damage to the public, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-17032, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-17032, 2023.

What kind of ways are there for research and civil society to improve climate safety together? This presentation examines how academics and civil society actors can co-design research-based solutions for supporting a safer climate. The term ‘climate safety’ is used instead of the more commonly used ‘climate security’ to highlight the human security aspects of the matter, as well as to refer to the concept of ‘safer space’ aiming to create a safe environment for a more inclusive climate change discussion and action.

In addition to scientific data, sustainability transformation requires action, political will and cultural change. Therefore it is important to study and create new theoretical and physical spaces at the intersection of science, art and civil society, and to emphasize two-way communication. Civil society plays a key role in strengthening society's crisis resilience in general, which is also important for climate change mitigation and adaptation. Civil society’s versatile role extends from large-scale assistance to authorities in (climate) crisis situations to creative and independent solutions of local communities. By strengthening civil society’s understanding of science and their voice regarding climate change, we are able to strengthen society’s crisis resilience in terms of climate change and related direct, cascading and transition impacts on security.

The presentation is based on and showcases practical examples from the work of the Initiative for a Safer Climate, a new network that brings together researchers, civil society organizations and arts. The network is based in Finland and it is part of the outreach activities of the Atmosphere and Climate Competence Center consisting of University of Helsinki, Tampere University, University of Eastern Finland and the Finnish Meteorological Institute.

How to cite: Rantanen, R.: Research and civil society collaboration - working together for a safer climate, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-17548, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-17548, 2023.

The Ministry of Mines and Energy was constitutionally established (per Article 100 of the Constitution) to take custody of the country’s geological, mineral and energy resources, and ensure that these resources contribute to Namibia’s socio-economic development. The Department of the Geological Survey is responsible for collection, collation and dissemination of geological data and providing basic geological information through outreach programmes.

These outreach programs are conducted in the efforts to increase public awareness on the vital role geosciences play in society's use of resources, interaction with the environment and its contribution to socio-economic development. In addition, the programs provide an opportunity to expose the youth to geoscience career opportunities and positively influence an uptake of geoscience as a potential field of study.

These programs are collaborative efforts between the Geological Survey of Namibia and other organisations such as Young Earth Scientist (YES) Namibian Chapter, Geological Council of Namibia, the Goethe institute and many more. Through the participation in the International Geoscience Program (IGCP) 685 project, the Geological Survey of Namibia, with volunteers from Young Earth Scientist Namibian Chapter (YES) Network developed a 3-minute, motion graphic outreach video and poster focusing on geoscience and sustainable development.  The video and poster are creative ways to engage young people/students, educators, and the community on the importance of geoscience and inspire children’s interest in geosciences, and science in general. Both products are used during outreach programs to schools (high school and primary schools) and communities.

Please follow the link provided to view the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-I7nnSiFIg&t=70s 

In addition, GSN embarked on an initiative to engage the Namibian community using radio platform in nine vernaculars.   The main objective of the outreach was to communicate different aspects of geoscience and their application to socio-economic development.

How to cite: Uushona, J., Mutongolume, C., Mhopjeni, K., Angombe, M., Shaanika, G., Hailonga, M., Uupindi, V., Nguno, A., and Naantu Ekandjo, H.: Using media to raise awareness on the importance of geoscience in Namibia, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-17549, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-17549, 2023.

I joined the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) as a 22-year-old radio reporter in the city of Cambridge, in the east of England. At the time, I had the intention of becoming another John Cole, the late, great political editor of the BBC. Politics and social issues were what fascinated me. But a chance meeting one spring afternoon with a scientist at the city’s famous Laboratory of Molecular Biology changed the direction of my career. I was stunned by what this man had achieved (he would later win a Chemistry Nobel) and committed to becoming a journalist specialising in the reporting of science. This was problematic as I’d had no real science education at school. But seven years with the Open University as a mature student put that right, and in 1998 I found myself in the position of leading the science coverage on the fledgling BBC News website. I’ve been a full-time science hack ever since. When I started in journalism my tools were a reel-to-reel recorder, a typewriter and several sheets of carbon copy paper to produce my radio scripts in duplicate. Today, as I approach the end of my career, I operate in a fully digital newsroom with mp3 recorders, cloud computing and AI. My medal lecture will detail the journey from the old to the new. I will pass on some of the lessons learned (which should be of interest to those wanting to interact with journalists) and consider some of the challenges ahead for my profession.

How to cite: Amos, J. C. D. A.: From carbon copy paper to AI: 36 years as a reporter for the BBC, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-17598, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-17598, 2023.

Sustainability is a universal goal by which human development balances social, economic, and environmental dimensions, applicable to both terrestrial and marine environments. Several authors argue that arts are valuable tools to frame and engage with current environmental issues related to sustainability, including pollution, climate change, and biodiversity loss. In this work, we ask - what is the role of art in the sustainability of coasts and seas? To address this question, we conducted a systematic literature review about how artistic practices contribute to sustainability in coastal and marine environments. We searched the two most important scientific databases of articles (Scopus and Web of Science) and retrieved 1352 articles. Several screening tasks were made to narrow the articles to 79 studies that address our research question. For each article, we identified and categorised the art form, target audience, geographical location, expected impact, and method to measure the impact. We found a variety of artworks from the four art categories (Literary, Media, Performing, and Visual) around the world, but more frequently in the US, UK, and Australia. In this review, we deal largely with the use of art in local issues, rather than at a global scale. Visual Art is the most frequent art category (~40%), comprising painting, carving, photography, comics, and architecture, amongst others. Nevertheless, there are mentions of 26 artworks from Performing Arts, 22 from Media Arts, and 16 from Literary Arts. We found that different artists address or are inspired by the same sustainability-related theme, for example, the ocean’s vulnerability is portrayed in a poem and in a theatre play. Only 19 articles measured the impact of artistic activities on their audience. Engagement is a highlighted pursued impact (~40%); however, other authors also intend to promote marine conservation and restoration, management, education, and activism. Art contributions to sustainability are recurrently made through raising awareness, learning, and promoting engagement and enjoyment of artistic project participants. With this systematic review, we set the current state of knowledge on an emerging topic and argue that further research and new strategies of impact measurement are needed to gain a deeper understanding of the role of art on coastal/marine sustainability.

How to cite: Matias, A., Carrasco, A. R., Pinto, B., and Reis, J.: From art to the sustainability of coasts and seas, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-1873, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-1873, 2023.

Agriculture students, soil science faculty and farmers are familiar with the popular soil zone concept map for the Canadian Prairies. The map, first depicted by Professor AH Joel back in 1928 was based on organic matter contents as affected by climate and parent materials. Newer versions of the soil zone map have been created with colors associated with each soil zone (Brown, Dark Brown, Black, Gray and Dark Gray) that most people would be familiar with today. However, even though we have this mental picture of the color associated with the soil zones, what do the soils really look like if one were to visit sites in each of the different soil zones? Thus, the objective of the project was to collect surface soils samples from N-S transects along three highways in the province of Saskatchewan to convey the soil zones visually through art. Soil samples were collected every 25 km along the three highway transects: one in the east (Highway 9), one in the middle (Highway 2) and the west side of the province (Highway 21). Soil samples were dried, ground and sieved and then the samples used to create soil rubbings on watercolor paper for each of the transects. These transects would then be hung in the College of Agriculture building. A booklet would be developed with QR codes identifying where the samples were collected (GPS, nearest town, land management) and the organic matter content of the soils (measured in the soil science laboratory) that would be used for educational purposes whether in our soil science labs, lectures or summer children camps. This presentation will highlight the development of this project and how the information was used to visually communicate to students and the public the science behind the soil zones of the province.  

How to cite: van Rees, K.: Soil Zones of the Canadian Prairies: Creating Art to Visualize the Concept, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-4635, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-4635, 2023.

TEMPLINK stands for “Modelling ground surface TEMPerature LINKed to remote sensing land surface temperature in mountain environments”, a Marie-Curie Seal of Excellence project (https://www.eurac.edu/en/institutes-centers/institute-for-alpine-environment/projects/templink). The TEMPLINK project aims to develop a model to predict the soil subsurface temperature from satellite thermal images based on numerical modeling. Improving the monitoring of soil subsurface temperature is important for multiple geosciences and agricultural applications, being essential for understanding the climate change impacts on various environments. The model will be generated in the Mazia Valley, North-eastern Italian Alps, part of the International Long-Term Ecological Research (ILTER) network.

For explaining the project main idea and workflow to kids and youth, a cartoon booklet was prepared. The comic strips are available on Academia online: https://www.academia.bz.it/strips/the-story-of-the-ground-surface-temperature. They can also be distributed during science fairs and dedicated activities with schools such as orientation weeks, school visits, GIS (Geographical Information Systems) Days, or Research Open Days. To reach a broader audience was created a fiber-art object representing a 3D model of the Mazia Valley, a typical glaciated alpine valley. Every landcover type of this valley is represented with a different string color and texture. Because the project uses remote sensing data a satellite was made from rope and hang above the 3D model. The fiber-art object is accompanied by a flyer that better explains this blend of science and art. The fiber-art object aims to advertise science through art and can be displayed in art galleries, tourist info centers, or during workshops and conferences. All these outreach materials help to disseminate the TEMPLINK project to a wide audience of different backgrounds, ages, and interests.

How to cite: Raul-David, Ș. and Mihaela, Ș.: TEMPLINK: a project of modeling soil temperature explained using comic strips and fiber-art, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-5945, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-5945, 2023.

A collaboration between the Department of Environmental, Land and Infrastructure Engineering of Politecnico di Torino and the theatre group Faber Teater resulted in “Cambiare il clima” (Eng: Change the climate, trailer: https://youtu.be/3LTOE3wIoZM): a theatre play taking inspiration from research on climate change monitoring, adaptation and mitigation solutions carried out at Politecnico di Torino, to stimulate reflection on the phenomenon in a wide audience.

The wide theme of climate-related consequences for humankind urges to enter into mainstream storytelling. For a long while, the narrative around climate change struggled to find its place in literature, cinema and other arts (see A. Gosh, The Great Derangement). This play attempts to create such a space by telling a story about what science can do about climate change and the importance to intertwine technological progress with economic and political decisions.

The main challenge in creating the play was to communicate the exciting world of academic research, without giving up scientific rigor and to highlight the surprising common ground of science and theatre, namely their human, practical and even artisanal dimension. Towards this end, artists had to dive into science and engineering while researchers had to raise their awareness about how their work can stimulate emotions, which are key to deliver important messages to society, such as those related to climate change. The goal was to balance lightness, irony and drama, conveying urgency to the audience, without surrendering to sensationalism.

The play was first performed in November 2020 at Politecnico di Torino during Biennale Tecnologia (an important event about technology, in Italy). Since then, it was repeated several times in festivals, events for science communication, schools, etc. It has also received two awards: (1) it was selected among the works published in the Climate ChanCe 2022 creative communication competition organised by Shylock - University Theatre Centre, Venice; (2) one of the videos composing the play won the "Future Earth" award of the Earth Futures Festival, an initiative promoted by UNESCO - International Geoscience Programme and the International Union of Geological Sciences in 2022.

The presentation will include:

- preferably an oral presentation, summarizing the process that led to the design of the play, the incentives that moved both the researchers and the actors in undertaking this initiative, the challenges they faced and the lessons learnt;

- a short video displaying some excerpts from “Cambiare il clima” (with English subtitles), to show the structure of the play, what the researchers’ role was and how they interacted with the actors.

Note to the Conveners: since some of the researchers involved in the play – besides the authors - will attend EGU2023, it will be possible also to involve them to listen about their experience, during the presentation or next to the display.

How to cite: Vanin, E., Manes, C., Andorno, M., and Amadio, S.: “Cambiare il clima”: theatre and academia meet for a new narrative about climate change, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-6592, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-6592, 2023.

Through poetry, quilting, illustration and a range of other media, we are reaching out to new audiences, showing scientific ocean drilling research in highly relatable and increasingly visual ways. There is mounting evidence that science-art collaborations provide a more emotional and human lens that allows for both a clearer view and deeper understanding of even the most dense and technical research – one that sidesteps off-putting jargon and ultimately reveals scientific methods and discoveries as inspiration in addition to information.

Through a series of case studies, we aim to show the range of ways that the U.S Science Support Program is using this art-science interface to create outputs from the JOIDES Resolution expeditions, part of the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP). From 3.9.2. Haiku to storytelling through quilting; watercolor illustrations in books to photo journalism using video and photography, we are exploring how art can help us tell stories. Stories about cores of mud and rocks that engage with audiences in an altogether different way from the typical method of scientific journals and presentations.  In this paper we present some observations from the case studies, and ways we are moving forwards.

How to cite: Cotterill, C., Yakutchik, M., Guertin, L., Garnsworthy, M., 392 scientists, E., and 390 and 393 scientists, S. A. T. I. E.: From science to stories: different ways to engage new audiences, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-7280, 2023.

Geoscientists usually use visuals like graphs and tables to explain their research to their peers or to non-specialists. However, it has been challenging to visualize how our Earth system works hidden behind complex geoscientific data effectively and intuitively to the general public. Art, as a universal language, has seen tremendous growth in the application of scientific data visualization in the last decade. Science-art collaborations become increasingly vital in creating new ways of popularizing geoscience. Here we present our recent immersive science-art interactive work titled 19 HZ, which explores the tectonic evolution and shaping of the deep sea through the visualization of submarine seismic data. The deep oceans were assumed to be quite silent. However, as more and more submarine monitoring experiments have been carried out, a hidden soundtrack under the sea was revealed, composed by marine animals like fish and mammals, and a number of natural phenomenons like submarine earthquakes and volcano activities, as well as human activities like ship-tracks. Our team (Deep Sea Light, DSL) has been working on the auralization and visualization of submarine seismic data, which offers a great opportunity to explore the dynamic world of deep oceans. Using seismic stations, we have successfully detected the activities of earthquakes, volcano eruption, and even fin whale songs. We further use the Audio Spectrum and the Touch Designer to visualize enormous soundtracks under the sea in 3D perspective and present different scenarios physically to the audience through artistic interactive devices. Under the lens of the ocean soundscape, our project will make the ambient deep-sea world more accessible to the public and convey to them how humans should listen to and understand the submarine world reverently.

How to cite: Wu, T., Ren, Y., Liu, S., Li, C., Yao, P., and Hu, X.: What can we see by illuminating the ambient deep sea?, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-7514, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-7514, 2023.

Marine heatwaves (MHWs) are extreme events in the ocean when temperatures are well above the long-term average. As global temperatures rise, MHWs are becoming more frequent, more intense, and dramatically impacting marine biodiversity, fisheries, and, ultimately, our coastal communities. The Northeast U.S. continental shelf has become a hotspot for such events in the recent decade. 'Marine Heatwaves' is part of SYNERGY II - a collaboration between Art League Rhode Island and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Self-selected pairs of scientists and artists collaborate to create a 'common language' using the arts to illustrate and communicate science. Through extensive conversations, we examined the scientific and artistic process and were surprised and delighted at the many similarities in our work. We spoke in-depth about the challenges of communicating big ideas, big data, and multi-scale, complex bio-physical interactions in meaningful ways and how we all had to be compelling storytellers. As our 3D kinetic sculptures spin, they capture the ocean's constantly moving and swirling motions. The printed imagery evokes the thrill of discovery and details the complexity and phases of our research: data acquisition from historical sources, research vessels, and remote sensing to ocean and climate model simulations, coding to visualization, and ultimately conveying a message. This collaboration has not only added a new enriching dimension to our work scientifically and artistically but has also inspired students and engaged adults.

How to cite: Ryan, S., Ummenhofer, C., and Ehrens, D.: Marine Heatwaves – Ocean Research Through Art, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-7861, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-7861, 2023.

Sonification, making non-verbal sounds from various signals, is being attempted in the field of earth science. A typical motivation is to raise awareness of global warming, resulting in composing musical works from climatic data. The archiving of geoscience data can be an infinite source for composition but basic methodology has not been established. Sound made directly from raw data conversion would not touch human’s emotion greatly. For more musically-meaningful creation we should know how the composer’s personal idea and general music theory can be added to sonificated works to vibrate human emotion. In this study, therefore, an ensemble piece is composed from earth-observational datasets and scientific-and-artistic findings are collected then evaluate effects of artificial editing. 

Temporal records of climatic parameters are collected at four sites in the polar regions. An ice-core drilling site in Greenland (SIGMA-D; [59.1°W, 78.6°N]), satellite-communication facilities in the Svalbard islands (SvalSat; [15.4°E, 78.2°N]), a Japanese Antarctic base (Showa Station; [39.6°E, 69.0°S]), and an ice-core drilling site in the Antarctica (Dome Fuji; [39.7°E, 77.3°S]). These are assigned to two violins, one viola, and one cello.

Temporal records of downward shortwave/longwave radiations, surface temperature, cloud optical thickness and precipitation amount are obtained from ERA5 (1981~) and MODIS products (2000~) via Google Earth Engine. Those exported values are converted to tone pitches in the 12-tone scale and saved as MIDI files. The MIDI files are imported and edited in a DAW software, Logic Pro. The composer performs (1) transpose to available and effective position for string instruments, (2) arrangements on tone length, rhythm, and volume dynamics, (3) orchestration and articulation definitions (e.g. staccato, pizzicato, legato, sul tasto and sul ponticello). The composer's subjective ideas based on classical music theory are less prevalent in the beginning and more dominant in the end. 

A six-minute work namely String Quartet No.1 "Polar Energy Budget" was composed (http://urx.blue/WCIp). Contained tone sequences are categorized into three patterns of (1) seasonal-cycle dominance, (2) that with continuous bottom tones (e.g. winter solar radiation at the poles), and (3) randomness dominance (i.e. precipitation). Actual performance gave an impression of “minimal music with irreproducible swaying” because of small fluctuations along the seasonal cycles. Careful definition of tone range was needed to avoid unplayable tones, whereas 12-tone definition enables straight transpose without considering the harmonic theory. Dynamics of tension and relaxation throughout the piece can only be made by the composer's idea.

This study demonstrated the availability of geoscience sonification and application for string quartet. For scientists, a new way to explain various aspects of the earth system with emotional approaches was given. For artists, expanding availability of music composition was suggested. The impression of “minimal music with irreproducible swaying” implies a new musical style, which was not easily and automatically done in previous ways of contemporary music. Not only scientists but also artists might be regular users of earth observation dataset.

How to cite: Nagai, H.: Composing music for string quartet from earth observation datasets – how does the composer’s intervention enrich sonification works?, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-8540, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-8540, 2023.

Water is life. Water-related challenges, such as droughts, floods, wildfires, water quality degradation, permafrost thaw and glacier melt, exacerbated by climate change, affect everyone. Yet, it is challenging to communicate science on difficult, highly volatile topics such as water and climate change. Conceptualizing water-related environmental and social issues in novel ways, with engagement between diverse audiences may lead to comprehensive solutions to these complex challenges. Art can be a catalyst in the co-creation of new knowledge for the benefit of society.

The Virtual Water Gallery (VWG) is a transdisciplinary science and art project of the Global Water Futures (GWF) program. Launched in 2020, the VWG aims to provide a collaborative space for dialogues between water experts, artists, and the wider public, to explore water challenges. As part of this project, 13 artists representing women’s, men’s and Indigenous voices across Canada were paired with teams of GWF scientists to co-explore specific water challenges in various Canadian ecoregions and communities. These collaborations led to the co-creation of artworks exhibited online on the VWG (www.virtualwatergallery.ca) in 2021.

The VWG recently came to life in 2022 with an in-person exhibition in Canmore, Alberta, Canada. Surveys were developed to capture changes in perspectives regarding climate change and water challenges through this art-science exhibit. Participants of the VWG (artists and scientists), visitors to the online gallery, and visitors to the in-person exhibition in Canmore were all invited to take part in those surveys. The preliminary results from the surveys suggest that participants experienced changes in behaviour regarding water-related climate change mitigation, and that the degree of change depends on factors such as age, income and lived experience (i.e., floods and droughts). The results help elucidate how art viewers engage with art based on science and how science messages can be more effectively communicated through art.

How to cite: Arnal, L., Clark, M. P., Dumanski, S., Kosmas, E., Pomeroy, J. W., and Schuster-Wallace, C.: The Virtual Water Gallery: Changing Attitudes through Art, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-8658, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-8658, 2023.

Many urban regions include lost or forgotten rivers, particularly with city growth and rivers becoming buried beneath the streets. Here, as part of the research grant "Multi-hazards & resilience in hyper-expanding cities: Learning from each other how to build more resilient Hanoi and Manila cities" we compile many existing resources, including historical and current artwork (paintings, sculptures, photographs), books, literature, and museum exhibits, that explore these lost or forgotten rivers. We do this for London (31 resources) and Manila (23 resources) and present them in two virtual walls (Padlet). These resources offer glimpses into the past and current ‘lost’ rivers, artist representations of living with the water and floods, and the regeneration of these river and water bodies by community groups.

How to cite: Malamud, B. D., Ybañez, R. L., and Romaguera, P. J.: Living with water: Lost or Forgotten Rivers and Waterbodies in Manila and London, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-13195, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-13195, 2023.

Foraminifera are tiny, single-celled organisms that live in all of our planet's oceans and seas. They are the most abundant single-celled organisms in the marine environment, and despite their small size, they are essential for understanding the evolution of life and ecosystems on Earth. 

We would like to introduce the world of foraminifera to children and the general public who don't know much about them and their important role in Earth's history in a playful way, where we combine our passion for science and Art.

We have created two illustrated mascots called Nina and Berry, which are based on what we now know about foraminifera thanks to micropalaeontology. Nina Floaty is based on a planktonic species that floats in the sea(Neogloboquadrina pachyderma), and Berry Ground is based on a benthic species that lives on the seabed(Melonis barleeanus).

They will teach us a better understanding and knowledge of our planet through their stories, which will hopefully make us think about why foraminiferal assemblages might be important for more symbiotic ways forward together in this changing world.

How to cite: Panieri, G. and Zimmermann, J.: Nina and Berry: Using science research and art to deepen children’s and public understanding of our oceans and marine organisms, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-13810, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-13810, 2023.

Science, at its core, is about making sense of the world around us. So it is somewhat ironic that, more often than not, scientific results are presented in ways that leave specialist audiences baffled, and cause the general public to run in the opposite direction. This is worrying because scientific progress relies on effective scientific communication and knowledge exchange.

In recent years, we’ve seen a proliferation of examples illustrating how art (or at least a more creative approach) can help us, scientists, overcome some of the barriers between our science and the outside world. These range from contributions highlighting the “how and why” of creating scientifically accurate and universally accessible graphics (e.g. Crameri et al., 2022s-ink, colormaps?), to projects where scientific content is simply the inspiration behind abstract illustration (e.g. Wadsworth et al., Nat. Geosci. 15). The first puts the focus on the information being presented, whilst the second is aimed more strongly at catching the audience’s attention, as the first critical step in engaging with potential readers for a science piece. Whilst they are fundamentally different, both of these extremes (and all the possible art-science crossovers in between) show us the huge power of visual storytelling for science communication.

In this contribution, we will experiment withshare a series of interesting geoscientific data visualisations accompanied by short explanations created by a scientist and, illustrateding by an artistinteresting geoscientific facts. Our aim was to create pieces that, through their artistic quality, can originate a spark of curiosity in the viewer strong enough to prompt them to pay closer attention for the length of time required for them to interiorise the scientifically accurates  information being presented. We will collect direct feedback from engaging viewers (in this case EGU GA participants). In doing this, we hope to show, and understand better, the ability of art to kickstart that critical two-step process, where curiosity leads to engagement, which is fundamental for effective communication. And, to generate beautiful office wall decorations in the process.

Crameri, F., G.E. Shephard, and E.O. Straume (2022, Pre-print), Effective high-quality science graphics from s-Ink.org, EarthArXiv, https://doi.org/10.31223/X51P78

Wadsworth, F.B., Vasseur, J., Anagnostopoulos, I. et al. Estimating pi using geoscience. Nat. Geosci. 15, 246–247 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-00928-z

How to cite: Perez Diaz, L. and Crameri, F.: Kickstarting scientific engagement with art: An EGU-situ experiment, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-14101, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-14101, 2023.

Field sketches are a fundamental tool for geoscientists in both research and learning. Field sketches are a helpful tool for expanding understanding and data sharing. When on fieldwork researchers and students find that perspective, weather, and lighting can all distort the view - highlighting features differently, changing colours and shapes to both highlight and conceal features of interest. Before photography was main-stream field sketching and indeed in-field watercolours were the norm for all field researchers. Sketching made observers look more carefully as well as better communicate their findings to others. Geologists in the 1880s were armed not only with hammer and notebook, but a watercolour palette to capture their field observations.      

Here we present a simple interdisciplinary workflow for using sketching and watercolour in addition to digital photography, to capture field observations and to spatially locate data collected. Watercolour paints are made of pigments suspended in a water-based solution, this means they are activated by water and dry quickly allowing fast composition. The paints are widely available as pencils, tubes, and solid pans at a range of different qualities and colours, which can be mixed and matched to mirror the colours of rock types. Watercolours layer well with pencil and pen for note taking and large sketchbooks can be filled easily with washes of colour that capture the essence of outcrops and landscapes. 

This combined methodology of sketching and watercolour with digital photography and ultimately the creation of a virtual outcrop model was used to study fault linkage in a multilayer of sandstones and siltstones at Calafuria, Italy over 5 days. The watercolour sketches produced are clear and legible panoramas of the outcrop with geological data and measurements geospatially annotated onto the outcrop sketch. Simple lines and colours have been used to emphasise important details, and although the sketches are not to scale, they are easily matched with the digital photographs and virtual outcrop away from the field. 

The sketches work to make the complexities of the outcrop more legible, enabling dialogue between researchers and adding to the resource of field data available for interpretation. Field photographs are affected by perspectives and lighting, and the quality of a virtual outcrop created from digital imagery is dependent on these factors as well as their subsequent processing. What we can see easily when we sketch as the light changes can be obscured permanently by a shadow in a digital photograph. Photogrammetry may add precision in measurements, but not necessarily the accuracy of interpretations. Perhaps most importantly when we observe and sketch, we concentrate on capturing details with geological importance and promote interpretation decisions such as the continuity of a fault that a camera does not pay attention to. We find the combined approach outlined illuminates the geology to create a much richer dataset than a photorealistic virtual outcrop alone.      

How to cite: Sleath, P., Butler, R., and Bond, C.: The Lost Art - Detailed geological outcrop mapping using watercolour sketches, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-14193, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-14193, 2023.

Climate change is one of the most prominent challenges of our times. A pervasive topic that actively involves countless actors around the world, conditioning every sector of society. More and more initiatives worldwide are devoted to spreading awareness on climate change and engaging the public to bring the change we need. 

In this context, the CMCC Climate Change Communication Award “Rebecca Ballestra” showcases and promotes innovative projects and initiatives that deliver engaging messages and communicate climate change in education, advocacy, media production and social engagement activities through different forms of communication such as art, theatre, video making, music, photography, journalism, gaming, education, data visualization, and the use of digital channels and tools.

Through this initiative, the CMCC Foundation - Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change is building an innovative and continuously growing global platform (www.cmccaward.eu) that collects and rewards the best climate communication projects worldwide, and connects their authors in a network that fosters collaborations, offers opportunities and opens a space of discussion for climate change communication experts.

Now at its second edition, the CMCC Award honours the memory of the artist Rebecca Ballestra, who was committed to shaping a sustainable future and promoting positive transformation processes in the fields of science, humanities, economy, ecology and art and collaborated with the CMCC in various cultural initiatives.

The CMCC Award focuses on projects that:

• increase public awareness on climate change and its interactions with society, the economy, the environment, and policy-making processes;
• disseminate science-based information and data related to climate change through the application of innovative ideas, technologies and methodologies in the field of media, journalism, and communication at large;
• communicate the threats and opportunities posed by the climate change challenge using multiple languages and innovative mediums, including journalism, art, videos and music;
• trigger action in the audiences addressed, including students, consumers, businesses and politicians.

The biennial initiative is developed through:

• a Call for Proposals to collect the best ongoing climate communication projects from all over the world. Over 100 projects were admitted from the 1st call for proposals. The 2nd call for proposals was launched in November 2022 at COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt and will close in June 2023;
• a series of online and in-person events in which international experts in the field of climate change communication debate with scientists on the best strategies, initiatives and solutions to build a stronger awareness on the climate crisis;
• the evaluation of the admitted projects by an international Jury of outstanding experts;
• the final event hosting the Award Ceremony, climax of the initiative, during which the winners and other selected projects have the opportunity to present their work; 

a series of interviews, articles and podcasts on the CMCC magazine climateforesight.eu in collaboration with the authors of the best projects.

How to cite: Buonocore, M., Mazzai, A., Santin, S., and Carlon, O.: The world’s best initiatives raising awareness on climate change: the CMCC Climate Change Communication Award “Rebecca Ballestra”, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-15796, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-15796, 2023.

Purls of Wisdom is a programme that utilises crafting to raise awareness of Earth’s changing climate. Specifically, the programme frames climate change as a local issue and aims to make this important topic accessible to people of all ages. Purls of Wisdom tackles these issues through fibre crafting as fibre crafting often utilises locally sourced fibres (e.g. wool from local sheep) and can be sustainably dyed (e.g. dyes from local plants). The Purls of Wisdom event took place in August 2022. The event was co-created through a partnership between the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre in Applied Geosciences (iCRAG) and local community leaders and fibre crafters in a small rural village in County Galway, Ireland. For the event, researchers from institutions across Ireland travelled to rural Galway for a day of crafting and climate conversations. The key aim of the event was to facilitate organic conversations between the participants and the researchers. By creating a safe, non-judgemental space at the crafting tables, participants and researchers were able to have conversations about climate change research and how participants could make a difference in their local environment, and the researchers and participants could work together to co-create crafts that reflected these discussions.  Together, the participants and researchers created hand woven fabric that showed the Irish climate stripes, a series of needle felted squares that depicted everything from Ireland in the past to geothermal energy and a collaborative wall hanging that displayed Galway’s climate change over the past 80 years.

Evaluation data from the event suggests that participants’ knowledge about the science of climate change has increased, and they feel that geoscience has an important role in combatting climate change and in their everyday lives. Selected quotes include: “(Purls of Wisdom) opened my eyes, I’m interested to learn more about geoscience.” “Most definitely geoscience has a huge role to play in climate change going forward.” “Soil is more important than I thought.” and “I believe it is very helpful to incorporate the science and everyday life, including crafts, in presentations re-climate change so as to engage more people in the discussion of this topic.”

The Purls of Wisdom event specifically targeted retirees as retirees have a huge desire to take part in climate initiatives, but initiatives for their age groups are lacking. In creating the event with community leaders (of retirement age), we ensured the event was suitable for them. Furthermore, some participants brought along their children and grandchildren which encouraged cross-generational learning. 22 local people attended the pilot event.

Purls of Wisdom has been funded through the EGU Outreach Grant, 2020 and we hope to showcase some of the climate crafts created at EGU 2023.

How to cite: Sinclair, E. and King, S.: Purls of Wisdom: crafting to raise awareness of the role of geoscience in climate change, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-16109, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-16109, 2023.

Geoscience data usually is complex and comes at different scales. Effective visualization tools are crucial for efficiently examining properties and correlations when working with the datasets and for telling geoscience stories around them. Virtual Reality (VR) leads users to an immersive experience and allows for true spatial awareness and depth perception. We find that VR enhances knowledge transfer and adds a gamification moment.

In the energy industry and Academia, large amounts of multiscale geo data are compiled but often remain segregated and underutilized. Core data, for example, is sitting in remote core centers and is not readily available to be integrated for improving the quality of 3D geological models and interpretations.

Likewise, numerous supplemental information and geological images are required to improve the quality of any geoscience simulations. Traditionally, most visualization is tied to display on 2D computer screens. Users (geologists, teachers, and students) rely on advanced real-time visualization and interaction methods customized to geospatial data at different scales. It is the user’s objective to improve their observations and interpretations at different dimensions (2D and 3D).

 In this work, we study the effectiveness and usability of Virtual Reality tools for training and collaborative decision purposes. The multiscale data includes sets of cores, logs, sedimentological descriptions, and seismic. All data is presented in a unique virtual data room and immersive presentation.  The geological model and data of different scales are visualized simultaneously and interpreted jointly.

Finally, we highlight the advantages of VR for training students in geoscience and geo data-data interpretation.  This is not limited to but especially true for physical data sets (e.g., core) or models from remote locations (e.g., outcrop) that are difficult to visit. Specific VR tools allow students to navigate in an immersive way through virtual geological multiscale datasets. The interactive environment makes the process of learning fun, removes distractions, and immerses the students in the subject matter at hand. Together with dedicated VR storytelling tools and supplemental documentation, this results in a quicker and deeper understanding of complex geological settings.

How to cite: Jimenez Soto, G., Schulze, K., and Latiff, A. H.: Effectiveness and usability of subsurface geodata visualization for training and storytelling using Virtual Reality: Immersing into a dataset from the EX-carbonate field in Central Luconia Province (Malaysia), EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-719, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-719, 2023.

Historical events provide a valuable source of information about the risk environment.  Risk analysts recognise a substantial degree of variability in the way in which a hazard event evolves.  Alternatively, a historical event might have evolved to yield a lower or higher societal loss. These better or worse alternatives are referred to as upward and downward counterfactuals. For enhancing risk awareness, it is instructive to explore downward counterfactuals.

Typically, assessments of extreme events are undertaken by hazard domain experts.  However, there is no systematic procedure for spotting missing extreme events.  Furthermore, group meetings may be prone to groupthink, or other forms of human cognitive bias.  For disastrous river floods, Merz et al. (2021)[1] have suggested that biases of wishful thinking may be avoided by purposefully constructing downward counterfactuals.

An innovative systematic procedure for searching for extreme hazard events has been developed by the author[2].  This procedure can take the form of a round-table game, in which each person takes a turn in suggesting a further downward counterfactual; a way in which the loss might have been worse. This game has some similarities with the traditional Victorian parlour game of consequences, in which each player follows on from the preceding player. This type of parlour game is a socially engaging and instructive way for players to explore the range of extreme events.

This round-table game of exploring downward counterfactuals, which could be played for any geohazard, is illustrated by UK flood risk.  One of the most salient near-miss events arose from persistent rain across the Peak District and Yorkshire Dales at the end of July 2019. when half a month’s rain fell. Water poured through the spillway of the Toddbrook Reservoir dam, above the town of Whaley Bridge. The spillway started to erode and concrete ballasts began to rip away. More than 1,500 residents of Whaley Bridge had to leave their homes for six nights after the reservoir dam threatened to breach.

A round-table game would generate a series of notable downward counterfactuals of the 2019 flood risk at Whaley Bridge.  These would be informed by meteorological data, and the independent Toddbrook reservoir review report, which concluded it is unlikely that the spillway would have survived the probable maximum flood, and that if the event had been more intense, or extended for a longer period, catastrophic failure of the dam may have occurred.

Few UK catastrophic dam failures have occurred, and fortunately there has been no loss of life due to dam disasters in the UK since 1925.  Through downward counterfactual games, exploration of near-misses, such as the severe rainfall of July 2019, can provide important insight into the risk of catastrophic dam failure, and the timeliness of risk mitigation measures.

How to cite: Woo, G.: A Round-Table Game for Exploring Extreme Risk Outcomes, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-1211, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-1211, 2023.

Geoeducation involving people of all ages and societal groups represents an important foundation for building more sustainable societies, including a better awareness of hazardous processes such as landslides and related geomorphic phenomena. In the 21st Century, geoeducation stands in tough competition with a multitude of other pieces of information received by post-modern humans. To ensure that messages are appropriately received and remembered, geoeducational resources have to be funny and impressive. As immersive virtual reality (VR) experiences are supportive to this aim and are becoming more broadly affordable, we apply this technique and develop a set of landslide-related geo-gaming applications, which will be installed at the visitor centres of the three Austrian UNESCO Global Geoparks (UGGps), and freely available to all those who have the necessary VR equipment.

We present a first proof-of-concept study for the prehistoric Wildalpen Rock Avalanche, which occurred sometimes between 5900 to 5700 a BP during the autumn or winter period and displaced a rock mass of approx. 900 million m³. The area affected by the prehistoric rock avalanche is located in the Steirische Eisenwurzen UGGp in the province of Styria. Based on topographic reconstruction of the pre-event terrain and the release mass, we simulate the dynamics of the rock avalanche with the open-source mass flow simulation tool r.avaflow 3. This tool is equipped with

• a new, highly automatized, work flow for constructing VR-ready meshes in the open-source software Blender 3 and, on this basis, to generate videos that can be watched in VR with simple anaglyph or 3D glasses; and
• a script to generate animations (sequences) of landslide dynamics in the game development software Unreal Engine 5, based on the meshes produced in Blender 3.

Such sequences can be integrated in immersive VR gaming applications of various levels of complexity. Players can trigger multiple landslides at different pre-defined locations and different times. In our proof-of-concept-study, we present a simple one-player game in which the Wildalpen Rock Avalanche can be triggered by grabbing a magic wand and touching with it the release area of the landslide. After the avalanche has come to rest, a piece of a fir (Abies alba), which was embedded in the rock avalanche sediments, appears at the surface of the deposit. Such  tree logs have been used to date the event. The log can be grabbed by the player and, when touched with the magic wand, will tell how it has experienced the rock avalanche and the time after.

Remaining technical challenges include possible effects of flow-type landslides on the players. Unreal Engine 5 is centred on interactions between discrete objects: whereas it would be straightforward to displace a player hit by a falling rock, dragging away a player by a continuously moving flow represented by a sequence of meshes is much more demanding from a game development perspective.

Acknowledgement: This work is part of the project "Moving mountains - landslides as geosystem services in Austrian geoparks" (ESS22-24 - MOVEMONT) funded through the Earth System Sciences programme of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.

How to cite: Mergili, M., Pfeffer, H., Köstner, J., Gosch, L., Kellerer-Pirklbauer, A., Eulenstein, J., and Gulas, O.: Immersive virtual reality gaming for geoeducation: proof-of-concept for the prehistoric Wildalpen Rock Avalanche, Austria, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-2743, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-2743, 2023.

To increase the engagement of the students and to explore alternative teaching activities, a didactical experiment was carried out at the University of Firenze (Italy): the teaching course “Basic elements of geomorphology” was reorganized to include relevant elements of gamification. The main one was a competition among the students based on a serial quiz game, which was carried out at the end of each lesson. This activity was called “Who wants to be a geomorphologist?”, clearly paraphrasing a notorious TV show. The students used their mobile device to access a series of quizzes, previously prepared by the teacher to test the reasoning skills of the students, their ability to make connections between distinct topics, and their capability to enter in a “geomorphological state of mind”. Each participant scored some points based on the answers provided and a general ranking was updated after each lesson. The prize (a “bonus” during the final examination for the top three students) was very attractive for the students, which demonstrated a strong engagement and a positive attitude towards the gaming activity. In turn, the activity was an effective didactical tool as allowed the students to better focus on some key concepts delivered by the teacher.

How to cite: Segoni, S.: Gamification of a “geomorphology” bachelor’s degree course, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-3948, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-3948, 2023.

Games have existed almost since the dawn of ‘civilization’.  “The history of games dates to the ancient human past.  Games are an integral part of all cultures and are one of the oldest forms of human social interaction.  Games are formalized expressions of play which allow people to go beyond immediate imagination and direct physical activity.  Common features of games include uncertainty of outcome, agreed upon rules, competition, separate place and time, elements of fiction, elements of chance, prescribed goals and personal enjoyment.” (Wikipedia.)  One of the earliest modern works about games was Huizinga’s (1938 & 1998) Homo Ludens.  The founding work of modern academic gaming is unquestionably Dick Duke’s (1974 & 2014) Gaming: The Future’s Language.

Since then, the literature on simulation/gaming (and on crucial debriefing) has exploded.  Dick Duke worked in land planning, and today the gaming literature in areas related to the Earth, the environment, conservation, climate change has exploded.  This is due partly to the increase in massive and wicked problems in those areas, and due partly to the realization that simulation/games are an, and sometimes the only, effective method (or tool) for solving complex problems and for providing guidance in navigating complexity.

The result today is that geo-simulation/games GSGs are spread across far flung places – libraries, depositories, institutes, associations and private collections.  The geo-simulation/gamer (practitioner and researcher) looking for material or a method has a hard time.

This presentation will outline a few pockets where a relatively high concentration of GSG activity and materials may be found.  It will also unveil a simple database destined for GSGs, in the hope that EGU members will contribute and benefit.

How to cite: Crookall, D. and Promduangsri, P.: Sources of geo-simulation/game (GSG) resources, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-4365, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-4365, 2023.

Save the glaciers! is an educational escape kit designed for teenagers (11-18 years old) to learn what glaciers are, how they move, how they react to climate change and what people can do to slow down their melt.

We made two versions of the game: a physical version and an online version. In both versions players have to sequentially solve 4 enigmas to unlock the next enigma until they reach the end of the game. Each enigma is designed to make the player discover and understand the following processes:

• Melting of mountains glaciers contributes to sea level rise

• Anatomy and mass-balance of a mountain glacier: What is it made of? How does it form? How does it grow and shrink?

• Glacier sliding: glaciers are not static, they slowly slide under their own weight

• Mountain glaciers are losing mass all around the world due to climate change, which can be observed by looking at their retreating termini.

The physical version is designed to be played by 5 people; the online version can be played alone. Three levels of difficulty have been designed for the physical game: secondary-school pupils, high-school pupils and university students. In total more than 200 people have played the game, across both the physical and online versions.

The game has been developed as a collaboration between the H2020 project PROTECT and a team at the Institute of Environmental Geosciences.

How to cite: Chapuis, A., Burgard, C., Ducasse, E., Cook, S., Gauthier, L., Garcia Molina, C., Bataille, A., and Durand, G.: Save the glaciers! An educational escape kit, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-7146, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-7146, 2023.

Expedition Sea Level - a time travel to unveil the mysteries of sea level rise : becoming an actor of climate change is a numerical interactive activity designed as a game for middle school students (11 - 15 years old) to learn the links between sea level rise, the melt of glaciers and ice sheets, and human activities. This includes various notions to help them understand why sea level changes, how ice sheets and glaciers evolve and are studied, the ideas of uncertain futures, mitigation and adaptation.

This activity is to be discovered in group or alone, in class or in scientific facilities when classes come to visit and encounter the actors and actresses of science. Another of its goal is to create discussions and debates among students on various subjects regarding climate change but also to help them understand the scientific processes behind the different changes happening or incoming, in order to fight increasing eco-anxiety.

To do so, a fictional narrative is decomposed in three chapters with a growing immersion for the audience. The first one is a short animation staging a young Maldivian girl in 2081, going to see her grandparents whom house is partially underwater. The second one is designed as a first person shooter game where the public plays a glaciologist at Dumont d’Urville and on the Astrolabe glacier, answering pedagogical quizzes and learning through mini games. And the last one is shaped as a multiple choices tree game, leading to three IPCC scenario (low, intermediary and high). The choices made by the player.s lead to one out of the three scenario in which the public needs to find the best adaptation plan to protect the grandparents from the first chapter.

Expedition Sea Level is the result of a diploma project conducted alongside the european research project PROTECT. This fully illustrated project answers the communication needs of PROTECT but also the needs of understanding and entertainment expectations of middle school students, based on an anonymous survey conducted among 71 middle school students, mainland France, from December 2021 to February 2022.

How to cite: Foucher, C., Chapuis, A., Durand, G., Barré, J.-B., and Bataille, A.: Cryosphere and sea level rise : A numerical interactive educational activity, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-7237, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-7237, 2023.

One of the main functions of maps is to provide information to the map user, and to pick out from the infinite amount of information that the map maker thinks the reader might find important. It does so in a way that also tries to reflect the character of the area depicted, so that the reader can more quickly recognise the map symbols. Cartography is the science of visual info-communication in the earth sciences: without it, we would not be able to perceive spatiality. Maps also shape perceptions: the content they display can influence the worldview of a generation of readers. So they have a significant role to play, and as virtual worlds become more and more common, the maps that are created for them are playing an increasingly important role in shaping people's perceptions. In this research, we investigated whether users perceive a boundary between virtual and real world maps, and whether they are more attached to one or the other.

Maps in video games are all artworks closely related to the style, world and gameplay of the game. Their aim is to provide a two-dimensional representation that helps the user to navigate through the fictional world of the game. As realism is becoming more and more important in some games, there is also a growing demand - from developers and players - for realism not only in the characters and the environment, but also in the game map. Both the role of realism and the role of maps are particularly important in open-world RPG and FPS games. Therefore, this research has examined these types of recently developed games in relation to four main map representations: city maps, topographic maps, historical maps and realistic terrain representations (based on satellite imagery). The study was carried out with online user tests involving around 300 people, who had to decide which of two randomly displayed map segments was made for a video game. Respondents were assessed by gender, age and education. When responding, they were also asked to indicate what they based their decision on and which map they liked more from an aesthetic point of view. The results show that people typically recognise video game maps for the types of games studied (with the lowest proportion recognising realistic surface renderings), but they find maps for games more appealing.

The present research is a snapshot of how map representations of virtual and real space can or cannot be confused. It also highlights the process whereby the generated reality will sooner or later reach a level that makes it difficult to distinguish from reality, and thus increases the chances that the reader of the map may not be aware that he or she is not seeing reality.

The research was carried out within the project no. TKP2021-NVA-29 and supported by the Ministry of Innovation and Technology of Hungary from the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund, financed under the TKP2021-NVA funding scheme.

How to cite: Albert, G., Tóth, K., and Szigeti-Pap, C.: Can video game maps be deceptive in their realism?, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-8884, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-8884, 2023.

Misinformation about climate change does damage in multiple ways. It causes people to believe wrong things, polarizes the public, and reduces trust in scientists. Climate misinformation reduces support for climate action, delaying policies to mitigate climate change. One of the most insidious aspects of misinformation is that it can cancel out accurate information. When people are presented with fact and myth but don’t know how to resolve the conflict between the two, they may disengage and believe neither. Consequently, an effective way to counter misinformation is to help people resolve the conflict between facts and myths. This can be achieved through inoculation theory, a branch of psychological research that applies the concept of vaccination to knowledge. Just as exposing people to a weakened form of a virus develops resistance to the real virus, exposing people to a weakened form of misinformation builds immunity to real-world misinformation. In other words, rather than getting lost in details, you explain the misleading rhetorical techniques and logical fallacies used in misinformation. Inoculation has been found to be effective in neutralizing misinformation casting doubt on the scientific consensus on human-caused global warming. However, there are many misinformation techniques and inoculating people against them all is a communication and education challenge. Games offer engaging tools for incentivizing people to repeatedly perform misinformation-spotting tasks in order to build up their critical thinking skills. Games that are fun to engage with while serving a useful educational purpose are known as serious games, and are already being explored as a tool for building resilience against misinformation, using an approach known as active inoculation. Typically, inoculation interventions are passive, with messages received in a one-way direction from communicator to audience. In contrast, active inoculation involves participants in an interactive inoculation process – having them learn the techniques of science denial by ironically learning to use the misleading techniques themselves. The Cranky Uncle game adopts an active inoculation approach, where a “cranky uncle” cartoon character mentors players to learn the techniques of science denial. Cranky Uncle is a free game available on iPhone and Android smartphones as well as web browsers and can already be played in eight languages. The player’s aim is to become a “cranky uncle” who skillfully applies a variety of logically flawed argumentation techniques to reject the conclusions of scientific communities. By adopting the mindset of a cranky uncle, the player develops a deeper understanding of science denial techniques, thus acquiring the knowledge to resist misleading persuasion attempts in the future. The game is available in several languages and creating the translations involved some creative problem solving to come up with suitable alternatives where the English content couldn’t simply be translated directly. For example, some terms were ambiguous in one language but the ambiguity was “lost in translation”, actual people mentioned in quiz questions were not known outside of the US, or a fallacy was named differently in another language, requiring a new icon.

How to cite: Winkler, B. and Cook, J.: Cranky Uncle - a critical thinking game to build resilience against climate misinformation in multiple languages, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-9138, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-9138, 2023.

QUARTETnary is an educational card game about the geological time scale. Suitable for ages 7 and up, the game play follows that of the classic card game ‘quartets’, where players aim to collect sets of four cards belonging to a specific group (in this case, a certain geological time period). At the end of the game, the player with the most complete geological time line (i.e., the most quartets) wins the game! 

QUARTETnary consists of 15 different card quartets, each corresponding to a different geological eon, era, or period, starting in the Hadean and ending in the Quaternary. For each quartet, the cards represent key events, animals, or processes. For example, the Hadean consists of 1) the formation of the Moon; 2) Earth’s magma ocean; 3) the layered Earth; and 4) the first occurrence of liquid water on the planet. The cards specifically focus on geodynamic processes (i.e., the presence of supercontinents and the formation of various mountain ranges) and evolutionary developments (i.e., bacteria, land plants, mammals etc.) as well as major global events such as mass extinctions and the Cambrian explosion of life. They are illustrated in accordance with the official colour scheme set by the International Commission on Stratigraphy to ensure easy comparison with the official geological time scale.

Here, we present an update on the development of QUARTETnary (with new cards!) and the projected launch schedule of QUARTETnary’s business plan and Kickstarter campaign, which we will use to produce and distribute the game.

How to cite: van Zelst, I. and Pérez-Díaz, L.: QUARTETnary - The card game about the geological time scale, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-9153, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-9153, 2023.

The Integrated GroundWater Modeling Center (IGWMC) is a small research center housed within the High Meadows Environmental Institute at Princeton University. The researchers and students of the IGWMC focus on using field observations, hydrological models, and emerging technologies like machine learning to address important water and climate related issues. The scientists, engineers, and students working in this center also support a mission to develop and promote education and outreach in our community. Much of our outreach focuses on providing fun, social, hands-on activities that are gamified for maximum impact.

The IGWMC has an ongoing partnership with the Watershed Institute, an organization in Pennington, New Jersey, that supports a wealth of community focused education, advocacy, and stewardship initiatives. Through the Watershed Institute’s Watershed Academy program for high school students, researchers and students from IGWMC were given the opportunity to host a week-long educational camp, focused on water and climate. During this week, high school students attending engaged with scientists, engineers, graduate students, and undergraduate students to learn about and engage with water and climate topics. We will discuss a collection of gamified activities that have been developed and used for these events along with the impactful experiences had by all.

How to cite: Gallagher, L. and Maxwell, R.: Impactful engagement through games: Examples and experiences from a successful outreach collaboration, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-10548, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-10548, 2023.

This presentation aims to present the board game " The adventure to knowledge " as a tool to facilitate the teaching-learning process. It was created to help the dissemination and communication of science in the context of an international and interdisciplinary research project that studies the environmental changes that have occurred over the last 7500 years in the southeast coast of Mozambique. In the game, each player is invited to take on the role of a researcher participating in a fieldwork where they will create knowledge to write a book. To do so, he/she will need material and human resources to analyze several paleoenvironmental indicators, and the speed with which he/she will do so will depend on several constraints. This game is available at https://ccvalg.pt/inmoz/inmozEN.html

This study had the support of national funds through Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), under the project LA/P/0069/2020 granted to the Associate Laboratory ARNET and UID/00350/2020 CIMA, and the project PTDC/HAR-ARQ/28148/2017, granted to the researcher with the following contract CEECINST/00146/2018/CP1493/CT0002.

How to cite: Veiga-Pires, C., Oliveira, S., and Gomes, A.: The adventure to knowledge: A game that teaches how environmental changes that occurred in Mozambique during the Holocene were investigated, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-14449, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-14449, 2023.

The presenters would like to showcase a game they have created through funding allocated by the British Society of Soil science. The original brief of the project was to demonstrate the ability of soils to deliver on the UN Sustainable Development Goals, specifically Zero Hunger, Clean Water and Climate Action. We also wanted to capture the interlinking complexity of soil in a simple, fun, and educational format in order to promote how amazingly intricate and fascinating soils are.

The resulting game is called Dirty Matters: The Soil Game and focuses on how soil management practises affect soil, which in turn affect the SDGs. Dirty matters is a fully cooperative game where the players embody soil organisms (including the mole, earthworm, and mycorrhizal fungi) and move around the soil implementing soil management techniques (such as cover crops, no tillage regimes, and adding manure) to counteract the events that negatively impact the soil (such as soil compaction, acid rain, and erosion). This is all done with the overarching aim of keeping the soil healthy enough to meet the yield requirements of a growing population whilst trying to avoid polluting water and excessive carbon loss.

The process of making this boardgame initially involved brainstorming sessions to form a game design and then rigorous research to make sure our concepts were backed by up-to-date science. Once a playable game design was achieved, we started play testing with other soil scientists and a variety of other communities to make sure both the mechanics and science worked, tweaking the game after each session to incorporate feedback. The final stages included making it look appealing by engaging with a graphic designer. As of today, Dirty Matters is free to download and printer friendly educational tool to advance the understanding of soil and how we should take care of it and everything in it.

How to cite: Burak, E. and Christina Van Midden, C.: Dirty Matters: The Soil Game, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-17593, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-17593, 2023.

Disaster risk is expected to amplify in the forthcoming years considering the recent climatic projections that highlight that the frequency of shifting weather events is expected to increase posing a significant threat to the resilience of critical assets and societal functions [1]. The increasing trend of extreme weather events and natural hazards highlight the urgency of societies to adapt to current and future evolving hazards. Emerging technologies can play a significant role towards the preparedness and response of societies to disaster risks; however, the vast majority of existing solution are customised to the needs of citizen protection authorities and do not enable interaction with citizens to bridge the risk perception action gap.

This work presents AEOLIAN AR mobile application which focuses on actively engaging both citizens and citizen protection authorities (CPAs) to enhance their risk perception but also response actions during an emerging crisis. AEOLIAN is a new crowdsourcing solution which is following a co-creation design process, through various development iteration phases with main end users [2]. The solution places at the centre both relevant authorities and vulnerable citizens, in an effort to deliver functionalities focused on knowledge generation and exchange among target users. This involves the dissemination of early warnings and real-time bi-directional interaction and exchange of crowdsourcing information between experts and vulnerable communities in case of evolving hazards, allowing for precautionary actions to be employed in areas of concern. It is coupled by Augmented Reality (AR) technology, which seamlessly blends real environments and virtual objects [3], to enrich the knowledge of citizens by providing an immersive storytelling of ‘disaster tales’ to inform users about historical hazardous events that have occurred in their region. Gamified disaster risk training modules also aim to empower participation and learning for climatic and anthropogenic related risks. AEOLIAN has the potential to improve understanding and risk communication between CPAs and citizens towards building disaster resilient societies.

Acknowledgments:

This research has been financed by European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No 101019707, project RiskPACC (Integrating Risk Perception and Action to enhance Civil protection-Citizen interaction).

References:

[1] Michalis, P. and Vintzileou, E. (2022). The Growing Infrastructure Crisis: The Challenge of Scour Risk Assessment and the Development of a New Sensing System. Infrastructures. 2022; 7(5):68. https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures7050068.

[2] Michalis, P., Anniés, J., Papathanasiou, C., Ouzounoglou, E. and Admitis, A. (2022). Co-creation as an approach to bridge the Risk Perception Action Gap and customise crowdsourcing tools to respond effectively to climatic risks. Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Natural Hazards and Infrastructure, 5-7 July 2022, Athens, Greece, ISSN 2623-4513.

[3] Katika, K., Karaseitanidis, I., Tsiakou, D., Makropoulos, C., Amditis, A. (2021) Augmented Reality(AR) Supporting Citizen Engagement in Circular Economy, Circular Economy and Sustainability, https://doi.org/10.1007/s43615-021-00137-7.

How to cite: Michalis, P., Georgiou, K., Sampson, O., Nousis, V., Palazis, M., Papathanasiou, C., Ouzounoglou, E., and Amditis, A.: AEOLIAN: A new Augmented Reality mobile application to enhance disaster training and response to evolving hazards, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-1073, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-1073, 2023.

Natural and man-made disasters are associated with significant impacts on society, economy and the environment and are considered an issue of national priority at a global level. Further to that, such disasters are exacerbated by climate change (EC DG-ECHO, 2021) and their frequency of occurrence and impact intensity is expected to increase significantly, further affecting the countries’ interlinked economies. The standard practice adopted to mitigate risks includes the undertaking of measures, customized to the needs, particularities and socioeconomic features of the area under threat (Papathanasiou et al., 2015). Informed policy- and decision-making processes need to be outlined from relevant stakeholders. However, this top-down approach, which currently involves policies and measures decided by relevant authorities is not only outdated, but has also been proven to be insufficient. Currently, there is a justified tendency to actively include citizens in disaster management, fostering thus a more citizen-oriented, bottom-up approach. State-of-the art technological tools with advanced functionalities offer extended capabilities towards this direction. RiskPACC project brings together researchers, practitioners and first responders from nine European countries in at least 21 co-creation workshops at 7 case studies, enhancing the communication between local Civil Protection Authorities (CPAs) and citizens and bridging the risk perception-action gap (RPAG) (Michalis et al., 2022).

This work outlines the co-creation approach adopted for the Municipality of Rafina-Pikermi (MRP) use case workshops that focus on wildfires and floods. The functionalities of the AR Aeolian mobile application were defined based on feedback by CPAs and citizens, as provided during workshops, successive iterations and response to appropriate questionnaires posed by the tool providers. User-friendliness was a core design element of the tool to ensure its easy applicability by citizens and control by CPAs, meeting at the same time the need to train the local community how to effectively manage disasters. The process of familiarizing CPAs and citizens with such solutions and encouraging their active participation in relevant training sessions supported them to better understand their particular role in disaster risk reduction, fostering improved situation awareness and risk perception, which is strongly encouraged by immersive technologies. Lessons learnt from citizen empowerment to adopt technical solutions for disaster risk management can be replicated to other use cases with similar population features.

Acknowledgments:

This research has been financed by European Unions Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No 101019707, project RiskPACC (Integrating Risk Perception and Action to enhance Civil protection-Citizen interaction).

References:

EC, Directorate-General ECHO, (2021). Overview of natural and man-made disaster risks the European Union may face: 2020 edition, Publications Office.  

Michalis, P., Anniés, J., Papathanasiou, C., Ouzounoglou, E. and Admitis, A. (2022). Co-creation as an approach to bridge the Risk Perception Action Gap and customise crowdsourcing tools to respond effectively to climatic risks. Proceedings of 3rd International Conference on Natural Hazards and Infrastructure, 5-7 July 2022, Athens, Greece, ISSN 2623-4513.

Papathanasiou, C., Makropoulos, C. and Mimikou, M., (2015). Hydrological modelling for flood forecasting: calibrating the post-fire initial conditions, Journal of Hydrology, Vol. 529, Part 3, pp. 1838-1850, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2015.07.038

How to cite: Papathanasiou, C., Michalis, P., Stavrou, K., Tsougiannis, E., Anniés, J., Papageorgiou, S., Ouzounoglou, E., and Amditis, A.: Enhancement of local community resilience to natural and man-made disasters through the application of co-created novel technological tools, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-1381, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-1381, 2023.

Citizen science has proven very useful to increase awareness and preparedness of societies prone to disaster risk. The active involvement of citizens is also strongly envisaged by strategic documents related to disaster risk reduction (e.g. SENDAI Framework, United Nations Global Assessment Report). Here, we describe the CEDAS (building CEnsus for seismic Damage ASsessment) project, which involved high-school students in citizen science activities related to seismic risk reduction. In particular, students collected data on building characteristics (e.g. height, material) near to their homes using their phone or personal computer. Prior to data collection students were trained on risk-related concepts (hazard, exposure and vulnerability) with specific focus on buildings exposure the area where the activity was carried out (northeastern Italy). CEDAS was implemented in 2021 and 2022 involving approximately 320 students who collected more than 6000 building forms. The CEDAS project is not only data collection: students also analyzed the data and compared the exposure parameters in different areas. Finally, the interpreted the results with the help of teachers and researchers. CEDAS has demonstrated its potential for collecting exposure data in seismic-prone areas and/or include characteristics useful for multi-hazard and multi-risk assessment. However, its generalization requires the adaptation of the training material to the specific context. This presentation will support the discussion on CEDAS based on active involvement of participants. Attendants will have the opportunity to test the CEDAS approach for selected buildings. Pictures of the building front and aerial view, together with a street view, will be displayed on the screen. The active involvement of participants will support the discussion both on technical (e.g. parameters to be prioritized during the collection) and communication (e.g. citizens engagement and training) aspects. The discussion will also cover future developments of CEDAS, in particular in relation to risk awareness and preparedness (e.g. definition of impact assessment metrics).

How to cite: Scaini, C., Peresan, A., and Barnaba, C.: The CEDAS (building CEnsus for seismic Damage Assessment) project: citizen science to increase risk awareness, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-1615, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-1615, 2023.

In Korea, disaster broadcasting online system and disaster information delivery platform provide disaster information broadcasting and text messages as well as various multimedia services to inform the public. However, it is not possible for Disaster Prevention-Related Organizations and accurately acquire disaster situation information in real time and provide information for preemptive response.

Therefore, in order to quickly deliver weather emergency information to the Disaster Prevention-Related Organizations like fire fighter, we analyse necessary meteorological information for fire fighting and transfer the customized contents that can effectively respond to disaster situations are developed. We propose a system architecture to deliver meteorological information to the person in charge.

How to cite: Lee, B. and Jung, W.-S.: Design of Weather Emergency Information Delivery System to Disaster Prevention-Related Organizations, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-1956, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-1956, 2023.

“The future of emergency communication requires a new ecosystem that enhances capacity and capability by creating an environment that is accessible, equitable, and anticipates change as a constant state.”

This is the key finding of research designed to identify policy recommendations for the EU and which is intended to be of assistance to policymakers at national, regional, and local levels.

It recognises that current models of communication in relation to emergencies are typically oriented towards top-down or single-direction communication, flowing from professionals to lay persons. The impact of this legacy approach extends far beyond the obvious and visible delivery mechanisms. It also frames the underpinning research, discussions, and attitudes. As such, it perpetuates existing limitations and biases of the system, for example, an underappreciation of the needs, role, and contribution of citizens and communities.

It also means that global aspirations- such as enhancing resilience and integration- can at best only ever be partially achieved because they are only seen through a narrow and restrictive lens. This has profound implications and fundamental changes are required to better accommodate multi-directional communication in which the role of authorities and professionals adapts to one of enablement, rather than control.

The primary and overarching recommendation for a new communications ecosystem emerged through considering the wider meaning of specific findings from the research. These are shown below:

• Bridge the communication gaps between professionals and citizens. For example in relation to language (terminology), content, risk tolerance, stereotypes, desired outcomes/priorities, and assumptions.
• Recognise that communication is a continuous activity that is reliant on creating the right conditions for it to be effective.
• Design consistent messaging and communication that is inclusive and adaptable to specific needs.
• Recognise communication as a learning opportunity and actively design in opportunities to exploit this throughout the cycle.
• Communication strategies should recognise and positively support the opportunities that emergencies provide for citizens, communities, and formal agencies to enhance integration and resilience.

In proposing this paper to the EGU General Assembly 2023, we hope it may represent a valuable opportunity to consider opportunities to align the work of the climate and crisis sectors in this area. Hopefully, in doing so, we will learn from each other and make the task of those using our work easier and more effective.

Note: The authors were funded by the ENGAGE project to produce the report referenced in this abstract. ENGAGE is an EU-funded project, which started in July 2020 and whose mission is to identify novel knowledge, impactful solutions, and emergency response guidelines for exploiting Europe ́s societal resilience.

How to cite: Wales, D., Olson, A., and Gizikis, A.: Communication for emergencies – the need for a new and inclusive ecosystem, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-2951, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-2951, 2023.

Maps are a widely used mean to communicate spatial hazard and risk information to the public, with the aim to increase individual risk awareness. The use of maps is triggered by scientific evidence that maps are the format most preferred by the public. However, past studies have shown that, if not well designed, maps are often misinterpreted and can trigger wrong attitudes. Thereby, the different elements such as the icons on the map, the chosen layers, the legend, or the used color scale influence the comprehension of the information on the map. In the context of natural hazards, and more precisely earthquakes, research has so far mainly focused on the design of hazard maps, and little is known about the effective design of risk maps. We thus assessed how to design understandable, useful, and actionable seismic risk maps for the public.

To this end, we conducted a transdisciplinary project in Switzerland by ensuring an interdisciplinary co-production of the map and testing it with the public. First, we – an interdisciplinary group at the Swiss Seismological Service at ETH Zurich – co-designed different versions of the seismic risk map varying the color scale and legend format. Second, we tested these versions with a public survey (between-subjects experiment); representative for the German- and French-speaking part of Switzerland. We assessed which map version was correctly interpreted, perceived as useful, increased people’s risk perception, and triggered people to take protective actions. Further, we analyzed whether certain social groups (e.g., house owners) had different preferences, risk perception, or intentions to take action.

At the conference, we will present the preliminary results of the survey and provide evidence-based recommendations on how to design user-centred seismic risk maps. This should support institutions responsible for public communication to add seismic risk maps to their products to effectively inform the public about seismic risks and, in turn, increase their risk awareness and intention to take protective actions. 

This project has received funding from the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), the Federal Office for Civil Protection (FOCP), and the Swiss Federal institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich).

How to cite: Dallo, I., Schnegg, L. N., and Marti, M.: The design of user-centred seismic risk maps – the Swiss case, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-3241, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-3241, 2023.

Disasters induced by natural hazards are increasing globally and have severe impacts. Some of these hazards, as volcanic eruptions, are related to the earth's interior mechanisms and cannot be prevented. Thereby, risk mitigation is the best strategy for reducing their impacts in densely populated areas, such as the city of Goma in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, exposed to volcanic threats from Nyiragongo. This requires the population to be prepared to respond to volcanic risk, by having a high state of awareness, anticipation, and readiness. “Living with a volcano” should be one of the life skills all Goma children acquire during their schooling, regardless of where they attend school. Therefore, this study used a mixed-method approach (questionnaire survey, focus group and written composition) to assess the awareness raising impact of two educational tools recently implemented in Goma for secondary students: the Hazagora serious game and the volcano museum. Several students (402 in total) from 12 schools participated in one of these risk awareness activities, while other students were assessed as controls. Results indicate that the tools have a positive impact on students’ volcanic disaster understanding, their risk perception, and their implication in DRR initiatives. Specifically, the volcano museum increases knowledge of volcanic process more than the Hazagora serious game; the latter increases more the perceived self-capacities and willingness of implementing protective measures. Risk perception raises almost identically with both tools. In general, participants indicate that they receive sufficient scientific information throughout the Hazagora serious game and the volcano museum visit to better understand the physical mechanisms of volcanic hazards and their impacts on human properties and livelihood. In addition, they claim to have received relevant information on protective measures and abilities, and to be willing to search for additional risk information. This study highlights that the two tools are complementary; thus, awareness raising through a diversity of tools can be more effective than a single and isolated activity.

How to cite: Mafuko Nyandwi, B., Kervyn, M., Muhashy Habiyaremye, F., Kervyn, F., and Michellier, C.: Building a prepared community to volcanic risk: assessment of awareness raising tools for secondary school in Goma, (Eastern DR Congo), EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-4508, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-4508, 2023.

In recent years, natural disasters such as typhoons, torrential rains, and wildfires have increased due to climate change. Such a phenomenon is an unpredictable meteorological phenomenon. In this kinds of disasters, warning and alert information rapid transition should be made through disaster prevention-related agencies and regional warning systems. Recently, there has been an increasing demand for such rapid transition information. From the point of view of the current transition system for disaster warning and alert system, the severe weather information from the Meteorological Agency in South Korea is transmitted to broadcasting stations and related media using fax, e-mail, and the like. However, these manual transmission of information is not as much fast as it should be required. To make matters worse, there were cases where it did not delivered. In terms of management and operation of this warning system, related agencies have different independent operation systems depending on the type of disaster. For this reason, when multiple disasters occur at the same time or in stages, it is difficult to respond immediately because the systems are not well coordinated. In addition, for the same meteorological phenomenon, the damage that occurs in the area will differ depending on the disaster prevention capacity of the area, the degree of urbanization and industrialization, and the different shape of watershed of the area. In this study, we analyzed existing severe weather information transmission systems. The new novel system shows a prototype that reflects being rapid, being accurate and being integrated. Then, the study presents a methodology for considering the characteristics of the region. Prototypes planned in this way are evaluated whether functional performance is implemented.  The proposed system lets the urgency of weather events make a decision from a meteorological point of view. This will automatically and quickly categorize the level of need you have to be notified of. Depending on the grade, it will promptly and automatically generated and deliver customized information to the public and the government immediately right after any concerned situation occurs. The system has reflected the construction of a standardized information transmission system. Then, the proposed system will enable operation and management by integrating forecasting systems operated independently by each agency into one system. System integration increases the efficiency of generating and transmitting the necessary information, enabling effective response to the complex disasters. Even in the same weather, if the degree of disaster impact varies by region, the customized information level will be differentiated according to vulnerability, exposure, hazardous, and disaster prevention capacity.  

This study will enable the rapid transmission of necessary information to the public and related organizations for efficient response to unpredictable and complex natural disasters through the improved severe weather information transmission system. Finally, It is expected to contribute to minimizing human and material damage due to natural and social disasters by providing alert and warning with customized information for each region that reflects the degree of disaster impact.

How to cite: Jeun, S. and Kwon, K.: System Development of generation and transmission of customized severe weather information for Emergency responses in South Korea, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-4858, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-4858, 2023.

In order to successfully set the EU on the path to reach climate neutrality by 2050, it is essential to have communities on board and willing to make changes to act for a sustainable future. However, without courses focused on climate change on the core curriculum of most schools in Europe, many adults are under informed about the effects of climate change, and what can be done on an individual level to reach these goals. The impact of warming oceans are multifold and affect not only communities that directly boarder the sea, but all neighboring nations as well. The Deep Network project addresses the need for adults to become more aware of the problems regarding climate change and the ocean by curating an online ocean-education information hub. To accomplish this, a network will be built working in close partnership with researchers, ocean activists, industries, and professional adult educators to develop high quality, accessible educational material that covers a range of topics related to how human activities impact the ocean. Some of the topics covered in the Deep Network project include ocean pollution, rising sea levels, ocean warming/acidification, habitat destruction, fisheries, and tourism. Additionally, to engage communities to action and to maintain a sustained interest in marine science and conservation, “inspiring practices” will be promoted for each topic. These are examples of realistic actions or lifestyle changes that one can directly implement into one’s own life. Anthropogenic influences on the oceans directly affect us all in varying ways. The goal of The Deep Network project is to create a strong line of accessible communication, trust, and transparency between ocean research and the communities, to ensure that the responsibility of a sustainable future falls not on the scientists, activists, and industry partners alone. A well-informed community has the potential to make a difference in legislation and gives people the opportunity to make educated decisions to act for a sustainable future.

How to cite: Johansen, C.: The Deep Network: curating and co-producing quality ocean-education information for adults., EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-5104, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-5104, 2023.

Young generation will have to manage, in the not-too-distant future, the increase of climate-change-related hazards. Infact, extreme rainfall events, increases in mean temperatures,  decreases in mean rainfall, tropical cyclones, thunderstorms, droughts are already having a significant impacts on people’s life and to the environment. In light of this, the more young people will be aware of the climate change (CC) and will know how to deal with the risks induced by it, the more they will be able to take measures and adopt behaviors to reduce negative impacts as well as to influence the choices of policy makers. For this reason, knowing the perception, the degree of knowledge and the preparedness of young people to these issues is becoming increasingly important.

By means of a quantitative research method (structured questionnaire), a survey on  a group of Italian high public school students, aged between 13 and 20 and located in central (Umbria region) and southern (Calabria region) Italy, was carried out. This survey focused on young people awareness, perception and preparation concerning natural risks, including landslide and flood risk, and climate change. The survey's results show the following informations: a) the questioned students are aware of the CC issue and they generally believe that human actions and lifestyle affect CC; moreover, young people are more worried than adults about how CC may affect nature and the environment; b) the findings confirm the close relationship between youth and the media in terms of perception, information, and understanding of CC and its impacts; c) besides believing that better risk communication between authorities and citizens is necessary, the students  have low level of trust in local administrations and on the policy regarding geo-hydrological risk; d) young interviewed who participated in a specific educational activity on landslide and flood hazard revealed that they had a good understanding of the triggering processes of these phenomena. Even though the samples is not highly representative of the whole Italian young population, the survey shows that Italian political institutions need to plan responsible, morally sound, and convincing activities in order to win over citizens' credibility and trust, especially younger ones. Additionally, it is crucial that scientists collaborate with politicians, policy makers, and schools to i) promote shared and sustainable actions involving public, particularly the younger generation, and thus increasing people resilience; and ii) develop an integrated and multidisciplinary approach to comprehend a complex phenomenon like climate change and its effects on people and environment.

How to cite: Coscarelli, R., Antronico, L., Gariano, S. L., and Salvati, P.: Investigating students' perception of climate change and geo-hydrological risk in Italian public high schools, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-5636, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-5636, 2023.

In a geologically interesting land like Italy, and in particular Campania, educating and informing about the concept of risk in general, and specifically seismic risk, is of fundamental importance.

The possibilities of seismic risk mitigation, in fact, depend not only on the scientific community but also on how well prepared and informed society is about the risk itself. It is, therefore, crucial to train the local population to increase disaster risk preparedness and resilience within our region.

The Science Capital framework, developed by Prof. Louise Archer er al. (https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21227), refers to a person’s science-related resources, such as their science-related understanding, knowledge, attitudes, activities, and social contacts. It also offers a key to defining how everyone's store of scientific knowledge is enriched and influenced by their habits, family, and network of contacts. Understanding this context and its dynamics helps us to enhance the resources available for scientific culture, with a view to building a competent and inclusive educational community. 

With this in minds, we built a didactic protocol dedicated to seismic risk perception taking into consideration the Science Capital framework.

“Waves…a tool to explore our home!” allows students to acquire both specific topics, such as the physical quantities involved in an earthquake, its generation and its dynamics, and general concepts, such as the perception of seismic risk and the impact of man in the prevention, in the possible induction and in the response to an earthquake.

An evaluation phase was carried out to assess the learning experience and the effectiveness of the science communication technique.

This work has been supported by CORE ("sCience and human factor for Resilient sociEty") project, funded from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 - research and innovation program under grant agreement No 101021746 .

How to cite: Gargiulo, M. V., Napolitano, F., and Capuano, P.: Waves…a tool to explore our home! A successful experience in improving risk perception, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-6079, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-6079, 2023.

Groundwater accounts for nearly 99% of all liquid freshwater on Earth. Not only does groundwater provide almost half of the global drinking water supply and ensures the well-being of humans and sustain dependent ecosystems (rivers, lakes, and wetlands), it is an essential aspect in climate change mitigation too. Despite the exceptional importance of groundwater in social, economic, and environmental processes, it remains poorly understood, mismanaged, and often neglected. In order to increase global awareness of groundwater protection, the theme for World Water Day 2022 was “Groundwater: Making the invisible visible” with the culminating event - the first UN-Water Summit on Groundwater held in Paris on 7-8 December. Data collection and sharing on groundwater were among the key actions highlighted during the Summit because “we cannot manage what we do not measure”.

One of the ways to make groundwater visible is to demystify the underground resources beneath our feet through citizen science. Many volunteer water monitoring programs have generated valuable data sets around the world. Data collection by volunteers is cost- and time effective, supports local communities by raising awareness of groundwater protection, and boosts outdoor tourism. Moreover, such campaigns provide information on water bodies that would otherwise remain unmonitored and, if carefully designed, can be used by national water managers and even support decision-making.

Here we present a joint Estonian-Latvian web-based application for the volunteer monitoring of springs launched in February 2021 (accessible by allikad.info and avoti.info). The web-based map application aims to collect new information on already known springs and locate new ones by providing clear guidelines on how to carry out proper spring monitoring. More than 200 users have already joined the application and approximately 600 new springs have been added to the database. Together, 1132 new observations have been made and 2930 images of springs have been added. This valuable information source has been recently recognized by national water managing authorities and used to improve the transboundary groundwater monitoring network between Estonia and Latvia. We will present how citizen science can improve groundwater management, as well as our success stories and lessons learned. 

The study benefits from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA and Norway Grants Fund for Regional Cooperation project No.2018-1-0137 “EU-WATERRES: EU-integrated management system of cross-border groundwater resources and anthropogenic hazards”  and Interreg Estonia-Latvia cooperation program project “WaterAct”.

How to cite: Retike, I., Terasmaa, J., Koit, O., Bikše, J., Demidko, J., Hunt, M., and Kukela, A.: Voluntary spring monitoring to make invisible groundwater visible, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-6102, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-6102, 2023.

Population information is a fundamental issue for effective disaster risk reduction. As demonstrated by numerous past and present crises, implementing an effective communication strategy is, however, not a trivial matter. Here, and in Devès et al. 2022, we draw lessons from the seismo-volcanic “crisis” that began in the French overseas department of Mayotte in May 2018, and which is related to a submarine eruption off the eastern coast of the island. The seismo-volcanic activity is still ongoing today and large uncertainties remain about its possible future evolution. Mayotte’s case study is interesting for several reasons: (1) although the seismo-volcanic phenomenon itself is associated with moderate impacts, it triggered a social crisis that risk managers themselves qualified as “a communication crisis”, (2) risks are perceived mostly indirectly by the population, which poses specific challenges, in particular to scientists who are placed at the heart of the risk communication process, and (3) no emergency planning or monitoring had ever been done in the department of Mayotte with respect to volcanic issues before May 2018, which means that the framing of monitoring and risk management, as well as the strategies adopted to share information with the public, has evolved significantly over time. Our first contribution is to document the gradual organization of the official response. Then we attempt to understand what may have led to the reported “communication crisis”. To that end, we collect and analyze the written information delivered by the main actors of monitoring and risk management to the public from May 2018 to April 2021. Finally, we compare its volume, timing, and content with what is known of at-risk populations’ information needs. Our results outline the importance of ensuring that communication is not overly technical, that it aims to inform rather than reassure, that it focuses on risk and not only on hazard, and that it provides clues to possible risk scenarios. We issue recommendations for improvement of public information about risks in Mayotte, but also elsewhere in contexts where comparable geo-crises may happen. 

Devès, M., Lacassin, R., Pécout, H., & Robert, G. (2022). Risk communication during seismo-volcanic crises: the example of Mayotte, France. Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 2001–2029, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-2001-202

How to cite: Lacassin, R., Devès, M., Pécout, H., and Robert, G.: Risk communication during seismo-volcanic crises: the example of Mayotte, France, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-7342, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-7342, 2023.

During and after catastrophes it is important to investigate the role played by key governmental institutions and scientific community in vehiculating correct information to the whole population on how to manage the consequences of disasters in order to minimize losses and avoid other possible cascading effects. Indeed, messages spread out by policy makers and scientific community get positive effects, only if they are trusted by citizens.

The European project entitled “sCience and human factOr for Resilient society” (H2020 CORE) considers trust as a key factor for the individuals’ risk perception, their behavioural response and disaster preparedness. Within this scenario, a survey is promoted by means of an online questionnaire including scales and indicators related to risk perception and trust by controlling for geographical context, socio-demographic and economic backgrounds together with direct and indirect individual experiences. The aim of the survey is twofold: on one hand, it permits to consider the effects on citizens’ behaviors by analysing  different hazards, such as earthquakes, tsunami, wildfire, industrial accident, terrorist attack, flash flood and COVID-19 pandemic; on the other one, it allows to underline best practices adopted by institutions during emergencies in different countries by also investigating the role of fake news.

The final aim is to release guidelines devoted to the policy makers and scientific community experts in order to understand what they can do to be trusted by communities. 

Acknowledgment: The present abstract has been produced for the CORE project that has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101021746.

How to cite: Russo, R., Gargiulo, M. V., Vitale, M. P., Quarta, S., and Capuano, P.: Investigating the role of citizens' trust during and after emergencies, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-8055, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-8055, 2023.

The historical evolution of a territory is usually related to its geological features and geomorphological dynamics. Floods and slope instabilities modify the landscape impacting on human life. The perception of the value of natural resources in mountain area and the culture of respect is an essential component in strategies aimed at ensuring the population a future of well-being, social and economic growing.

The AMALPI Trek takes its name from the A.M.AL.PI.18 Project [1], which is the Italian acronymous for “Moving Alps, and Movements in the Alps”, developed in the framework of the European funded Interreg Italy-Switzerland Cooperation Program V-A 2014-2020. The project aims to encourage an innovative strategy for the promotion of natural and cultural heritage in the Alpine area from Maloja to St. Gotthard (through Val Bregaglia, Valchiavenna, Regione Moesa and Alto Ticino), even by the creation of a cross-border geo-cultural trail connecting sites which have experienced important geomorphological and anthropic changes due to the occurrence of landslides of great social impact. The trail is addressed to a scientific-cultural and educational tourism, to raise the perception of landscape components in the framework of the “total history”, composed by the geo(morpho)logical, bioecological and historic-cultural heritages. Placed in a central position, the AMALPI Center (scheduled to open mid-2023 in Chiavenna), will be a study and research hub on large landslides, reference for school activities and promotion events. In addition, an open access hiking guidebook and map will lead the trekker to discover tools and methods that allow the comprehension of past and ongoing processes, with the help of illustrative panels describing the main patrimonial aspects of the territory, which is rich in historical palaces, archaeological sites, and natural monuments.

The AMALPI Trek runs through 10 Alpine valleys and crosses 7 mountain passes, for a total of about 150 km, plus several thematic itineraries that branch out of the main trail. Along the way, 19 large landslides of different age and type are touched. In many segments, the AMALPI trek follows historical trade routes, used in the past for the exchange of silk and soapstone products. There are some links between large landslides and stone resources typical of these mountains. A striking example are the “crotti”, natural caves used as cellars, perfect places for the storage of foods and other goods, and the “trone”, local soapstone caves, both generated by the gravitational accumulation of cyclopean boulders. The petrographic features of soapstone outcropping rock offer then a good workability, but locally they become weakness planes predisposing sliding.

Looking at the causes and effects of landslide events, the trekker accrues the perception of human vulnerability to natural hazard, but it is also invited to discover how to prevent, mitigate, and manage hillslope dynamic to develop a sustainable and fulfilling life in mountain areas.

[1] Interreg V-A Italy-Switzerland 2014-2020 Cooperation Program, Axis II “Cultural and natural enhancement”). Project ID 594274, “A.M.AL.PI. 2018 – Alpi in Movimento, Movimento nelle Alpi. Piuro1618–2018”.

https://progetti.interreg-italiasvizzera.eu/it/b/78/alpiinmovimentomovimentonellealpipiuro

How to cite: Arrigoni, F., Ambrosi, C., Apuani, T., Ceriani, M., and Scapozza, C.: AMALPI trek: a geocultural trail from Maloja to St. Gotthard to increase the awareness of natural hazard in mountain settings, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-9175, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-9175, 2023.

Population information is key to disaster risk reduction and scientists have a key role to play in that respect. However, implementing effective scientific communication is not trivial. We draw lessons from our experience of the seismo-volcanic crisis of Mayotte, France. In May 2018, an unprecedented seismic activity started in Mayotte. It was found, a year later, to be linked to volcanic activity, and the birth of a huge submarine volcano ~50km off the east coast of the island. The activity is still ongoing and is being actively studied to understand the phenomena and estimate associated risks. But there are large uncertainties, due to a lack of preexisting knowledge as the area had been poorly studied before 2018, and is challenging to instrument. In this context, informing at-risk populations is difficult. During the first months of the earthquake swarm, the perceived lack of information led to strong anxiety and a feeling of distrust towards scientists and authorities (Fallou et al., 2020; Devès et al., 2022). Experts in charge of monitoring, who are mostly from mainland France, are attempting to develop new ways of disseminating knowledge (e.g., a simplified monthly newsletter, translated into local languages). Nevertheless, they struggle to overcome the socio-cultural gap between mainland France and Mayotte archipelago (multilingualism, levels of literacy, precarious living conditions, see Roinsard, 2014). There is thus a need to explore alternative ways of communicating scientific information so that it can reach the relevant audiences more effectively. We present an approach drawing on the expertise of earth sciences and human and social sciences that reverse the classic top-down approach (the latter does not generally work very well, even less so in Mayotte). We first develop visual and interactive information tools to better represent the uncertainties associated with the knowledge produced by the volcanological and seismological observation network of Mayotte (REVOSIMA). We focus on the link between seismicity and deformation, two phenomena whose consequences are the easiest to perceive for the populations. We then train secondary school students, in collaboration with their teacher, on the basis of these materials. Finally we accompany those students, with the help of their teachers, to develop their own scientific dissemination materials with the objective to transmit this information to their family and friends. This method has the advantage of delegating the tasks of translating and disseminating the acquired knowledge to individuals from different socio-cultural backgrounds on the island who are familiar with the codes and information habits of their respective communities. As this project is still ongoing, we discuss here its conditions of realisation and its contribution to ongoing research on the communication of scientific information in a context of risks and crises.

How to cite: Le Vagueresse, L., Devès, M., Jacquot, J., Lacassin, R., and Grandin, R.: Participatory approach to adapt scientific communication to the socio-cultural context: the case of the seismo-volcanic activity in Mayotte, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-9182, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-9182, 2023.

The lack of basic information about the area where people live and about major hydrometeorological disasters that occurred in the past can lead the population to underestimate the flood risk. The flood risk perception is often related only to past direct experiences and to the memory of floods that took place in the same areas. However, this risk perception is high during the weeks that follow a flood event and then decreases rapidly.

In Italy, the regional agencies in charge of flood management widely use disaster reports (DRs) as the preferred way to collect and standardize information on past flooding events and on the meteorological conditions of that events. However, these DRs are often examined only by technicians, while the general audience is rarely aware about their availability or cannot fully understand what is reported in these documents.

In this work, we performed a systematic survey of the DRs drawn in the past years by the Italian regional agencies in charge of civil protection. We suggest that these DRs could be improved to provide more effective communication to citizens in view of increasing flood risk awareness, reinforcing the communication of civil protection planning and management, and improving the resilience of the population to extreme events. More specifically, we suggest that these disaster reports could be reframed into disaster tales (DTs) without losing the detail level required for the typical technical uses of the DRs. Moreover, these recompiled DTs can be used as tools that offer wider knowledge of the events to improve people’s preparedness and self-protection behavior when a future major flood event will occur.

From a practical point of view, we suggest improving the structure of these reports with the integration of short videos and pictures taken by citizens during the event, maps and interactive tools able to present handier multimedia views of the events. By watching and listening to what has happened, the population can better understand the feelings of the people experiencing an emergency, learning how to act during future floods. We also suggest using a storyline approach to present the whole sequence of events and decisions taken during the flood, putting in chronological order the most significant episodes occurred during the event and the recovery phase.

Application to some case studies of flooding occurred in Italy illustrates how to implement the DRs to create more readily accessible DTs.

How to cite: Mazzoglio, P., Macchia, S., Gallo, E., Winter, J., and Claps, P.: Moving from disaster reports to disaster tales to increase flood risk awareness, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-11949, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-11949, 2023.

Despite the evidences of the effects of climate change, and the need to adopt adaptation and mitigation measures against its effects,  it still exists a significant current of denialism . Radio podcasts, an evolution of classical radio shows, are an interesting communication and leisure tool for disseminating climate misinformation in today's saturated communication world.

In the framework of the CLIMACAST: UNDERSTANDING AND EXPOSING CLIMATE MISINFORMATION ON PODCASTS project, we monitor, identify, verify and disseminate short notes to fight this climate misinformation. Currently, the project is in the middle of its execution; and we have monitored monitoring more than a thousand hours of podcasts in Spanish-speaking countries from July to December of 2022. The project, funded by META and Poynter’s International Fact-Checking Network is a joint collaboration between C3/IU-RESCAT/URV, VERIFICAT and Kinzen and Chequeados.

The climate misinformation measure unit of this project is a climate claim. A claim is the smallest unit of analysis of verifiable information containing a disputed claim about climate, climate variability and climate change. In addition, to be considered a claim, the information or meaning included in the message should be verifiable content. To track problematic terms, the editors of Verificat monitor podcasts where people post climate disinformation to detect recurring words or phrases in this area to define keywords to find the podcasts. When the podcasts are selected, an artificial intelligence tool transcribes them to a specifically designed dashboard. If it detects problematic content - for example, the word 'calentólogo' (warmist) is typical of negationist slang - the system highlights the keyword for greater detection by analysts. The analyst checks if the keyword refers to some climate and/or meteorological aspect. Then, the analyst determines the content's verifiability based on the message's real climate disinformation. Each claim identified is classified in six main narratives: the main misinformation: climate change does not exist, climate change is not human-caused, climate change is not bad, solutions to face climate change do not work, climate science is not liable and greenwashing.

The results show how the claims are regularly identified in regular podcasts. However, it also shows slight growth in the two weeks of COP27.

How to cite: Olano Pozo, J. X., Cimolai, C., Arnal, A., Cisneros Bermejo, M., Boqué Ciurana, A., Dermit, D., Massip, M., Sigró, J., and Aguilar, E.: Fighting Climate Misinformation: Fact-Checking of Climate Misinformation in Spanish-speaking podcasts., EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-12639, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-12639, 2023.

Much of the scientific insights and information on climate change and adaptation do not reach decision-makers, companies, and citizens. In literature, this gap between science and society has been referred to as a ‘valley of death’. One of the reasons for the gap is that scientists and societal actors have different understandings and perceptions of what is usable. Climate services should shift from being science-driven, to services that are user-driven and science-informed. In line with this thought, practices such as co-creation and tailoring climate information to user contexts are suggested and described to increase the success of climate services. 

Within the EU funded REACHOUT project, we applied 'storytelling' techniques to create climate stories for six cities across Europe. This is a novel way to transform climate data (hazard maps and datasets) into information that is appealing to local users and citizens. The climate stories combine a narrative structure with visualizations to communicate scientific knowledge to an audience. 

Climate stories are currently being developed within REACHOUT to advance user-oriented climate services to support the implementation of the Green Deal. The initial results are promising as the climate stories are welcomed by the cities as an innovative means to communicate results from the project to the wider audience. For instance, the city of Athens, Milan and Logroño use climate stories about heat to increase awareness and initiate action. 

Climate stories have also been used within the Dutch Climate Impact Atlas to explain climate hazards and impacts to users. In our presentation, we will elaborate on our experiences with the development of climate stories, and discuss the best practices.

How to cite: van der Horst, S., van Veldhoven, F., Boon, E., Anker, J.-W., Kelder, T., Klok, L., and Goosen, H.: Using climate stories to bridge the valley of death, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-13054, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-13054, 2023.

The changing conditions in near-Earth space cause space weather. This poses a risk to our everyday lives through the technology we rely upon through impacts on crucial power, communications, navigation, and transport systems. Analogues of sound in the space plasmas around our planet, known as Ultra Low Frequency (ULF) waves, are one means by which energy is circulated from the solar wind to the radiation belt, auroral, and ionospheric regions. Time-series data of ULF waves is often analysed visually, however, such data lends itself more naturally to our sense of sound. Guided by experts in audio, citizen science, and public engagement, we have developed sonification tools that render ULF waves audible. Alongside this, a graphical user interface has been developed, enabling citizen scientists to highlight signals within this audible data that standard methods can struggle to identify. These efforts are part of a NASA-funded pilot project called HARP (Heliophysics Audified Resonances in Plasmas), where high-school students and members of the public contribute to space weather science through listening. We provide an overview of how we carefully developed and tested this citizen science project before launching it publicly.

How to cite: Archer, M., Hartinger, M., Cottingham, M., Shi, X., Vidugiris, E., Holland, A., Harold, J., Masongsong, E., Hill, D., Fox, M., Coyle, S., Alexander, R., Pacini, A., and Candey, R.: Lend Me Your Ears: Space Weather Citizen Science Through Harnessing Sonification, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-13888, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-13888, 2023.

Communication across linguistic and cultural borders is vital in our globalised but compartmentalised world, where different people from different origins mix and interact. In the context of geological hazards and the geological environment, we are working towards a clear system that enables specialists in different fields to communicate effectively with each other, and for a common system that allows all types of non-specialists (e.g. general public) to communicate as well. This works using symbols and pictograms to represent geological and environmental phenomena and features, for example geohazards, that can be used to communicate clearly and efficiently. Certain hazard symbols are already in use across the globe, such as those for chemical or environmental hazards, or such as 'rock fall' warning signs that are universal. In this project, we focus on the geological environment and geohazards, and much of the work is done within a UNESCO Geoscience Programme project 'Geoheritage for Resilience', using geoheritage sites as sites for communication and testing, and more recently with a Franco-Mexican ECOS exchange project 'Building Sense in Natural Heritage'. Our geological pictograms, or ‘geomojis’, bridge the gap between simple symbols and words, crossing language borders by representing concepts that we have identified as particularly important for understanding geohazards and risk. Our geomojis are linked to the Global Framework for Geology (see Global and Planetary Change, 2018 - https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/michigantech-p/427), allowing the context of each geomoji in the Earth system to be understood. We are currently running international workshops to promote discussion and test the geomojis that we have created. These workshops have raised new pictographic needs and the problems associated with them. The goal of these workshops is to consolidate geoscience knowledge from different specialisations and create a basic standardised set of symbols for all geological hazards. This standardisation of geohazard symbols could improve communication not only between specialists and non-specialists, but between geologists themselves. The global framework and geomojis help us to think outside the box of our specialist environment. These geo-pictograms can be used for geoscience communication in all forms, from hazard and risk publications to signage at geological sites and in discussions with local populations. They can be adapted and modified for the local context and needs, while providing a central, and global, base for comparison. We plan to use the set of reference geomojis to accompany a multilingual glossary on geological hazard and risk terminology, a project that we hope will help international geoscience communication.

How to cite: Shires, C. and van Wyk de Vries, B.: Using geomojis to communicate geosciences: from development to use, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-14593, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-14593, 2023.

EMPOCLIM is a project that aims to raise awareness and involve young people in sustainable development through school climate assemblies at five educational centers in Camp de Tarragona, Spain. Thanks to innovative democratic processes designed to learn, deliberate, and decide in an assembly way, the students look for solutions to climate change, proposing actions to promote sustainability at the local and regional levels.

EMPOCLIM emphasizes strengthening environmental awareness and empowering young people through education, recognizing their potential to become ambassadors and agents of change for climate action and sustainable development in their environment, and sharing knowledge and experiences with their families, local communities, and policymakers.

As a result of the climate assemblies, a generation of an action plan and political recommendations by the participating educational communities to achieve the 2 SDGs Climate action and affordable and clean energy at the local and regional levels is obtained.

Parallelly EMPOCLIM project has developed two didactic guides for teachers to work with the knowledge involved with two specific SDGs (the two mentioned before).

Once the EMPOCLIM project was finished, the methodology established continued to be implemented in the high schools on demand, as University Rovira i Virgili offered this Workshop as one that transfers university information to high schools. In the future, EMPOCLIM will probably evolve up-scaled in different national and European proposals and to other educational levels.

We acknowledge  Diputació Provincial de Tarragona for funding the EMPOCLIM project.

How to cite: Boqué Ciurana, A., Olano Pozo, J. X., Cebrián-Bernat, G., and Prieto, J.: Empowering youngsters: Climate high school assemblies to increase risk perception and awareness, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-15345, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-15345, 2023.

Although anthropogenic global warming is well-known within the scientific community, the public is still not certain how to associate specific local climate events to this global issue. Therefore, it is essential to raise public awareness by providing sound, graphical, interesting and easily understandable scientific information. Our attribution projects aim for this task both in Hungary and Greece – the former started in September 2021, while the latter a year later. Within the projects, we have slightly different approaches for analysis and dissemination as well. In Hungary, seasonally relevant indices are calculated and published in each season near the time of an event occurrence, and the dissemination is done mainly via a national platform aiming for climate awareness (www.masfelfok.hu), but to reach the public even more, a broad media platform and a large social media network is used as well. In Greece, NOA has also developed a dissemination strategy that mainly focuses on weather and climate extremes and produces layman and explanatory articles that are published on www.meteo.gr, which is visited more than 350.000 times daily.

We found common and relevant indices both for Hungary and Greece that can be shown, thus we selected agriculturally-relevant, spring climate indices for both countries: vegetation start for cold-resistant plants, vegetation start for warm-demanding plants, late frost, and possible frost period. The analyses are performed within the two projects based on several data sources with daily temporal resolution: (1) an ensemble of CMIP6 global climate model simulations of both natural-only forcings and historical runs, (2) an ensemble of regional climate model simulations from Euro-CORDEX, including the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios, (3) a fine-resolution, homogenized observation-based gridded data for Hungary.

How to cite: Szabó, P., Pongrácz, R., Galanaki, E., and Kotroni, V.: Attribution and communication of climate indices in Hungary and Greece, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-15461, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-15461, 2023.

Serious games (SGs) for natural hazards (NHs) can provide an artificial space for players to understand the risk they face through defined rules and quantifiable results. Here, we deduce a scoring system for natural hazard SGs to understand whether these games introduce and communicate the interplay between social/physical vulnerability, exposure, hazard, and uncertainty (called ‘four elements’ here forth) to target players. We first identified 48 natural hazard SGs via a critical review of peer-reviewed and grey- literature. From these 48 SGs, we select 22 that were accessible and scored them on a 12-point scale through a two-stage process: (i) identify the indicators (or evaluation criteria) for three risk elements – vulnerability (6 indicators), hazard (7 indicators), and exposure (7 indicators) – along with uncertainty (8 indicators); and (ii) deduce the scores of the games by employing the evaluation criteria on 22 games. Based on the scores, we found that 70% of the 22 SGs could be applied to more than one hazard type (one of the hazard indicators), whilst 52% of the games included social vulnerability and/or critical loss facilities as exposure. About half of the SGs (48%) fostered player unpredictability which means that the focus of most natural hazard SGs is to indicate how decisions taken by one community member can impact the whole community or another individual in a community. Comparing the game scores, four games ranked highest with a score of 9 out of a possible 12; showing that such games can communicate hazard risks into an appropriate context. Games with high scores (above 10 out of 12) can help the people-at-risk (who are the target players in SGNHs) weigh up in their mind the costs and benefits of different actions, empowering communities to take disaster risk reduction, preparedness, and resilience actions.

How to cite: Choudhury, S., Malamud, B. D., and Donovan, A.: An effectiveness scoring system for risk and uncertainty in serious games for natural hazards, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-15970, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-15970, 2023.

The OSMOSE project aims to develop citizen seismology in Haiti where seismic risk is high and the scars left by the 2010 earthquake are still very prominent. The project proposes to use low-cost seismic sensors (Raspberry Shake) to (1) complement the national seismic network and (2) improve risk perception, preparedness and scientific knowledge of the population.

This second objective is not self-evident and requires the integration of these volunteers in a wider network, with a real communication strategy towards them but also towards the general population. Originally, the communication strategy was to be established on three levels: the first one for exchanges between the volunteers and the scientists of the project, the second one to support the volunteers in their interactions with their communities so that they become « seismology ambassadors », and the third one to inform the general public. The project planned to support this communication strategy with a series of classic tools (website, social media, partnerships with schools or media), innovative ones (Messaging Apps bots, Virtual Reality...) and already existing tools such as the LastQuake application developped by the EMSC, which allows to collect and give information about felt earthquakes.

During the conception phase some challenges linked to the cultural, economic and hazard context had been considered and taken into account. For instance materials must be translated in French and Creole. Access to technology, whether for practical or literacy reasons, is very unequal.  Moreover, the team had the ambition to study the place of voodoo, religious and scientific culture in the explanation of earth movements in order to adapt the approach and make communication more effective to increase risk awareness and preparedness.

However, we faced many unforeseen difficulties in implementing this communication strategy, mainly related to the security and political context in Haiti. The security context made it nearly impossible to access the field, which would have allowed for in-depth sociological surveys. These surveys had for objectives to better understand risk perception and risk culture, but also educational and cultural barriers (e.g., how can we talk about earthquakes when people do not know that geological faults exist?) or the great differences between the educated people, the urban and impoverished public of the slums and the rural inhabitants. Yet, this knowledge is decisive in the establishment of the communication strategy and difficult to replace by purely quantitative online research. The existing litterature is unsufficient. Beyond these methodological difficulties, the political problems and the disorganization of the State have had repercussions on the academic community, and therefore on the project partners.

Through this presentation of a concrete example of communication in citizen science and the difficulties encountered, the authors wish to share their experience and launch a discussion around the solutions envisaged (an even stronger engagement with volunteers through a WhatsApp group, alternative ways to understand risk culture…).

This, in the expectation and hope for the Haitian people that the political and security situation will improve.

How to cite: Fallou, L., Corbet, A., Calais, E., Calixte, N., Bossu, R., and Attiè, P.: Implementing a Citizen Seismology Communication Strategy in a Complex Economic, Political and Security Context: Issues and Feedback from the OSMOSE Project in Haïti, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-16067, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-16067, 2023.

In the scientific community, there is vast consensus that human activity caused the climate to change significantly with regards to pre-industrial times and actions need to be taken immediately to prevent the worst scenarios from materializing. In the general public, however, such widespread support cannot be observed and is even completely lacking in some parts of the population. To a large part, this great heterogeneity seems to be built on the volatile effects of personal weather experiences on climate change perceptions. Individuals reverting to this source of information to make inferences about the climate are prone to attribution biases and other psychological fallacies, failing to grasp the true magnitude and strength of ongoing climate change.

This paper investigates this mechanism by looking into the effects of the 2020 hurricane season on climate change perceptions. After identifying the strongest hurricanes in the USA, Google Trends data is used to extract the salience as perceived by the population of each of these events. This data is then combined with a rich survey module containing responses on attitudes and behaviors on climate change to uncover the distinct building blocks of how hurricanes can shape climate change beliefs.

It can be observed that during periods of hurricane exposure, people worry more about climate change and display higher motivation to act in favor of climate change mitigation. The effect intensifies with the magnitude of the tropical storm and the length of the entire hurricane season. In a second part of the analysis, the focus is laid on different effect magnitudes for distinct personal characteristics. Political ideology in particular has been identified to heavily distort how people learn from weather events, emphasizing that how climate extremes are evaluated is only a reflection of their previously held core beliefs. This makes it increasingly hard to convince skeptical (e.g. conservative) peer groups of the challenges lying ahead. In this paper however, an ideology gradient can be discovered, showing a stronger effect of hurricane exposure for Conservatives than for Liberals. This can mostly be explained through a higher baseline worry by Liberals about climate change, and thus a lower margin to react to the occurrence of hurricanes. Conservatives, traditionally being more climate change skeptical, have scope to update their climate change beliefs and do so in the face of extreme weather events in this study.

Overall, these findings confirm previous literature on the positive impact of hurricanes on belief in and worry about climate change but open up a whole new ally on the distinct effect on conservative parts of the population. The positive impact on generally climate change skeptical individuals can spark hope and lay the foundation for further research into how to convince those that were thought to be inconvincible, to ultimately win widespread support and consensus for climate change action. This is what is ultimately needed to be able to win support for powerful policies enacted by governments who can draw on majorities in parliaments, and finally achieve large-scale changes in behavior to fight against climate change.

How to cite: Stuka, Y., Bosetti, V., and Sisco, M. R.: The wind is changing – Hurricanes and Climate Change Perceptions, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-17394, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-17394, 2023.

‘Geoheritage’ refers to important geological heritage having significant scientific, educational, aesthetical, cultural and economic values for human. It helps in understanding the past civilizations and progressive development from ancient times to present. Hence, such heritage sites are need to be preserved, conserved and renovated for present as well as future generations.

The International Commission on Geoheritage (ICG) is a part of International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) which aims at recognition of geological heritage sites, geo-collections and heritage stones for their database generation and maintenance, followed by promotional and educational purposes. ICG comprises of three subcommisions among which sub commission on heritage stones deals with identification and characterization of natural stones used in historically significant buildings and monuments, its historical quarries and recognition of stone-built monuments.

From India, several heritage stones such as Makrana Marble, Jaisalmer limestone, Jodhpur sandstone and many more have been reported. These stones have been used in establishment of historically significant monuments such as Mehrangarh fort, Taj Mahal, Umaid bhawan etc. However, no attention has been given to the historically important monuments in northern India. This study is aimed at highlighting monuments in Bangana area of district Una in Himachal Pradesh.

Several historical forts and temples, such as Solasinghi Fort, Solasinghi Temple, Chaumukha Temple, Shiv Temple Jarola, and Baba Balak Nath Temple are present in Bangana area. Among them, Solasinghi fort is an important monument built during the 19th century. It is made up of plastered sandstone bricks. Similar sandstone blocks are used for building other monuments in the area. The sandstone belongs to the middle Shiwalik. It is a grey coloured fine-grained sandstone and is hard and compact. Mica flakes are easily visible.

The sandstone mainly consists of mainly quartz, feldspar, muscovite and rock fragments. Quartz grains are angular to sub-rounded with either irregular or smooth grain boundaries. Silica and microscopic biotite flakes make up the matrix, which makes up around 5–10% of the volume of the rock. Silica cement is present. Even though the stone is not aesthetically appealing but due to its local availability and durability, it was used for the building these monuments.

Currently, these monuments are in a dilapidated state. They have been left abandoned and are adversely affected due to natural and anthropogenic activities. Conservation of these monuments and historical buildings is a matter of serious concern. No attention is given to these monuments and buildings by the authorities for the conservation of these heritage sites.

This work mainly focuses on the evaluation of the present condition and preservation of these heritage monuments. The study will provide some suggestive measures for the protection of these heritage structures using modern techniques and machinery, keeping in mind the building material to maintain the originality.

Keywords: Heritage Monuments, Conservation, Geoheritage

How to cite: Manocha, A. R.: Conservation of Heritage Monuments: A case study of Solasinghi Fort and surrounding monuments in Bangana area, Una, Himachal Pradesh, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-272, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-272, 2023.

Ançã limestone is one of the most widely used geological formations as building stone throughout history in Portugal, and it can be recognized in many places throughout the country and abroad. The middle Jurassic Ançã Formation was deposited between the Bajocian and the Bathonian at the Lusitanian Basin (central west of Portugal), and it outcrops in Cantanhede municipality, about 25 km northwest of Coimbra. This formation is approximately 250 m thick and it is constituted at the base by layers that reach ≈2 to ≈3 m of greywish micritic limestone, slightly marly, changing to light gray and yellowish to white laterally. It is followed by creamy white to micritic limestones, in layers from ≈0.5 to ≈1 m thick.

Hard limestone types of low porosity and high strength are exploited on three quarry zones located in the Ançã-Portunhos-Outil region, which have many processing and carving workshops. The current annual production of Ançã limestone is ≈8000 m³, which is a distinguishing element of civil construction in the entire area. In addition, the Stone Museum of Cantanhede is a place of learning that promotes activities related to building stones.

The limestone of Ançã Formation is a strong candidate for “Global Heritage Stone”. This stone fits the proposed designation as it has been used since prehistoric times and its greatest use occurs since the 14^th century. It has been widely used in important buildings, tombs and monuments of Coimbra. Some historically remarkable examples include the “Porta Especiosa” in the Old Cathedral, the entrance of Santa Cruz Church and the tomb of the first king of Portugal, D. Afonso Henriques.

The University of Coimbra – Alta and Sofia have been granted UNESCO World Heritage status in 2013, and all associated buildings, monuments and pedestrian streets are constructed from heritage stones. Coimbra University is located on a hill overlooking the city. It has colleges that grew and evolved over more than seven centuries within the old town, with the Ançã limestone as the main building stone. Notable buildings include a number of 16^th-century colleges, the Royal Palace of Alcáçova, which has housed the University since 1537, the Joanine Library (early 17^th century), and the 18^th-century Botanical Garden, as well as the large “University City” created during the 1940s.

The importance of Coimbra’s emblematic heritage makes it necessary to protect Ançã limestone and its historical quarries. Given the ongoing transformation of the dimension stone industry, it is important that urban planners and policymakers responsible for cultural heritage work in tandem with needs of the traditional quarry extraction areas.

As may be deduced from the foregoing, Ançã limestone meets all the requisites for a GHS nomination. Its designation would contribute to raising awareness of its essential importance for regional economic growth, while furthering more efficient use of this dimension stone as a restoration material.

Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia I.P. of Portugal supported this study with the CEECIND/03568/2017, UIDB/00073/2020 and UIDP/00073/2020 projects of I & D unit Geosciences Center (CGEO).

How to cite: Freire-Lista, D. M., Catarino, L., Figueiredo, F., and Henriques, M. H.: The limestone of Ançã Formation: a heritage stone from Portugal, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-3284, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-3284, 2023.

The earth is a complex planet in permanent modification and the set of its changes includes the degradation of its stony constituents. These degradations result from the interactions of these constituents with an environment that presents conditions different from those where they were formed and in two-time scales: the geological and the time of man and his projects. About the degradations that occurred over geological time and inside the Earth's crust, we can learn about them from the exposure of stony materials close to the surface, due to uplifts and exhumations resulting from tectonic movements. From the interaction of these materials with these new conditions and, through human interference, the speed of transformation is further increased, whether using extraction, processing, and application techniques. As a result, there is inevitable degradation, which in turn will mean deterioration involving, from contemporary buildings to cultural heritage elements. Situations involving these interactions and their different forms of degradation, whether in extraction or application, can be observed around the world, both in constructions and sculptural sets, produced in stone, and in their respective quarries of origin. In this direction, and as an example, we are bringing information about geological interactions of ultramafic rocks, which underwent transformations inside the Earth's crust, generating steatite. Then, and already in the time of man and his projects, we bring information about the results of interactions of this steatite with the environment from which they were extracted and where they were applied, as in the case of the architectural complex of Congonhas, Brazil, which is a cultural heritage of humanity. As a mineralogical association, these steatites are essentially constituted by minerals such as: talc, serpentine, chlorite, and amphiboles. Subordinately, the presence of carbonates and opaque minerals is observed, all with variable contents. In the case of Congonhas, the carbonate is dolomite, pyrite was the sulphide and magnetite the oxide, often altered to hematite and goethite/limonite. These alterations present in the extraction fronts are very similar to those observed in the elements of the cultural heritage of Congonhas. Both in the quarries and in the applications, the forms of degradation result from rock interactions in geological time and application. Of this set of degradations, those involving chromatic variations, loss of parts by differential erosion with elimination of soft components, by mechanical actions and by dissolution, which in this case involve minerals such as carbonates and opaques, are most visible. Presents are other forms, such as patinas, fissures and biological colonizations. Due to lack of adequate information, mainly involving the dissemination of geological knowledge, as well as participatory approaches with local communities, Congonhas’ heritage is at risk of permanent damage. With the publicity about these degradations, which are progressive, it is expected a greater awareness and measures on the part of the agencies responsible for the conservation of this cultural heritage.

How to cite: Costa, A.: The soapstone present in elements of the cultural heritage of humanity in Congonhas - Brazil: interactions from the quarry to the monuments, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-3698, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-3698, 2023.

The “Brecha da Arrábida” consists of an Upper Jurassic intraformational conglomerate breccia, of granular support, with carbonate clasts of different colours, in a carbonate-red clay cement, whose genesis is associated with an immersed karst during the early phases of the North Atlantic opening. It has been exploited both as structural stone since the roman period until the 15th century, the time where it started to be use as an ornamental stone linked to the “Manueline Artistic Style” (a kind of Portuguese specific late gothic style) in the outdoors of the monuments and for the 17th century on, only for interiors purposes.  

The first reference know to the “Brecha da Arrábida”, not with in scientific sense, was made by Duarte Nunes Leão (1530-1608): ”From this stone is built all that great village (the city of Setúbal), with houses, temples, walls and towers, because there is no other stone like this, so in the village and its terminus, as in the mountains, neighboring the Arrábida mountain range, [...]”. And the first reference to Brecha da Arrábida comes from the Baron of Eschwege (1831), when studying the region of Setúbal, designates a type of rock as “Ancient sandstone", also indicating the corresponding formations in Germany, France and England, respectively: “Rothe-todliegende”, “gréshouiller” and “Grésrouge”. He describes the location of the outcrops, stating that: “appears at the foot of Setubal, at the foot of the Serra de S. Luiz and Palmella, on the south coast of Serra da Arrábida” and even though “this ancient sandstone seems to form the base of all the most modern formations near the Serra da Arrabida, which is still need to check”. In 1841, Daniel Sharpe, an English geologist who came to Portugal in 1831, publishes in the Transactions of the Geological Society of London a memoir entitled: “On the geology in the neighbourhood of Lisbon", naming the rock as “Old Red Conglomerate”.

One of the most emblematic monuments is the Jesus Church and Convent (Setúbal), distinguished by the European Commission with the “European Heritage Label” (2011), in 2013 was recognized by the Pan-European Federation of Cultural Heritage Europa Nostra” as one of the seven most endangered monuments in Europe.

In Portugal, from the 88 occurrences listed (on work list), 65 are applications in classified Monuments, 24 of which are National Monuments, and some integrated in UNESCO classifications. Several historical applications can be listed in Monuments in six foreign countries: Austria, Brazil, France, Mozambique, Spain and United Kingdom.

Since this ornamental stone ended the exploitation on the half of the 70´s of the last century, before the first generalized publication of the geotechnical properties of ornamental stones, for constructive reasons, do not exist any publication about this thematic. For the full characterization of the “Brecha da Arrábida” (historical importance, geographic dispersion and physic-mechanic properties) to present as a candidate of “Heritage Stone” classification, all that data was deepened and presented to the Heritage Stone Subcommission, ending successfully its certification on October 2022.

How to cite: Kullberg, J., Prego, A., Lopes, L., and Alves, T.: The “Brecha da Arrábida”: new historical findings, geographic dissemination, and geotechnical contributions for the classification as Heritage Stone, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-8401, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-8401, 2023.

The “Beige Bahia” is a unique light beige limestone visually resembling a travertine. It is an uncommon type of natural stone and a vital mineral resource of Ourolândia (State of Bahia), a municipality in the Northeast region of Brazil, where around 25 quarries and 45 looms in several processing plants are reported (Iza et al. 2022).

Member of the Caatinga Formation, Miocene-Pleistocene age, it is, in fact, a secondary, calcrete type, limestone formed by chemical, physical and biogenic alteration of a marine Neoproterozoic limestone of the Salitre Formation. It resembles a brecciated limestone and is characterized by a heterogeneous arrangement of calcareous fragments in a micritic matrix.

The presence of irregular and centimetric cavities is typical, resulting from the dissolution and recrystallization processes. Most of them seem like geodes due to calcite crystals covering their walls. Another relevant characteristic is the sparse occurrence of whitish areas, composed of microcrystalline calcite and minor clay minerals (illite group).

Beige Bahia had its exploration and processing started in the 1960s, although it had already been “discovered in the backlands of Bahia in the 1950s” when the pioneering producers called it “Marta Rocha marble”, in allusion to the famous Miss Brazil 1956 from Bahia, and the stone had immediate acceptance in the yet incipient Brazilian market of marbles and granites (Ribeiro et al. 2002)

Primarily named “Beige Bahia”, it has been commercialized as a travertine to which it does indeed have some similar characteristics and is even called “National Travertine” or “Brazilian Travertine”. Resembling imported travertines, but at a much lower price, this stone is one of the most commercialized all over the country, and exported mainly to USA, for covering floors and walls, indoors (mainly) and outdoors. It is also commonly used on kitchen, bathroom sink tops and other furniture.

Beige Bahia can be found in countless residential and in façades and columns of modern buildings. It is also covering important Brazilian heritage buildings, such as the Planalto Palace and the Federal Supreme Court, in Brasília (the capital of Brazil) (Frascá et al. 2020). In Rio de Janeiro, the heritage building of the Bank of Brazil Cultural Centre has Beige Bahia flooring in the exposition room. Another example is the Beige Bahia veneers at the Legislative Assembly of Minas Gerais building.

All aspects mentioned here demonstrate the geological, historical, and social importance of this rock, whose occurrence must be known and publicized.

References

Frascá, M.H.B.O., Neves, R., Castro, N.F. 2020. The White Marbles of Brasília, a World Heritage site and capital of Brazil. London, Geological Society Special Publications, 486: 217-227. https://doi.org/10.1144/SP486-2018-31.

Ribeiro, A.F., Pereira, C.P., Braz, E., Magalhães, A.C.F., Chiodi Filho, C. 2002. Mármore Bege Bahia em Ourolândia-Mirangaba-Jacobina, Bahia: geologia, potencialidade e desenvolvimento integrado. Salvador, CBPM. (Série Arquivos Abertos; 17). 56p.

Iza, E.R.H.F (org.). 2022. Rochas ornamentais do estado da Bahia. 2^nd ed. Salvador, CPRM. https://rigeo.cprm.gov.br/bitstream/doc/21244/1/irm_rochas_ornamentais_ba.pdf, accessed on 5 Jan. 2023.

How to cite: Frasca, M. H. and Castro, N.: Beige Bahia, the Brazilian travertine-like limestone, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-8696, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-8696, 2023.

Situated on the northern coast of the Rio Grande do Sul state, in the southern region of Brazil, the Torres municipality contains beautiful landscapes, with a variety of natural sights such as great dunes, lagoons, and its famous volcanic rock natural towers. The main geological processes that sculpted this region are associated with wind activity and the numerous rises and falls of the sea level that occurred between the Pleistocene to the present day. Torres is a highly popular tourist beach, and sees its population grow by nearly 500% during the summer months. Due to it being a tourism hotspot and its incredible geodiversity, Torres is one of the main areas of the “Caminhos dos Cânions do Sul” Geopark (CCSG), a 2,830 km² area that encompasses seven municipalities situated at the boundary of the Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina states. The geopark has three pillars, education, geoconservation, and tourism, and it aims to boost the economic, sociocultural, and environmental growth of the region in a sustainable manner. The geopark also seeks to help in the preservation of geological sites that most represent its regional diversity, such as the great Juro-Cretaceous volcano-sedimentary rock towers that give the city of Torres its name (which translates from the Portuguese to “Towers”). These structures, which can be seen throughout Torres’ coastline, are composed mostly of the basalts of the Serra Geral Group, which overlay the sandstones of the Botucatu paleodesert. In this municipality, the CCSG has, through lectures, itinerant exhibitions, training courses, and participation in cultural and scientific events, helped increase public consciousness regarding the importance of preserving and valorizing the area's geoheritage. In this work, we present a project developed through a partnership involving the Torres prefecture, the CCSG, and the GeoRoteiros group, which has as its objective the installation of information plaques about the geological evolution of the “Morros Testemunhos” and the state's Coastal Plain. We plan to install 10 plaques throughout the beach, each displaying didactic images and texts in an accessible language for the general public. The information available on these plaques will be summarized; in case the reader wishes to learn more, a QR Code will be available to take them to the websites of the organizing institutions, where they can not only read additional information, but also watch videos discussing the geosites of the geopark. This is a pilot project which will ascertain the viability of developing similar projects for the other municipalities that compose the CCSG.

How to cite: Sander, V., Batista dos Santos Filho, M. A., Lopes Diniz, J., Silva e Souza Leite, L. F., Candido, M., Rodrigues Bruno, M. D., Ebling, P. D. S., Luft-Souza, F., Vázquez-García, B., Rodrigues, D., Nunes Aumond, G., and Elisabeth da Roch, M.: Geoheritage of Torres, Southern Brazil: Disseminating its geodiversity and promoting geotourism, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-10479, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-10479, 2023.

Piemonte region (Northwestern Italy) shows an extraordinary richness of ornamental stones, whose exploitation strongly influenced during the centuries, and still influences the local culture. Indeed, more than 150 lithotypes, mainly exploited in valleys and mountain areas, are used in the rural, urban and architecture heritage of the region.

The great variety of Piemonte stone materials used since ancient times as ornamental stones  is due to the presence of rocks belonging to very different geological units, ranging from the deep lithospheric mantle to both the continental and oceanic crust, together with successions deposited in different sedimentary basins, as well as many types of metamorphic rocks originating in different geodynamic regimes.

This great variety of rocks represents a historical and cultural heritage worthy of study and scientific dissemination not only among experts of Earth Sciences, but also among a wider public.

Starting from the Interactive Geolithological Map of the ornamental stones of Piemonte, performed by CNR-IGG (Institute of Geosciences and Earth Resources-Turin), in collaboration with ARPA Piemonte and the Department of Earth Sciences of the University of Turin, recently published on the Geoportal of Arpa Piemonte, within the webGIS application GeoPiemonte Map 2021

(https://webgis.arpa.piemonte.it/agportal/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=6ea1e38603d6469298333c2efbc76c72), some important materials from a geological, economic-commercial and cultural point of view were selected for the enhancement of Piemonte ornamental stones.

Hence the idea of trying to bring to light the relevance and value of some of these stones as proposal for the nomination as ‘’IUGS Global Heritage Stone Resource (GHSR)’’ and some quarry districts as ‘’Global Heritage Stone Province (GHSP)’’.

How to cite: Storta, E., Barale, L., Borghi, A., d'Atri, A., Dino, G. A., and Piana, F.: Enhancement of the Piemonte (NW Italy) stone heritage, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-12818, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-12818, 2023.

Pietraforte sandstone is one of the most important stone material used during Renaissance in Historic Center of Florence, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. One of its main uses as building material is rusticated block facades, a peculiar masonry technique typical of many historical Florentine palace (ie. Palazzo Pitti, Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Palazzo Strozzi, etc.). The characteristic color of Pietraforte, ranging from grey to yellow-ochreous, is a distinctive feature of the urban landscape of Florence.

Stone rusticated blocks constitute elements with different overhangs which make them subject to decay phenomena due to weathering that, together with their intrinsic characteristics, can lead to detachment and loss of blocks (even of considerable size).

The study of Pietraforte as a geoheritage with its morphological, mechanical, physical, mineralogical, and petrographic characterization is an important starting point to understand the possible evolution of decay processes.

A multi-analytical characterization of this stone in several study cases allow the comparison of Florentine rusticated blocks used in different architectural registers (rough-hewn, smooth-faced and pillow rusticated), highlighting different behaviors of Pietraforte in distint architectural contexts.

For example, convolute laminations and calcite veins (Pecchioni et al. 2007, Pecchioni et al. 2020), typical macroscopic characteristics of Pietraforte, show different behavior depending on the type of rusticated blocks.

A multi-analytical methodology has been developed including sampling for physical, petrographic and mineralogical characterization and Non Destructive Techniques (NTD), using ultrasonic pulse velocity and sclerometric tests for mechanical behaviors (Salvatici et al. 2020, Centauro et al. 2022, Calandra et al. 2023). The main morphological features of Pietraforte from a geological point of view are investigated pondering each rusticated blocks as a rock mass and applied some methods of rock slope stability analysis.

The study performed in this work aims to protect and preserve geoheritage stones finding a new and sustainable restoration and conservation approach for Pietraforte built Cultural Heritage weaknesses. Furthermore this multi analytical approach allow the diagnosis of the vulnerability of the stone material to detachments of scales, fragments and whole blocks that represent a damage to the monuments and a danger for people.

How to cite: Salvatici, T., Centauro, I., Segabinazzi, E., Calandra, S., Intrieri, E., and Garzonio, C. A.: Multi-analytical methodology to indagate the Pietraforte sandstone risk assessment, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-14744, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-14744, 2023.

The raw materials used in the realization of a mortar provide information on the supply areas, original recipes and ancient technologies used to realize a building or an artefact. The raw materials utilized may vary over time, so they may be useful to give an indication of its relative dating.

In this field, from the pioneering studies of Labeyrie and Delibrias, (1964) and Stuiver and Smith, (1965), was evaluated the possibilities to radiocarbon dating of historical mortars; this research field still open, since may present many issues in its application. In principle, the carbon fraction datable is represented by calcite (CaCO₃) resulting from the hardening of the quicklime (calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)₂) that reacts with CO₂ from the atmosphere. The lime binder and lump (un-mixed portion of lime in an aerial mortar) represent the portions that must be isolated from other carbon sources to accurately date mortars. Previous research shows that suitable and proper sampling of mortar samples is of fundamental importance for a conclusive radiocarbon analysis.

In recent years, a complete characterization of the mortar before radiocarbon dating was strongly encouraged (Cantisani et al. 2021). The minero-petrographic characterization is the first step to identify the type of mortar and to develop an efficient analytical approach that allows to select the most suitable component of mortar for absolute dating.

This work is aimed at mortar characterizing of an important architectural Cultural Heritage in Florence (Italy), Palazzo Medici Riccardi, to understand the building technique, the choice of raw materials, the history of its construction and, possibly, the presence of mortar datable fraction. A correct sampling and characterization procedures allow to know the composition of the binder, the nature of the aggregate, the presence of lumps, the carbonate origins etc. Therefore, to reduce the cost and time of dating, it is necessary to utilize always a fully characterized sample, consisting of a calcite binder, to be subjected subsequently to analysis to accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) for dating.

The research proposes on operative protocol applied on 12 mortar masonry samples of Palazzo Medici Riccardi, composed by: i) a preliminary in-depth characterization of mortar specimens, by means of multi-analytical techniques such as OM, XRPD, TGA, SEM-EDS, OM-CL for a chemical, minero-petrographic and physical characterization fields; ii) non-destructive analyses of datable samples selected, using XRPD, OM-CL and ATR-FTIR (Calandra et al. 2022). The combined use of characterization techniques is the key to obtaining more evidence regarding the composition of the samples to be dated. The selection protocol has made it possible to choose several samples for dating, thanks to which the history of the construction of Palazzo Medici Riccardi will be further explored.

How to cite: Calandra, S., Cantisani, E., Pecchioni, E., Salvatici, T., Centauro, I., and Garzonio, C. A.: Characterization protocol of Florentine historical mortars for absolute dating, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-14920, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-14920, 2023.

Stones used as building materials provide identity to the landscape of towns and cities, especially those of local origin. They are also a direct reference to the regional geology. In line with the main philosophy that defines the UNESCO Global Geoparks network, protection, education and sustainable development, including both their natural and cultural values (https://en.unesco.org/global-geoparks), ornamental and building stones acquire a significant importance, as they are part of the Geoheritage. The results obtained in the characterisation of these lithologies are used for educational and didactic purposes and serve to valorise Geology. This documentation is significantly important for local development activities, especially in the case of rural areas affected by depopulation.

Las Loras Geopark (North Spain) is a territory with a landscape marked by a strong relief (http://geoparquelasloras.es/index.php/las-loras/). There are numerous small rural towns and villages that contain an important built cultural heritage, especially of the Romanesque period, such as the town of Aguilar de Campoo (Palencia, Spain). In the centre of the Geopark is located the Valdelucio Valley (https://www.valledevaldelucio.es/inicio) with an extension of 96.04 km², and a significant depopulation (330 people census in 2020), it is in this region where the need to implement development activities has been established. The geological discourse centred on building stones requires the development of cultural heritage rooted in society, accessible and, especially, appreciated, such as the existing churches. For this reason, the stones of three of them have been studied, the Church of San Pedro in Paúl (pre-Romanesque, the oldest), the church of Santa Leocadia in Quintanas (municipality that houses the town council of the Valley) and the Sanctuary of the Virgen de la Vega in Pedrosa (with important roots in the Valley).

Stones of Jurassic to the Cretaceous ages, mainly sandstones and limestones, have been identified. As they are rocks from the immediate surroundings, the account of their origin is a synthesis of the geological history of the Valley, of its evolution from wetlands, to rivers, alluvial fans, to the establishment of deltas and carbonate marine platforms. In addition, the Quaternary tuffs used allow to explain the recent geomorphological processes. During the research phase, work was organized in cooperation with the local population in workshops, field trips and conferences. The results have been presented with i) geological mappings of the façades representing the different lithologies present in them, ii) a stratigraphic synthetic column of the geological formations, with indication of equivalent hand samples taken in the field, and iii) microscopy images of the hand samples.

In addition to geological story-telling, the collaboration with the population has allowed prioritisation of content and activity concepts. This methodology has introduced the geology of the Valley to them. What is not known is not valued, and these activities help to value the territory from a wider perspective.

How to cite: Damas Mollá, L., Bodego, A., Uriarte, J. A., Sagarna, M., Antiguedad, I., and Aranburu, A.: The geological story-telling of geopark building stones, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-15874, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-15874, 2023.

As a climate physicist  - I’m conscious we can use the evidence in the environment around us to help attribute and understand how we adapt to environmental changes. The stones in our vicinities, their use and the geo weathering over long time periods gives us clues to older indigenous societies and the choices made in their cultural epochs.  In this discussion I’ll discuss how society changes over the past 2000 years can be a) assessed using formal methods of signal analysis using paleo and instrumental data record, b) interpreted through the clues provided by stone use/ re-use and weathering evidence and c) known alterations to the climate dynamics in given localities. Examples will be drawn from the localities influenced by long term Pacific and Atlantic climate processes, and the interpretation of how society choices have functioned through their use of stone will be debated.

How to cite: Bruun, J.: A narrative of climate states as represented through cultural use and re-use of stone in local societies, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-15987, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-15987, 2023.

The city of Rabat, capital of the Moroccan Kingdom, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2012 and home to several historical monuments testifying to a cultural wealth and architectural diversity of which the Chellah site is part.

 The monument of Chellah located according to the coordinates: X = -6.8330340 / 6°49'58.9224 "W, Y = 34.0070770 / 34°0'25.4772 "N is special by its history, its architecture, its location within the city of Rabat shared heritage.

This site is 7 ha in area with ramparts of 1030m in length and 4 m to 9.5 m in height, it houses 23 towers and 3 doors.

The historical origin of Sala's (Chellah today) dates back to the VII-VI B.C. During the Phoenician period, this site could play the role of a seaport on the Atlantic route between Lixus and Mogador.

The site of Chellah includes traces of many civilizations, such as the Phoenicians, the Mauritanians, the Almoahades and the Merinids.

The historical site Chellah is at the same time a historical site, a real estate heritage, a universal heritage, an archaeological heritage, a tangible and intangible urban heritage.

The historical site Chellah knows physical and chemical degradations seen its location and the particularity of the building materials as well as the techniques employed mainly for the rehabilitation.

And given the importance of investigation and scientific studies before any restoration operation, we propose in this work a characterization of the stone used in previous restoration made during the protectorate period.

The stone used is the calcarenites of which we propose a characterization under optical microscope and by using the technique of diffraction of the rays X DRX and the fluorescence of the rays X (FX). These analyses made it possible to affirm that this stone is a sandy limestone of a micro-sparitic cement which testifies to a bad conservation of the stone in front of the bad weather, this stone includes comparable fractions of calcium oxide and silica with a loss of fire of 25%, the analyses also made it possible to put in evidence the pathologies which touch them and the minerals of alterations.

Keywords : Alteration, Calarenites, Limestone, Chellah

How to cite: Belhaj, S. and Belhaj, O. E.: Chemical and physical characterization of calcarenites from the protectorate period used in the Chellah site., EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-16847, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-16847, 2023.

The geological collections, hosted in the Liceo Classico Statale “E. Q. Visconti” in Rome, from the "wonders" of Jesuit Father Athanasius Kircher to the nineteenth-century collections and  the present-day “Wunder Musaeum”, will be presented in this presentation. These collections represent a rich and "hidden" geological jewel preserved in the heart of Rome, made up of thousands of minerals, rocks, fossils and teaching tools, aquired through a long and fascinating story. A historical-scientific heritage that the "Geomuseum" project, developed between the geologists of the University of Roma Tre and teachers of the higher School, has made possible in order to enhance it and make it accessible to the general public and the students, for outreach and teaching purposes.

How to cite: Corrado, S., Adanti, B., Grossi, F., Bosco, V., Vasconi, P., Bollati, A., and Fabbri, M.: The historical geological collections of the "Ennio Quirino Visconti" Higher School at the Roman Collegium: a hidden geological jewel in Rome, from the XVII century to nowadays, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-16959, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-16959, 2023.

Effective eruption forecasting and volcanic hazard management depend heavily on our ability to detect when a volcanic system switches from a state of unrest into a state of eruption. The 2021 eruption at Fagradalsfjall in SW Iceland, the first deep-sourced eruption on a mid-ocean ridge system monitored with modern instrumentation, presents an ideal opportunity to compare geophysical and petrological datasets to explore processes of deep magma mobilisation and eruption priming. Here we use diffusion chronometry to show that deep magmatic unrest in the roots of volcanic systems can precede apparent geophysical eruption precursors by a few years.  Early phases of magma accumulation and reorganisation in the near-Moho plumbing system, part of the priming for eruption, can occur in the absence of significant increases in shallow seismicity (<7 km depth) or rapid geodetic changes. In contrast, geophysical signals of unrest and crystal records of changing magmatic conditions both show significant increases in intensity in the months and days prior to eruption. This correlation may signal a rapid transition from a state of priming to full scale mobilisation in which magma begins to traverse the upper/ brittle crust. Our findings provide new insights into the dynamics of near-Moho magma storage and mobilisation. 

How to cite: Kahl, M., Mutch, E. J. F., Maclennan, J., Morgan, D., Couperthwaite, F., Bali, E., Thordarson, T., Guðfinnsson, G. H., Walshaw, R., Buisman, I., Buhre, S., van der Meer, Q. H. A., Caracciolo, A., Marshall, E. W., Rasmussen, M. B., Gallagher, C. R., Moreland, W. M., Höskuldsson, Á., and Askew, R. A.: Years of deep magmatic upheaval preceding the 2021 eruption at Fagradalsfjall, Iceland, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-2742, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-2742, 2023.

Detailed investigation into local seismicity and geochemical analysis of erupted products from the 2021-22 Fagradalsfjall eruption has already provided new insights into the deep magma plumbing system beneath the Reykjanes Peninsular. Here we focus on producing a detailed regional-scale shear wave velocity model of the Reykjanes to provide wider scale crustal context for these results. Utilising seismic data from 105 stations operated by numerous groups on the peninsular from 2013 to present day, we use recordings of distant teleseismic earthquakes to observe P to s converted phases that provide insight into crustal structure through receiver function (RF) analysis. The total data set of nearly 3000 RFs is computed in several frequency bands. Small subsets of RFs from common backazimuths and epicentral distances displaying high waveform similarity are jointly inverted with surface wave dispersion measurements to produce approximately 300 individual velocity models across the area. These are migrated to depth within a 3D volume to define a single regional velocity model. Major interfaces such as the Moho and base of the upper crust are extracted to produce maps of peninsular wide variation. Computed velocity model inversion results are compared to  RF waveforms combined in multi-phase common conversion point stacks. We compare the velocity structure and interface depths extracted beneath Fagradalsfjall to magma depth estimates from geochemistry and potential structural changes hypothesised from local seismicity linked to the 2021-22 eruption.

How to cite: Jenkins, J., Greenfield, T., Rawlinson, N., Agustdottir, T., Hersir, G. P., Gudnason, E. Á., Horálek, J., Obermann, A., Dahm, T., and Milkerei, C.: Crustal context of the Fagradalsfjall eruption: shear-wave velocity structure of the Reykjanes Peninsular from receiver function analysis, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-3542, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-3542, 2023.

The 2022 Icelandic eruption of Meradalir along the Reykjanes Peninsula, was captured via videography in exceptional detail over much of its 18-day duration. This eruption, like the 2021 Fagradalsfjall eruption, did not pose significant threat to human life or infrastructure. However, many lava-fountaining eruptions elsewhere of similar character (2018 Lower East Rift Zone, Hawaii & 2021 Cumbre Vieja, La Palma, Spain) have caused substantial destruction. Understanding eruption dynamics at these volcanoes is critical for fine-tuning of hazard and risk assessment. With the increasing use of high-speed/resolution cameras in field settings, we are able to quantify in-flight parameters such as particle size and particle exit velocities, rather than having to solely rely on deposit characteristics from samples collected once an eruption has ceased. This is an important development because ground samples can be rapidly buried or reworked and are subject to additional fragmentation during transport and when hitting the ground. The abundance of quantitative information we can obtain from this, coupled with qualitative observations, has allowed us to deepen our understanding of processes of weak explosive eruptions.

How to cite: Tisdale, C., Houghton, B., Sigurlína Pálmadóttir, J., and Thordarson, T.: Eruption Parameters Measured In-flight during the 2022 Icelandic Meradalir Eruption, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-3678, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-3678, 2023.

To get more data concerning de geochemistry and volcanology of Reykjanes Peninsula (Iceland) lavas, more high-precision analytical methods such as Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA), Electron Microprobe Analysis (EMPA), X-ray Fluorescence (XRF), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), ICP-MS, X-ray microtomography (XRMT) and magnetism, coupled with mineralogical investigations were used. INAA, EPMA, XRF and ICP-MS were used to determine both major and trace element mass fractions. In the case of major elements, despite some differences inherent utilization of different analytical techniques, all analysis suggested a tholeiitic composition. Several discriminating diagrams clearly emphasize the subalkaline and tholeiitic trend, while the tectonic discrimination diagram assigned a “continental affinity”, as well as the existence of a minor crustal contamination. At their turn, the distribution of incompatible trace elements, represented into several discriminating diagrams, in agreement with PetDB database on Reykjanes Peninsula, as well as Hawaii and St Helen volcanic rocks, confirming the previous hypothesis based on major elements distribution on the tholeiitic and evolved character of the Reykjanes Peninsula lava, with an affinity towards ocean island basalts with traces crustal contamination. The results of mineralogical as well as BSE images analysis evidenced an abundance of plagioclase (albite), pyroxene (augite and pigeonite), as well as Fe-Ti oxides, while minerals such as olivine and spinel were less present. XRMT images revealed the presence of a multitude of vesicles showing preferred orientations, most probable due to lava flow, as the XRMT images loaded into stacks and analyzed by appropriate image analyzing software suggested. This particular features could suggest the existence of an important amount of volatiles, which lowering lava viscosity make them visible among larger vesicles. Raman spectroscopy results concerning the phases of each mineral, compared with literature and RRUFF^TM database confirmed previuous finding concerning the geochemistry of investigated Reykjaned Peninsula basalt sample. A magnetic analysis, performed by means of FORC diagrams as well as magnetic susceptibility dependence on temperature and the magnetic field, evidenced the presence of titanomagnetite as a main magnetic present in the sample.Therefore, all analyses suggested that the investigated basaltic lava present a tholeiitic composition, with an evolved continental affinity, but not related to rifting. The structural features suggests the presence of an important amount of volatiles existed prior the eruption.

How to cite: Stoicescu, D., Dumitras, D., Duliu, O., Panaiotu, C., Costin, G., Zinicovscaia, I., Dinca, G., Necula, C., Porosnicu, I., and Culicov, O.: Multi-analytical characterization of a Reykjanes Peninsula (Iceland) basalt, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-4209, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-4209, 2023.

Volcanic gases are a major concern, especially when eruptions take place in inhabited or touristic areas. Several studies have revealed that during basaltic eruptions, toxic metals such as Pb, Cd, As and Zn are efficiently outgassed, carried by the major gas species, mainly sulfur and halogens. However, part of the degassing occurs after the eruption, while the lava flow is solidifying, and the composition of this secondary gas is virtually unknown.

After the primary (syn-eruptive) degassing, the lava is depleted in sulfur, leading to relative enrichment in halogens in secondary (post-eruptive) gas emission. This change in major species concentration could impact the volatility of metals and thus the toxicity of the gas emitted.

To investigate this subject, we collected, using filter packs, gas samples of both the primary and the secondary gas phases of the Geldingadalir and Meradalir eruptions. The filters were then leached in diluted acid and the resulting solution analyzed for trace element composition.

Results show syn-eruptive gas samples with very homogeneous trace volatile element composition and distinct from all the post-eruptive gas. Conversely, the secondary gas is more diverse, with distinct composition in samples collected around the main Geldingadalir crater and those collected on the lava flow.

To compare our gas samples (having different air dilution factors), we normalized each element to Cu (well measured and moderately volatile). Overall, the lava flow post-eruptive gas appears enriched in Zn, Sb and Pb with respect to syn-eruptive (10-100 times higher normalized enrichment factor). These elements are known to form chloride species and could thus have an enhanced volatility due to higher Cl concentration in the secondary gas phase. The Sulfur-loving (chalcophile) element Te has, on the other hand, a 10 times lower normalized enrichment factor in the lava flow gas, which is consistent with a sulfur depletion.

It thus seems that volcanic gas emission changes radically between primary and secondary degassing. Increase volatility of some metals such as Lead or Zinc might lead to higher toxicity, with important hazard for the local population and environment.

How to cite: Levillayer, N. and Sigmarsson, O.: Primary versus secondary degassing during basaltic eruptions, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-5120, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-5120, 2023.

Increased attenuation of seismic S-waves propagating beneath a volcano is one of the most important seismic indicators of magma or partially melted rocks. We studied the attenuation in the Reykjanes peninsula, Southwest Iceland and its local anomalies in relation to the Fagradalsfjall eruption in March 2021.  

The Reykjanes Peninsula (situated on the rift between Eurasian and North American tectonic plates) is characterized by intensive volcanism that forms its unique geological structure and generates seismic swarm activity. Since 2013, it has been monitored by the REYKJANET network. Seismic activity intensified from December 2019 and lasted until the eruption of Fagradalsfjall volcano in March 2021. Seismicity during this period was distributed along the whole peninsula, not only in the vicinity of the eruption site. These data give us a unique opportunity to study the attenuation of seismic S-waves waves and their frequency dependence and to identify anomalies of attenuation.

The formula for mean attenuation is derived by estimating maximum seismic amplitudes as a function of earthquake magnitude accounting for hypocentral distance and station constants that reflect local conditions beneath the stations. It was derived for the vertical and horizontal components of S waves using the ground displacement, velocity and acceleration. Significant frequency dependence of attenuation was found with the attenuation coefficient proportional to the logarithm of the frequency. This explains different attenuation of the maximum amplitudes for stronger and weaker earthquakes, which have different prevailing frequencies. It was also found that the attenuation is not homogeneous in the entire area covered by REYKJANET (approximately 35 km x 15 km). The attenuation showed significant changes in time. Strong S-wave attenuation was detected for rays passing through the Krýsuvík volcanic system during the year 2020. This may indicate the presence of partially melted rocks at shallow depth. The attenuation beneath the eruption site at Fagradalsfjall was not anomalous during the year 2020; the anomalous values were only detected at the time of eruption.

 This study was supported by the NASPMON project.

How to cite: Malek, J. and Fojtikova, L. and the NASPMON WP7: Correlation of volcanic activity and S-wave attenuation anomalies in the Reykjanes Peninsula, Iceland, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-6814, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-6814, 2023.

Fagradalsfjall eruption showed a remarkable pulsatory magma discharge activity in Jul-Aug 2021, with a characteristic timescale of ~36 hours (with cycles varying from 17 to 76 hours) and a duration of lava outflow from the crater of 10 to 70 hours. Active lava discharge coincides with the presence of both shallow and deep volcanic tremors that stops abruptly as soon as the active phase of the cycle finishes. The initial phase of each eruption cycle is characterized by some shifts of the tremor source between a depth of ~ 5 km and a shallow level, active degassing, and appearance of fresh lava at the top of the crater. Deep tremor source might be continuously active.

We propose that the pulsatory activity is caused by the dynamics of magma flow in a feeding dike. The model assumes purely elastic wall-rocks rheology and Newtonian temperature-dependent magma viscosity. Elastic displacement of host rocks is calculated by means of the analytical solution for an elliptic cavity subject to fluid overpressure. We assume that surrounding rocks temperature is linearly increasing with depth and the heat transfer from the magma following Newton’s law. The influx of the magma at the base of the dike is controlled by the dike overpressure. For reasonable values of governing parameters, the system shows pulsatory activity in accordance with the observed timescales. During low discharge rate magma viscosity in the upper part of the dike increases dramatically, magma flow stops, and the dike starts to inflate at depth storing large amounts of magma. As the pressure increases the flow of the fresh hot magma destroys the plug and discharge episode occurs. The dike deflates and the flow rate decreases leading to consequent cooling of the magma and blockage of the dike.

Parametric study reveals the influence of controlling parameters (magma influx rate, elastic modulus of rocks, heat exchange coefficient end others) on the period of discharge and the presence of pulsatory activity.

How to cite: Melnik, O., Soubestre, J., Shapiro, N., and Caudron, C.: Dynamics of pulsatory magma discharge at Fagradalsfjall volcano during Jul-Aug 2021: insights from observations, tremor locations and numerical models., EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-7505, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-7505, 2023.

The 2021 Fagradalsfjall eruption on Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula was preceded by more than 12 months of elevated seismic and inflationary activity, beginning around December 2019. On 24^th February 2021, an exceptionally intense episode of seismicity covering the length of the Peninsula marked the initiation of a dyke intrusion, which continued to develop until the 19^th of March 2021, when melt first erupted at the surface. During the intrusion, more than 80,000 microearthquakes marked the propagation of melt, first northeast towards Mt Keilir, then to the southwest, eventually forming a 10 km-long dyke. These events were recorded by a dense local seismic network and detected and located using QuakeMigrate[1].

We present relative relocations of the seismicity, and tightly constrained focal mechanisms for earthquakes from the dyke intrusion period. The high precision of the relative relocations reveals fine scale structure in the region, which is studied in relation to the orientation of fault planes rupturing in individual earthquakes, thus providing insight into the mechanism of dyke propagation and the controls on faulting in the region. We find that the strikes of the fault planes of individual earthquakes differ from the overall trend of dyke propagation across several propagating seismic swarms.

We compare our findings for the Fagradalsfjall seismicity to the 2014-2015 Bárðarbunga-Holuhraun intrusion and eruption seismicity [2], in the context of the contrasting tectonic settings, and markedly different precursory activity.

1: Tom Winder, Conor Bacon, Jonathan D. Smith, Thomas S. Hudson, Julian Drew, & Robert S. White. (2021). QuakeMigrate v1.0.0 (v1.0.0). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4442749

2: Woods, J., Winder, T., White, R. S., and Brandsdóttir, B., 2019. Evolution of a lateral dike intrusion revealed by relatively-relocated dike-induced earthquakes: The 2014–15 Bárðarbunga–Holuhraun rifting event, Iceland. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2018.10.032

How to cite: Glastonbury-Southern, E., Winder, T., Greenfield, T., Ágústsdóttir, T., Rawlinson, N., White, R., Brandsdóttir, B., Fischer, T., Horálek, J., Doubravová, J., Bacon, C., Gudnason, E. Á., Hersir, G. P., Hrubcova, P., and Eibl, E. P. S.: Relatively relocated seismicity during the 2021 Fagradalsfjall dyke intrusion, Reykjanes Peninsula, Iceland: Detailed evolution of a lateral dyke, and comparison to Bárðarbunga-Holuhraun, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-8196, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-8196, 2023.

The Geldingadalir eruption on the Reykjanes peninsula, Iceland, lasted from 19 March to 18 September 2021. While it continuously effused lava in March and April, it transitioned to an episodic pattern from 2 May onwards. We based our analysis on seismometer data from stations NUPH and LHR located 5.5 and 2 km SE of the active vent, respectively.

From 2 May to 14 June the eruption featured minute-long episodes that were classified into 6 different periods based on the duration of the tremor, the repose time, and the seismic amplitude (Eibl et al. 2022, Bulletin of Volcanology).

Here we focus on the timespan from 14 June to 18 September and define another three periods with distinct patterns: (i) For most of June the tremor was continuous and transitioned on 6 July to a period with hour long effusion followed by minute-long episodic effusion, (ii) 19 July to 3 September which featured only hour-long lava effusion episodes, and (iii) from 11 September, a 2-day-long effusion was followed by several days of minute-long episodes.

We discuss these changes in the context of acoustic data, video camera data, geomorphological changes of the crater and the shallow subsurface. Overall, we find further indications for an evolving shallow magma compartment in July.

How to cite: Eibl, E. P. S., Lamb, O., Thordarson, T., Höskuldsson, Á., Gudnason, E. Á., Hersir, G. P., and Ágústsdóttir, T.: Seismic Tremor Reveals Changes in Episode Duration throughout the 2021 Geldingadalir Eruption, Iceland, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-9413, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-9413, 2023.

The recent eruptions of Fagradalsfjall and Meradalir (Iceland) marks the first eruptive episode on the Reykjanes Peninsula in nearly 800 years. Open-path Fourier Transform Infrared (OP-FTIR) measurements of major and minor gas molecular species (including H₂O, CO₂, SO₂, HCl, HF and CO) in the gas emissions have been performed on more than twenty occasions throughout the eruptions in 2021 and 2022. Generally, the gas emissions are water-rich (60-95 mol % H₂O) and show CO₂/SO₂ molar ratios of ~4, consistent with magma generation at >15 km depth. Comparison of measured gas emissions with geochemical models of degassing of the Fagradalsfjall basaltic melt suggest that fractional degassing is necessary to explain the high-water contents of the fountaining gas at Fagradalsfjall, implying that a significant fraction of the CO₂ that has exsolved from the magma is lost at depth prior to eruption. The measured vent gas emissions display enigmatic changes as a function of time, with lowest H₂O/CO₂ and H₂O/SO₂ ratios measured early in the eruption at Fagradalsfjall in 2021 and higher ratios during later stages and during the Meradalir eruption in 2022. The chemistry of the gas emissions is significantly affected by the style of degassing, with gas emitted by surface lava flows characterized by higher H₂O/CO₂ and H₂O/SO₂ and lower SO₂/HCl and SO₂/HF ratios compared to gas emitted at actively erupting vents. Moreover, the data record significant short-term temporal changes in chemistry on the timescales of minutes associated with intermittent fountaining and cooling/solidification of lava flows. This study highlights the utility of OP-FTIR techniques for tracing basaltic magma degassing in space and time. 

How to cite: Scott, S., Pfeffer, M., Oppenheimer, C., and Stefánsson, A.: Volcanic degassing during the recent Fagradalsfjall and Merardalir eruptions, Iceland, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-10209, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-10209, 2023.

Fractures and tectonic structures have been related to dyke emplacements, eruption location or dynamics in several volcanic areas around the world. Mapping of active faults is therefore key for assessing the potential tectonic and volcanic hazard within a region. The 2021 eruption in the Fagradalsfjall volcanic area (Reykjanes Peninsula, SW Iceland) was preceded by two years of volcanic unrest, including four non-eruptive unrests in the Svartsengi and Krýsuvík volcanic areas and a dyke intrusion in the Fagradalsfjall volcanic segment. Nine earthquakes of magnitudes M 5–5.6 were recorded during this time period and were widely felt by the surrounding population. Using interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) applied to TerraSAR-X data collected over 2019–2021, we mapped fracture movements over the Reykjanes Peninsula. We identified ~1250 active structures across 54 interferograms during this time period, complementing previously mapped structures. Our study reveals extensive fracture movements across most of the Peninsula, extending from Reykjanes to NE Krýsuvík volcanic areas. We particularly highlight previously undetected structures beneath the town of Grindavík as well as a N45°E striking structure in the Fagradalsfjall volcanic area, active during summer-autumn 2020, prior to the 2021 dyke intrusion. We propose that this structure influenced the location of the longest lasting vent of the 2021 eruption. The observations presented in this study have important implications for improving our understanding of volcano-tectonic interactions and hazard assessments in Iceland and worldwide.

How to cite: Ducrocq, C., Árnadóttir, T., Einarsson, P., Jónsson, S., Drouin, V., Geirsson, H., and Hjartardóttir, Á. R.: Widespread fracture movements during the 2019–2021 volcano-tectonic unrest on the Reykjanes Peninsula from TerraSAR-X interferometry, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-10732, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-10732, 2023.

The 6-month long fissure eruption that started in Geldingadalir valley within Mt. Fagradalsfjall, Reykjanes Peninsula, SW Iceland, on 19March 2021 was preceded by three weeks of intense seismic activity associated with a ~10 km long NE-SW oriented dyke intrusion, along the Fagradalsfjall volcanic system. This was the first eruption in over 800 years on the Peninsula. A multi-institutional seismic network, installed prior to the dyke intrusion, comprises 27, 3-component instruments (25 broadband and 2 short-period instruments) covering the whole Reykjanes Peninsula. Here we focus on the Fagradalsfjall area (~12x10 km) with 4 instruments located within a 2.5 km radius of the observed dyke seismicity. Accurate automatic earthquake locations using a new detection and location algorithm QuakeMigrate[1] obtain an order of magnitude higher number of earthquakes than conventional location methods. For high precision locations, events are cross-correlated and then relatively relocated using GrowClust[2]. Here we present detailed earthquake location results from 18 September 2021 to 30 September 2022. This period comprises i) the 2021 post-eruptive seismicity along the 10 km long 2021 dyke path; ii) an earthquake swarm about 5 km NE of the eruption site at 5-7 km depth in October; iii) a 5 day-long dyke intrusion in December 2021 that failed to breach the surface; iv) a 5-day-long dyke intrusion that breached the surface on 3 August 2022, and led to a 6 week-long fissure eruption in Meradalir, located about 0.5 km NE of the 2021 eruption site.

We find that the failed dyke in December 2021 and the 2022 dyke that successfully breached the surface share many of the same features. They both propagated at similar depths of 3-6 km, in the pathway of the initial 2021 dyke and both show some sparser seismicity closer to the surface. The time span of their propagation is almost identical; both are propagating for around 5 days, with similar lengths of about 6 km, which is considerably shorter than the 10 km long 3-week 2021 dyke propagation. They differ, however, in their location with respect to the 2021 eruption site. The failed 2021 dyke intrusion propagated mainly SW of the 2021 eruption site, whereas the successful 2022 dyke propagated NE of it. Interestingly, our results suggest that during the initial phases of the 2022 dyke intrusion, two dykelets propagate in opposite directions simultaneously.

How to cite: Ágústsdóttir, T., Gudnason, E. Á., Magnússon, R. L., Fischer, T., Winder, T., Eibl, E. P. S., Glastonbury-Southern, E., Hersir, G. P., Horálek, J., Doubravová, J., Vlček, J., Hrubcová, P., Málek, J., Fojtíková, L., and Brandsdóttir, B.: Relative earthquake relocations and detailed evolution of failed and successful lateral dyke intrusions during the 2021-2022 Fagradalsfjall volcano-tectonic rifting event, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-13310, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-13310, 2023.

The Reykjanes Peninsula in SW Iceland is a part of the Mid-Atlantic plate boundary. It forms its transtensional segment with several volcanic and faulting systems. We focus on the 2017 seismicity that occurred in the central part of Reykjanes at the place of Fagradalsfjall volcano prior to its eruption on March 19, 2021. We invert well-determined focal mechanisms of the 2017 seismicity and provide mapping of tectonic stress in space and time. Our results disclose heterogeneous stress field manifested by mix of shear, tensile and compressive fracturing.  Although the fracturing was diverse, directions of the principal stress axes were stable and consistent with the processes at the transtensional divergent plate boundary. The prominent stress direction was in the azimuth of 120°±8°, which represents the overall extension related to rifting in the Reykjanes Peninsula. The activity initiated on the transform fault segment with predominantly shear strike-slip events. The non-shear fractures occurred later being associated with normal dip-slips and corresponding to the opening of volcanic fissures trending in the azimuth of 30-35°, perpendicular to the extension. The dip-slips were mainly located above an aseismic dike detected in the centre of the 2017 swarm. This dike represents a zone of crustal weakening during a preparatory phase of future 2021 Fagradalsfjall volcanic eruption located at the same place. Moreover, we detected local variation of stress when the stress axes abruptly interchanged their directions in the individual stress domains. These stress changes are interpreted in a consequence of plate spreading and upcoming fluid flow during a preparatory phase of a rifting episode.

How to cite: Hrubcová, P. and Vavryčuk, V.: Tectonic stress changes related to plate spreading prior to the 2021 Fagradalsfjall eruption in SW Iceland, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-13373, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-13373, 2023.

Late February 2021, the Reykjanes Peninsula in southwest Iceland experienced severe seismicity associated with the development of a 9 km long dyke. Eight earthquakes of magnitude M≥5  were registered in the vicinity of Fagradalsfjall from February 24 until the onset of the Fagradalsfjall eruption in mid-March, which lasted for six months. Here, we analyze the temporal variations in crustal seismic wave velocities and the source characteristics of earthquakes during the dyke formation phase (February-March 2021).

We apply ambient-noise seismic interferometry and compute seismic noise cross-correlations using the MSNoise software. Cross-wavelet analysis, a powerful technique that allows us to obtain frequency-dependence of velocity change, is used to investigate relative variations in seismic wave velocities (dv/v). Along with our wavelet-based dv/v results, we also present the stretching-based dv/v time-series that were calculated in real-time for volcano monitoring during the unrest. 

The Fagradalsfjall dyke intrusion induced temporal variations in seismic velocities and strong decorrelation that were picked up by the entire network across the peninsula. Beginning abruptly with the increased seismic activity, velocities at nearby seismic stations decreased by 1.5 percent. The amount of dv/v change was noticeably less than 1 percent at distant stations (15-30 km). 

The regional time-domain moment tensor inversion method (TDMT_INVC) was also applied to obtain earthquake mechanism solutions. Source parameters of 50 moderate-sized events with magnitudes Mw≥4.0 revealed predominantly normal and strike-slip faulting. We compare these to the deformation, dv/v and modeled Coulomb stress changes and present a joint interpretation.

We provide a summary of the complex spatial and temporal evolution of crustal seismic velocity changes in the weeks preceding the effusive eruption. The understanding of the pre-eruptive geophysical signatures of the Fagradalsfjall volcano will contribute to better predict future volcanic activity in the area.

How to cite: Cubuk Sabuncu, Y., Rodríguez Cardozo, F., Geirsson, H., Jónsdóttir, K., Hjörleifsdóttir, V., Lecocq, T., Caudron, C., and Mordret, A.: Evolution of temporal seismic velocity changes and earthquake source mechanisms during the 2021 Fagradalsfall dyke intrusion, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-14037, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-14037, 2023.

Lavas are known to cool and contract following their emplacement, resulting in measurable subsidence at their surface. Magnetic surveying of the cooling lava can also provide insight into the causation of such subsidence, whether it be due to for example lava tunnel collapse and/or cooling of the lava. Repeated geodetic, photogrammetric, and magnetic measurements can be used to monitor the subsidence and can help determine the cooling rate of the lava. Here, we present initial results on subsidence and total magnetic field of the Fagradalsfjall lavas (Reykjanes Peninsula, Iceland), which were emplaced in March-September 2021 and August 2022. The post-emplacement deformation of the lavas is measured from comparison of Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) in 2x2 m derived from aerial photogrammetric surveys, in-situ Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) surveys of benchmarks in the lava flow, and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR). The DEM differences show subsidence of up to 7 m in the first year since the end of the 2021 eruption. Magnetic measurements were performed using drone surveys (MagArrow magnetometer suspended on DJI Matrice 600) and hiking profiles (GEM Systems GSM-19 Overhauser magnetometer). Our preliminary results show quite variable magnetization of the lavas. We suggest that the low magnetic anomalies are either associated with internal structures or show evidence of hot lava still above its Curie temperature and possibly even in liquid form and coincide roughly with the higher subsidence rates. During the August 2022 eruption, when the new lava was partly emplaced on top of the 2021 lava field, some of the older lava squeezed out from the western border of the 2021 flow, demonstrating that the 2021 lavas were still partly in liquid form. We expect the 2021-2022 lavas to continue to subside as the lava cools down and contracts, and plan further studies to provide insight into the cooling processes.

How to cite: Skúladóttir, J. M., Piispa, E. J., Belart, J. M. C., Geirsson, H., Drouin, V., and Hutchinson, K. J.: Cooling of the 2021 & 2022 Fagradalsfjall lavas: surface deformation and magnetic signatures, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-17131, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-17131, 2023.

NASA's Solar System Treks Project (SSTP) online portals provide web-based suites of interactive visualization and analysis tools to enable mission planners, planetary scientists, students, and the general public to access mapped data products from past and current missions for a growing number of planetary bodies.

Solar System Treks portals are being used for site selection and analysis by NASA and its international and commercial partners supporting upcoming missions. At the same time, the portals offer great inspirational and educational benefits for science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) education and public engagement, providing access to data from a wide range of instruments aboard a variety of past and current missions. As a component of NASA's Science Activation Infrastructure, they are available as resources for NASA STEAM programs, and to the greater STEAM community. As new missions are planned to a variety of planetary bodies, these tools facilitate teaching and learning of the missions and engage the public in the process of identifying and selecting where these missions will land.

Today, 11 web portals in the program are available to the public. This list includes portals for the Moon; the planets Mercury, Venus, and Mars; the asteroids Bennu, Ryugu, Vesta, and Ceres; and the outer moons Titan and Europa. The Icy Moons Trek portal features seven of Saturn’s smaller icy moons. All of the portals are unified under a project home site with supporting engagement content. These web-based portals are free resources and publicly available. They are tools that facilitate and benefit teaching and learning within higher education community.

This presentation for EGU will detail and share examples of the project’s STEAM utilization, and preview future developments, enhancements and applications.

How to cite: Law, E. and Day, B. and the Solar System Treks Team: Higher Education Teaching and Research using NASA’s Solar System Treks, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-989, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-989, 2023.

Teaching geoscience phenomena often involves the use, albeit unconscious, of speech-accompanying gestures (van Boening / Riggs, 2020). Even though speech-accompanying metaphorical gestures are considered to have great potential in teaching situations (Herrera & Riggs, 2013), little attention has been paid to the role of gestures in learning geoscientific processes to date. The presented study addresses the question, whether the teacher's use of metaphorical gestures when explaining the processes at destructive and constructive plate boundaries can help learners to develop adequate scientific conceptions.  In an experimental study, 62 students from eight different classes in two high schools (grades 7-9) watch a movie. In this movie a teacher explains the processes at destructive and constructive plate boundaries, one time (group 1, n= 30) without using metaphorical gestures, one time (group 2, n=32) by using metaphorical gestures. Students are asked about their conceptions of divergent and convergent plate boundaries using semi-structured interviews before as well as after this intervention. The interviews are analyzed using a combination of systematic metaphor analysis (Schmitt, 2010) and gesture analysis (Herrera & Riggs, 2013; Müller, 1998). This was followed by a quantitative analysis with SPSS. The analysis showed highly significant differences between the groups. After the intervention, 33% of the group 1 activated a suitable source domain when explaining divergent plate boundaries, while 78.1 % of the group 2 did so (χ² (1, n = 62) = 12.636, p < .001; φ- = .451). When explaining convergent plate boundaries after the intervention, 10% in group 1 activated an appropriate source domain, and 67.78 % in group 2 did so: χ² (1, n = 61) = 21.300, p < .001; φ- = .59). These results suggest, that the use of metaphorical gestures in teaching geoscience processes should be paid more attention. Further research is needed on different variables, for example, on the type of gestures used, but also on the age of the learners.

References

 van Boening, A. M.  & Riggs, E. M. (2020). Geologic gestures: A new classification for embodied cognition in geology. Journal of Geoscience Education, 68(1), 49-64. https://doi.org/10.1080/10899995.2019.1624250

Herrera, J., & Riggs, E. (2013). Relating Gestures and Speech: An Analysis Of Students' Conceptions About Geological Sedimentary Processes. International Journal of Science Education, 35(12), 1979-2003.

 Müller, C. (1998). Redebegleitende Gesten. Kulturgeschichte – Theorie- Sprachvergleich. Berlin: Berlin Verlag.

Schmitt, R. (2010). Metaphernanalyse. In: Mey,G. & Mruck, K. (Eds.), Handbuch Qualitative Forschung in der Psychologie, (S. 676–691). Springer.

How to cite: Conrad, D.: Understanding processes at plate boundaries with the help of gestures. An experimental study about the role of gestures in teaching geoscience., EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-1103, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-1103, 2023.

Virtual field trips (VFTs) are a means to give learners a genuine experience and feeling of what it
would be like to participate in in-person fieldtrips but can also act as a teaching resource to meet other
learning outcomes that are not necessarily related to fieldwork. These virtual experiences can provide
greater accessibility for people that cannot participate in in-person field trips for reasons such as
logistics, cost, or physical ability. Using internet browsers, we have been able to create online content
that is interactive with mapping activities, communication exercises, animations, 360° videos, virtual
rocks, detailed thin sections of rocks, and questions with automated feedback. These VFTs have been
used as more than just a replica of an in-person field trip, they can be used in a variety of contexts. As
an example, our research group has used them as: 1) flexible knowledge resources to replace lectures
and supplement hands-on laboratory classes and tutorials; 2) fieldwork preparation resources that
teach content and allow students to explore outcrops they will visit in person; and 3) a self-guided
field trip when group field trips are impractical or impossible (e.g., student illness).
We have found that VFTs allow educators to take students to places they would otherwise not be able
to go, to familiarize students with field skills and content before going into the field to maximize
learning on in-person field trips. Our research results from student interviews, focus groups and pre-
post measures of learning show that students enjoy and engage well with the digital content, although
we are still far from an immersive in-person field experience. Looking to the future, we are continuing
to develop new ways for students to genuinely explore and discover on a VFT, making use of mixed
reality, which has the potential to provide students with an even more immersive experience. Such
interactive VFTs can be suitable replacements for lecture content in a flipped classroom or as
preparatory exercises for in-person fieldtrips, but they should only replace in-person fieldtrips after
careful consideration.

How to cite: Davidson, J., Kennedy, B., Watson, A., Engel, K., Jolley, A., Stahl, T., Nichols, A., and Brogt, E.: Researching the use of virtual Field trips as a flexible multipurpose teaching resource, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-1106, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-1106, 2023.

Today we introduce you to Geomorphica, the new diamond open access journal in geomorphology. Next to Volcanica, Tektonika, Seismica and Sedimentologika, it adds to the growing family of Diamond Open Access Journals in the Geosciences. What exactly is diamond open access publishing? It describes a bottom-up publishing structure that reduces barriers in accessing scientific literature because there are no journal subscription fees and no article processing charges. As such, it allows the reader to access and the author to publish the article for free. Diamond open access publishing promotes inclusivity, equal access to information and provides the newest findings to a large and diverse audience.

Geomorphica has been community-built over the last year. Our structure comprises six commissions – format, website, communications, inclusivity, ethics, and editorial – and a steering committee formed of the chairs of each commission. We determined our name by poll in January and our logo by friendly competition in April. We started cooperating with the International Association of Geomorphology (IAG) in July and signed our hosting agreement with Penn State University in December 2022. At EGU 2023 we are excited to celebrate the achievements of the previous year as well as to exchange ideas on our future together. 

We welcome feedback, comments, ideas and a stimulating discussion from all sectors of the geoscientific community to help us continually improve the initiative. We are always looking for volunteers and we encourage everyone to start brainstorming on potential submissions to Geomorphica, as we plan to open a call for manuscript submissions in spring 2023.

How to cite: Stammler, M. A., Lefebvre, A., Bosch, R., Fernández, R., Giaime, M., and Goodwin, G.: Geomorphica, the new diamond open access journal in the field of geomorphology, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-1289, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-1289, 2023.

Student mobility, including obtaining degrees abroad, is one of the most effective means of internationalising education and establishing the common dominator of qualification for academics and professionals [1]. Copernicus Master in Digital Earth (CDE), coordinated by Paris-Lodron University Salzburg, has started in October 2019 together with Palacky University Olomouc and University of South Brittany. CDE is an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree programme, fully accredited by the Agency for Quality Assurance and Accreditation Austria¹. The Master of Science is a unique role model to obtain a master’s degree in the upcoming field of EO*GI (Earth observation and Geoinformation) with the focus on the European Union’s Earth Observation programme Copernicus, which offers information services based on satellite EO and in-situ data. CDE is an interdisciplinary programme that aims at equipping the students with knowledge and skills from spatial sciences, and concepts from various geospatial disciplines [2], such as geography, surveying, environmental studies, cartography, computer science, applying a “Digital Earth” perspective [3].

Every interested candidate in the MSc is encouraged to apply online, which allows handling ~300 candidates per call; careful, individual attention is given to each candidate and by carrying out a detailed assessment of all completed applications against selection guidelines, including evaluation of the quality and competencies of applicants and online interview of the potential candidates.

The first year provides profound EO*GI application-oriented expertise based on relevant theories and methods. Alternative specialisation tracks are GeoData Science or Geovisualisation. A story map² and dashboards³ provide further insights into origin of students, gender balance (34f:32m) or domain of previous degree and specialisation track (35:31).

CDE is proud of a well-composed peer group from all over the world who demonstrate a high degree of commitment and motivation, a strong interest and background in the geospatial field. Outstanding and award-winning students⁴ have initiated start-ups or contributed to exceptional scientific developments in the domains of EO*GI and Digital Earth⁵. Peer-reviewed publications⁶ demonstrate the quality of research outcomes of Master theses, with one article to be published in Nature Geoscience. CDE continuity is envisioned from 2024/2025 onwards, to ensure sustainability, and international collaboration by extending the partnership, fostering student and staff mobility and blended learning activities. The consortium will submit a renewal project proposal within the 2023 Erasmus+ call.

The project receives support from the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union, Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree: Copernicus Master in Digital Earth www.master-cde.eu.

¹ https://www.master-cde.eu/programme/accreditation/

² https://arcg.is/0Pev1H

³https://www.master-cde.eu/programme/students/

⁴https://www.master-cde.eu/programme/awards/

⁵https://www.master-cde.eu/programme/start-ups-science

⁶https://www.master-cde.eu/programme/scientific-publications/

Nazarkulova, A., & Strobl, J. (2016) From central Asia to Europe: Erasmus mundus” gsmart” student mobility. International Journal of Geoinformatics, 12(4).

Hofer, B., Castelyn, S., Aguilar-Morena, E., Missoni-Steinbacher, E.-M., Albrecht, F., Lemmens, R., Lang, S., Albrecht, J., Stelmaszczuk-Górska, M., Vancauwenberghe, G. and Monfort-Muriach, A. (2020) Complementing the European earth observation and geographic information body of knowledge with a business-oriented perspective. Transactions in GIS, 24, pp. 587–601.

Lang, S., Tiede, D. and Riedler, B. (2021) Digital Earth observation. European Journal of Remote Sensing, 54(sup1), pp. 1-5.

How to cite: Brunner-Maresch, B., Dabiri, Z., and Lang, S.: “Copernicus Master in Digital Earth” a role model for an interdisciplinary joint master programme in Earth observation and Geoinformation, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-1655, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-1655, 2023.

Although GIS technologies have been utilized in many fields, including geoscience and geography, obtaining skills in GIS operation is still challenging. Effective GIS operation requires geographical and cartographic knowledge such as the principles of map projection, techniques to use computers and related devices, and expertise in graphic, spreadsheet, and database software. In addition, various recent concepts and technologies, such as AR, VR, UAVs, web mapping, and 3D printing, have been combined with today’s GIS. Therefore, comprehensive GIS education is crucial for fostering scientists with GIS skills.

We have been developing methodologies and materials for GIS education to address this issue. They include 1) online open-source materials for learning how to use GIS software for various applications, 2) web-based online GIS to learn applications of GIS for understanding disaster risks, 3) web pages to learn the basics of Python programming relevant to GIS, and 4) materials for learning the utilization of UAVs, 3D printers, AR, and VR in connection with GIS. This presentation outlines our activities and discusses their implications to provide future perspectives.

In 2022, a subject called General Geography with an emphasis on GIS became compulsory in Japanese senior high schools (10 to 12 grades) due to government educational reform. Because students usually select what to major in universities during high school, attracting high-school students' attention to GIS and related geoscientific and geographical issues is essential for the future development of geoscience and geography. Therefore, the targets of our activities are both university and high school students.

How to cite: Oguchi, T., Yamauchi, H., Song, J., Ogura, T., and Iizuka, K.: Developing methodologies and materials for GIS education to university and high school students, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-4945, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-4945, 2023.

This is the most common answer to a common question at the beginning of the semester. Teaching remote sensing skills at university often is associated in physical geography but also geoscience studies. Thus, the topics with which we teach remote sensing skills are often related to these subjects. In undergraduate courses, the thematic interests strongly vary among students. In advanced master courses, students with various thematic and technical backgrounds (geo sciences, computing science, economics, ecology, law, politics etc.) may join remote sensing classes. Additionally, the number of students increases. From the teaching perspective, we aim to address the varying student needs and backgrounds and enable them to further develop their technical skills and have to cope with these challenges. In this presentation, we want to present two practical formats of currently taught remote sensing classes.

In all classes, we work with freely available satellite data (Sentinels, Landsat, MERIS, MODIS etc.) and software (SNAP, QGIS, GoogleEarth, Sentinel-Hub and other browser-based tools). The first class is designed for undergraduate students (geography and related subjects, e.g. geosciences) who have a theoretical remote sensing background (lecture). After completing the class, the students should be able to independently conduct and document a remote sensing processing routine and evaluate results. To this end, the class is split in a part with instructions and a second part with independent work. First, the students work in groups through a modular online implemented course for ten weeks. The modules chronologically follow a basic routine to finally classify land use/ land cover in a study area. The modules contain theoretic background, prepared data, short videos on software usage and broad instructions. To assure the learning process, the students conduct self-tests after completed modules and participate in a weekly on-site tutorial. After completing all modules, they have to independently assess a flood event without detailed instructions and write a fictious report for a catastrophe response unit. Students positively evaluate the split structure, free division of work, videos and self-tests with feedback. Otherwise, they wish more time for asking questions and discuss issues of understanding in the on-site tutorials.

The advanced master course “Remote Sensing Applications” is open for students with a basic, practical remote sensing knowledge coming from different master programs. After completing the class, the students should be able to independently process, analyse and discuss remote sensing data and combine them with additional data to work on a geo-/study-related topic (geology, coast, socio-economic, climatic etc.). To this end, we selected New Zealand as study area. Within on-site classes, the students work on the topics geothermics, urban heat islands, droughts, forestry and cloud computing with non-prepared satellite and other data. For the final project, they select a research topic on their own and present their analyses and results in a storymap. Students highly appreciated choosing an own topic for the examination and discussing them in the whole group.  

Here, we aim to reflect the presented classes with the community to further improve our current “solutions” for challenges in teaching remote sensing.

How to cite: Kuhwald, K., Gröschler, K.-C., Uhl, F., and Oppelt, N.: Why are you taking the course? Oh, remote sensing interests me…, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-6530, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-6530, 2023.

Science communication skills are more essential than ever to today’s scientists, helping break down barriers such as the widespread use of technical jargon and limited access to journals in order to promote interdisciplinary collaboration with non-geoscientists and public understanding of geoscience research. However, traditional geoscience curricula place limited emphasis on the development of communication skills, particularly for audiences beyond scientific peers. Meanwhile, traditional science news focuses on topics of obvious interest to the public, such as geohazards or climate change. As a result, scientists are often given little scope to practice communicating with a general audience, and the majority of geoscience research lacks a mechanism for generating public interest.

“Bites” sites are blogs dedicated to communicating new developments in science to a broad audience. Each bite is an engaging, short (400-700 word) summary that explains an exciting new scientific paper and discusses its importance in the field. Bites are typically written by graduate students and other early career scientists about recently published articles that have not been picked up by more traditional science news outlets. These sites serve three key purposes: 1) to keep the interested public – especially university students who may consider careers in geoscience – up to date with recent developments in the field, 2) to generate attention for new work that traditional media outlets may miss, and 3) to give early career scientists practice with public-facing writing and editing, which are critical skills both within and beyond academia.

Here we discuss lessons learned in 3 years of running the site Geobites, targeted at communicating new geoscience (broadly-defined) research to the public. We discuss the community of peer science communicators formed by Geobites, diagram the structure of an effective article, present site analytics, and solicit feedback from the geoscience communication community.

How to cite: Vrouwenvelder, K., Shobe, C., Moerchen, M., and Giampoala, M.: Geobites: 3 Years of Science Communication Training in Practice, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-6750, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-6750, 2023.

While the importance of Nature-based Solutions for climate change adaptation (NbaS) is being increasingly acknowledged, this concept should be introduced in higher education. It looks particularly important for master's programs, because they usually lead to management jobs. Future graduates will therefore be required to make decisions in land use planning, urban planning, risk and resource management for example.

Based on a survey questionnaire, several interviews and a text mining analysis of the Master’s contents, a first analysis was conducted to identify, localise and analyse the French Masters that presented links with NbaS related concepts. This analysis revealed that the notion of NbaS is far from being mastered. This might be caused by a conceptual misunderstanding of definitions.

A combined analysis of the findings derived from this study and the results acquired within the framework of the European ARTISAN project (Achieving Resiliency by Triggering Implementation of nature-based Solutions for climate Adaptation at a National scale, www.life-artisan.fr), a training module dedicated to NbaS has been designed. Covering a wide spectrum of topics, it is composed of 8 courses of 3 hours: (i) Introduction to climate change, (ii)  NbS and NbaS: from terminology to reality, (iii) Ecological engineering and multidisciplinary approach, (iv) NbaS and geosciences, (v) Actors: mobilization, consultation and acceptance, (vi) Regulatory and normative framework, (vii) Methods and tools, (viii) Implementation of a NbaS.

Each course contains a general part gathering basic knowledge, and a second more specific part called in-depth.The latter makes it possible to adapt to the environment highlighted by the training in which the module is provided (urban, agricultural, humid, maritime and coastal, mountainous, natural, forest, or all environments).This structuring allows the module to be flexible and adaptable to the level and field of application of the targeted training.

How to cite: Versini, P.-A., Al-Sayah, M., and Schertzer, D.: Development of a Master course module dedicated to Nature-based adaptation Solutions, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-9303, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-9303, 2023.

Space weather is the study of the changes in Earth’s space environment with solar activities that impact technical systems, such as communication, navigation, aviation, satellite command and control, and electric power.  With the increasing human presence in space and blossoming of the New Space industry, understanding the physics of the heliosphere and the ability to accurately predict space weather events became essential to government agencies and private industry. The need for “in-house” professional experts on space weather becomes important for agencies/businesses to understand the potential implications of upcoming space weather events and make informed decisions to protect equipment, infrastructure and ensure health and safety. The Catholic University of America Physics department (CUA-Physics) has developed one of the U.S. first M.S. program in Applied Space Weather Research (ASWR), taught by faculty in the Dept. of Physics, researchers from our NASA/PHaSER cooperative agreement, and NASA civil-servant scientists. The CUA Master’s Degree program in Applied Space Weather Research is designed to provide graduate students the knowledge that will be needed in government and industry to confront the increasing impacts of space weather as human presence in space expands. In addition to core courses in thermodynamics, electromagnetism, and statistical mechanics, the program includes three new courses that cover the fundamental physical processes of space weather from the surface of the Sun to Earth’s atmosphere, in addition to courses in plasma physics and numerical methods for space weather. The technical and health impacts of space weather are integrated into these courses and also taught as part of a space weather seminar series. The program is open to students from any of the sciences, mathematics, and engineering disciplines, and is designed to teach students from diverse backgrounds the fundamentals of space weather. The program makes use of models and data streams available through CUA’s on-going partnership with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. A key goal of the program is to provide our students with ample opportunity to learn both the scientific and practical aspects of space weather that will position them for jobs in academia, government and industry through active mentorship with scientists and researchers at Catholic University, NASA, and university partners. With emphasis on both the applied and research aspects of space weather, the program provides the unique interdisciplinary education needed to address the challenges of understanding, forecasting, and mitigating the threats from space weather. 

How to cite: Poh, G. K., Uritsky, V., Feuillet, L., Robinson, R., and Kraemer, S.: A comprehensive Applied Space Weather Research graduate program for professionals to meet academia and commercial needs for space weather expertise, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-10567, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-10567, 2023.

Space Weather Awareness Training Network (SWATNet; https://swatnet.eu) is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network (INT) in the field of heliosphysics that runs between 2021 - 2025. The project aims scientifically at breakthroughs in our physical understanding of key agents of Space Weather at Earth. The project educates twelve Early Career Researchers (ESRs) with joint or double degrees. The ESRs achieve a versatile scientific and transferrable skills through the ambitious SWATNet training program that comprises of three schools and seven workshops during the project. This presentation summarises the format of these training activities (held both online and face-to-face), their key educational methods and strategies as well as collecting the feedback. One of the key aspects we have strived in our training is to encourage ESRs to critical thinking and asking questions. SWATNet is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 955620.

How to cite: Kilpua, E. and the SWATNet team: Training program for PhD students in the field of heliophysics, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-11388, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-11388, 2023.

As part of the European Joint Project (EJP) SOIL on agricultural soil management, we designed and conducted a survey dedicated to the apprehension of the soil science skills required in the future (i.e. 20 years from now). The study adopted an interdisciplinary approach between Soil Science and Social Sciences. Various categories of stakeholders were contacted, including representatives of farmer organizations, farmer advisors, public policy makers, industry and retailers, NGOs, education and research organizations, and certifying and funding agencies. People were asked to provide personal opinions.

The survey comprised five sections. The first section focused on the characterization of the respondents and their relation to soils through their professional activities. The next three sections were designed to collect data about the stakeholders’ assessment of the future importance of soil science skills and identify innovative ideas. In section two, the respondents were asked to provide a list of skills they thought would be important in the future (open questions). Then, in the third section, they were asked to rank a series of proposed skills from 1 (useless) to 8 (essential). Skills were grouped into categories, such as “scientific knowledge on soil and their functioning”, “assessing soil quality” or “knowing how to mobilise agronomic drivers to manage and protect soils”. The survey also included some generic and technical skills, such as oral and written communication or use of databases. In the fourth section, the respondents could provide and rank additional skills that were not included in previous sections. In the fifth and last section, the objective was to identify future soil science related professional profiles. Here, respondents could provide a list of professional profiles and match them with the required skills.

The survey was handled and distributed on line using LimeSurvey^TM. The survey was available in English and in the national language of each of the 24 countries taking part in the EJP SOIL. Stakeholders were contacted through the National Hubs set up within the framework of the EJP SOIL. More than a thousand stakeholders were invited to collaborate. Efforts were made to balance participation between countries and stakeholder categories. For that purpose, we set up a target for the number of respondents per country proportional to its NUTS 2 regions. To take into consideration smaller countries representation, a minimum of invitations per country was also set. The response rate and the distribution of the responses between stakeholder categories was satisfactory. The target number was not reached for a few countries.

The analysis of the survey results allowed to identify (i) the skills considered most important according to the categories of stakeholders; (ii) new competences traditionally not included in training curricula but considered necessary by stakeholders; (iii) differences in appreciation according to respondents; (iv) possible evolutions of job profiles related to soil science.  The results of this survey will contribute to EJP’s roadmap on agricultural soil management by providing an objective basis for recommandations on training program evolution within EU.

How to cite: Coquet, Y., Veenstra, J., Melot, R., and Walter, C.: Soil science skills for the future: a European perspective, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-11437, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-11437, 2023.

The spread of COVID-19 has cancelled and postponed many geoscience exercise and fieldwork activities worldwide. Various virtual fieldtrips and online courses were offered to the students to overcome this education gap. In this study, we combined virtual fieldwork with self-fieldwork exercise by creating a new fieldwork education system called ‘GeoExplorer’. ‘GeoExplorer’ is a fieldwork instruction webpage (platform), where students can easily access the platform with mobile phones and visit the fieldwork site without an instructor or a teacher. The platform provides detailed fieldwork description and instructs how the student should travel along the site. The system is fairly simple, as the student follow the map of the fieldwork site provided by the platform, the platform will explain the geology and geographic features of each stop points. This fieldwork education platform is created on the geoscience database platform ‘Geo Big Data Open Platform’ of Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM). Therefore, the students can easily access detailed geological maps and geoscience information of Korea created by actual geologists and earth scientists of Korea. Currently, three geo-sites are offered for the students to explore (we plan to add more sites in the following years). These geo-sites are not only geologically important but also academically important since they contain the most recent geoscience research outcomes in Korea. We hope this new geoscience fieldwork education approach can encourage students to participate in geoscience fieldwork activities during and after the pandemic.

How to cite: Choi, Y. J., Lee, E., and Kim, J. C.: Web-based fieldwork education system for students, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-11484, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-11484, 2023.

Planning fieldwork can be overwhelming and time consuming, especially for those who have never done it before, such as early stage PhD or undergraduate students. At the first day of a fieldwork, it is not uncommon to already be exhausted from extensive logistics management, selection and acquisition of adequate equipment and understanding regulations. Not having had the time or assistance to properly learn how to use a field instrument may impact the quality of collected data. Lone, inexperienced fieldworkers in difficult terrain may be confronted with additional safety challenges.

We present ideas for institutional frameworks that support researchers in their fieldwork and share experience from our work as fieldwork technicians at the Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics, University of Lausanne. We suggest that many fieldwork-related resources can be shared across research groups and demonstrate how we provide centralised support to researchers and students in the management of their fieldwork goals, equipment and logistics.

Institute-wide digital libraries managing field and safety equipment can be a useful and sustainable tool to avoid unnecessary double purchases across research groups and to re-use equipment after a project has finished. Streamlining the maintenance, repair, acquisition and improvement of equipment under one shared budget decreases the financial burden on individual research projects and groups. Dedicated technical staff can advise which field equipment best serves its purposes in the framework of the research question and provide innovative support for new instrumentation design. Centralising training on using the field equipment in a safe way not only improves the quality of the field data, but also makes sure that this knowledge is not lost in the short-term turnover of PhD projects.

We further show that safety should always be considered in fieldwork planning and that institutes should provide comprehensive guidelines for this. Safety training and advice on risk assessment adapted to various fieldwork settings should be offered and institute members should be encouraged to regularly refresh their training. Finally, accompanying researchers and students directly to the field does not only avoid risky lone working, but can provide external, more technical expertise that can benefit the quality of the fieldwork outcome.

How to cite: Miesen, F. and Ballu, A.: Sharing knowledge, skills and things: How institutes can benefit from centralised fieldwork management, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-11892, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-11892, 2023.

In August 2022, we organized a hybrid course within the European Universities “FORTHEM” Alliance, which integrated virtual and on-site teaching techniques, testing various didactic concepts that allowed simultaneous, collaborative work by groups of on-line and on-site students.

The field area is located in Molinos, Teruel province of eastern Spain, where a spectacular fossil-rich Jurassic-Cretaceous sedimentary sequence is exposed. The record mainly comprises marine units, which reveal changes in depositional environment that reflect paleoclimate changes. However, the area is extensively folded and faulted, and thus the tectonic deformation needs to be unraveled in order to determine the original depositional sequences.

The two groups of students worked on the same challenges but on different scales. The exchange of field and digital observations between students facilitated a holistic understanding of the local geology. The on-site participants performed traditional geological mapping, focusing on definition of units with different sedimentological characteristics and fossil assemblages, definition of a stratigraphic sequence and characterization of the geological structures that affect its continuity. In the field, these students learned how to use a geologic database (StraboSpot) on their phones or tablets for easy exchange of data, and were given a short introduction in the use of UAVs and photogrammetry.

On-line participants examined 3D models of outcrops and macrofossils, some constructed by the on-site participants, and carried out digital geological mapping with the aid of satellite images. They were able to provide a broader context for the outcrop-scale observations made by the on-site students, and carry out literature review for interpretation of the observed geological unit characteristics.

The two groups met in a hybrid classroom by video conference from 8-10pm daily, to share the outcomes of their days’ work and obtain instructions for the next day. The greatest challenges were logistical, related to establishing and maintaining a classroom environment in a region of poor internet reception. This required large time input from the teaching staff. Nevertheless, in general, the blended learning approach yielded more significant outcomes than would have been possible with only one of the participant groups. 

Acknowledgements: PlaneSight Online: Phillip Seelos, Steffen Abe, Hagen Deckert. V3Geo models: Simon Buckley, Conor Lewis. Molinos geology: Till Sachau, Paul Bons, Carlos Martinez-Perez, Sonia Ros-French, Fabrizio Pepe.

How to cite: Toy, V., Hawemann, F., Kirilova, M., Fenske, S., and Thomann, J.: Report on our hybrid online/on-site field trip: Reconstructing Earth’s past climate from the sedimentary record., EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-12309, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-12309, 2023.

The foundations of a discipline shape the way in which knowledge is created, by whom, for what, and dictates who is allowed to generate knowledge. The historical roots of modern Earth Science lie in early colonial principles, when geological exploration for resource extraction was a powerful tool in colonial expansion. The legacy is that dominance of western institutions in Earth Science disciplines reinforces imperial and colonial power relations, where ‘powerful knowledge’ continues to ignore, belittle and erase other systems of knowledge. The founding and growth of these institutions during colonialism dictated who was allowed to practise geology. Those whose class, gender, race, or disability did not fit were excluded. 

There is a documented diversity crisis in UK Higher Education Earth Science. However, Earth scientists of various underrepresented and intersecting identities have always existed; their histories have just been hidden. Marín-Spiotta et al., (2020) argue that any action to “increase diversity, equity, and inclusion needs to start with an examination of the historical roots of contemporary experiences of exclusion”. Dowey et al., (2021) argue that “fundamental lack of acknowledgement that geoscience is deeply rooted in, and built on, colonialism, white power, violence, exploitation and slavery pervades relationships in the present” and is a barrier to participation in the geosciences. However, at present, Earth Science curricula in the UK typically do not confront the subject’s colonial past, and are taught through a Western-centric lens. The UK ‘Fathers of Geology’ feature almost exclusively in historical accounts of the subject while non-western and indigenous scholars and ways of knowing are largely excluded. Geology in Society courses are often framed as how geoscience can help society, without due regard for ethics. Thus, the legacy of colonialism is perpetuated through current UK Earth Science practise and education. 

Decolonising the Curriculum is a philosophical and pedagogical initiative exploring the origin, development and use of knowledge that calls for academics to create “spaces and resources for a dialogue among all members of the university on how to imagine and envision all cultures and knowledge systems in the curriculum, and with respect to what is being taught and how it frames the world” (Keele University’s Decolonising the Curriculum Manifesto, 2018). Rogers et al., (2021) argue that Earth Scientists may lack the academic training, knowledge and interdisciplinary approaches needed to decolonise the Earth Science curriculum. 

In this project we have identified three needs in UK HE Earth Science: (1) to make explicit the exclusionary and unethical practices that were common in geological education and practice and how they manifest today; (2) to reveal the hidden histories of other historically excluded and minoritised Earth Scientists, making their contributions explicitly visible and (3) to train Earth Science professionals and researchers to be more aware of geology’s imperial/colonial past and ongoing extension of colonial practices to halt the perpetuation of this legacy. We present a package of open access pedagogical tools and resources we hope will enable sector-wide recognition, learning, and conversations around the historical legacy of Earth Science and modern inequities. 

How to cite: Williams, R., Lawrence, A., Raji, M., Rogers, S., Dowey, N., Houghton, J., Mills, K., Souch, C., and Jameson, G.: Decolonising UK Earth Science pedagogy - from the hidden histories of our geological institutions to inclusive curricula, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-13760, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-13760, 2023.

Recent advances in underwater and airborne robotic systems and ocean technologies have opened new perspectives in marine geology and its applications in the context of coastal and marine economic activities, whose sustainable development is increasingly acknowledged as a pillar for the new blue economy. BridgET (Bridging the gap between the land and the sea in a virtual Environment for innovative Teaching and community involvement in the science of climate change-induced marine and coastal geohazard) is an EU ERASMUS+ project designed to develop innovative and inclusive teaching methods to address a growing demand for strategic skills and scientific expertise in the field of 3D geological mapping of coastal environments. Seamless integration of the wide variety of multisource and multiscale onshore, nearshore and offshore geospatial data is indeed one of the main areas for improvement in the implementation of efficient management practices in coastal regions, where climate change, rising sea level, and geohazards are considerable environmental issues.

BridgET involves a partnership consisting of six European universities with outstanding expertise in the study of geological hazards, and climate impacts in marine and coastal areas (i.e., University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy, Arctic University of Tromsø/CAGE - Norway, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens - Greece, Kiel University, Germany, University of Liege – Belgium, and the University of Malta), two Italian research institutes (INGV and INAF) and a German company (Orthodrone GmvH) specialized in UAS-based LiDAR and photogrammetry data acquisition services and analyses. Project implementation relies on delivering learning and teaching activities through dedicated summer schools for MSc students by efficiently combining the partner’s expertise. Schools focus on giving students a hands-on experience with the variety of methods and procedures adopted in geospatial data acquisition and processing, including the use of drones (Uncrewed Aerial System – UAS), acoustic remote sensing techniques and underwater robotic systems, together with      the progress made by computer visions and digital image analysis by using Artificial Intelligence (AI). Students are also introduced to the opportunity to easily examine multiple viewing angles of the seabed and coastal 3D surfaces by using immersive and non-immersive Virtual Reality (VR), to bring them closer to a more straightforward observation of geomorphological data and geological phenomena.

The first Summer School was held in Santorini between the 3rd and 14th of October, 2022. It was attended by 26 students coming from 13 different countries. Teaching and learning activities included several classrooms, fieldwork, laboratory sessions, and seven seminars and cultural visits dealing with transversal topics, allowing students to approach an integrated understanding of human interaction with physical processes from social and economic perspectives. In this presentation, we give examples of course content used to allow students to develop a deeper understanding of theoretical and practical knowledge of climate-induced coastal and marine geohazards. Participants' opinions on the quality of the offered learning/training activities of the Erasmus+ BridgET Santorini Summer School (collected through a dedicated questionnaire) will also be presented.

How to cite: Savini, A., Antoniou, V., Bonali, F. L., Drummer, C., Esalingam, T., Fallati, L., Falsaperla, S., Gross, F., Havenith, H.-B., Klusak, J., Krastel, S., Martens, I., Micallef, A., Nomikou, P., Panieri, G., Reitano, D., Teege, J., Tibaldi, A., Varzi, A. G., and Vitello, F. and the Erasmus+ BridgET Team: The Erasmus+ BridgET project: A European partnership to renew teaching in marine geosciences, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-13999, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-13999, 2023.

Meeting the targets of the 17 United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires contributions from geoscientists. Like most countries, Kenya is faced with the triple dimensional challenge of balancing economic, social and environmental sustainability. Through implementation of its ‘Vision 2030’ strategy, Kenya aims to transform into a high-functioning, industrialised middle-income country, providing a high quality of life to all its citizens by 2030. The country’s constitution harmonises with Vision 2030 and entitles every Kenyan to a clean and secure environment. This background provides an integrated roadmap entrenched in the SDGs. Kenya has also committed to implementing the African Union Agenda 2063 and the East African Community (EAC) Vision 2050, both aiming to build a more prosperous Africa. Eradicating extreme poverty, waste management, disaster preparedness, ensuring affordable, clean and sustainable energy, improving access to clean water, promoting sustainable consumption and production, environmental sustainability, building resilience to climate change impacts and managing Kenya's natural resources are some of the key elements of these policies. 

Here, we highlight the importance of geoscience education in accelerating the critical goals of Kenya’s Vision 2030 and the SDGs. We synthesise key policy documents to explore sustainable development priorities at the national and county level in the context of geoscience in Kenya and explore the relevant geoscience training and skills needed to help address these priorities. We demonstrate that geoscience will continue to be instrumental for achievement of the SDGs and overall performance on socio-economic development in Kenya. Baseline assessments of the geoscience courses available, including training and description of modules offered in Kenya's higher institutions, were compiled and analysed. The extent of the existing geoscience workforce and future workforce required to deliver on Kenya's Vision 2030 and the SDGs was identified through online surveys, focus group discussions, and interviews. We mapped the future needs against the training available and existing current workforce capacity to conduct a skills gap analysis. We identify a number of needs, including (1) to embed sustainability concepts into geoscience curriculum; (2) to expand provision of specialist postgraduate courses (e.g. MSc); (3) to strengthen access to field-based training in both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees; (4) to increase the number of trained geoscientists; (5) improved communication between geoscientists and policymakers. We conclude with a roadmap to address these gaps, embedding good practice from the UN Technology Facilitation Mechanism, and include transferable insights for other national settings.

How to cite: Williams, R., Raji, M., Gill, J., Olaka, L., Omuombo, C., Odhiambo, C., Oluoch, J., Ochola, S., Kawino, D., Dowey, N., Haemmerli, H., Pozzi, L., Hurman, G., and James, H.: A Roadmap to Strengthen Geoscience Education for Sustainable Development in Kenya, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-14209, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-14209, 2023.

The 'Fieldstone' project is an attempt to first and foremost provide the Utrecht University students with a single source of knowledge/information about the field of computational geodynamics. It consists of a unique blend of multiple syllabuses for the geophysics courses that I teach, more than a hundred of educational python codes covering many topics (finite elements, finite differences, rheology, mass momentum energy equations, plotting, some data processing, etc ...) and a rudimentary attempt at organising more than 4000 references by topic. It is an ongoing open source project that is constantly updated by myself with occasional contributions by our MSc students. It is however not only meant for students as it is also used by colleagues and collaborators of different universities for personal study or to train their own students. 
In my presentation I will explain the philosophy and structure of the project, show examples of some of the key educational codes and reflect on how I see this project mature in the coming years and hopefully find its audience. 

How to cite: Thieulot, C.: FIELDSTONE: a computational geodynamics (self-)teaching tool, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-14212, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-14212, 2023.

OGGM-Edu (https://edu.oggm.org) is an educational platform about glaciers, with the main goal to provide tools and materials for instructors who want to teach about glaciers at secondary schools, in workshops or at universities. Interactive web applications and open access images provide materials for entry-level classes with no experience in physics or programming. Jupyter notebooks at various levels of complexity offer guidance to run and develop simple modeling experiments in the python programming language. OGGM-Edu follows a decentralized open source model: we encourage our users to mix and remix our templates, and offer technical help to develop new classes, run the notebooks on a dedicated cloud service, or translate our materials to various  languages. With this contribution, we are looking to connect with educators and scientists in all fields of geosciences interested in online teaching resources.

How to cite: Vlug, A., Schmitt, P., Schuster, L., Holmgren, E., Schroeder, M., Ultee, L., Champollion, N., Marzeion, B., and Maussion, F.: OGGM-Edu: an open-source educational platform about glaciers and glacier modelling, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-14344, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-14344, 2023.

Science, without effective dissemination, has a very short life. And yet most scientific research is hidden away behind exclusive and expensive paywalls imposed by traditional publishing models. Tektonika is a community-led diamond open-access journal (DOAJ: free for authors, free for readers) publishing peer reviewed research in geology and tectonics. It is a grass-roots initiative driven by the enthusiasm and devotion of a wide and diverse spectrum of Earth Scientists from around the globe, intended to shape a new landscape for publishing in the geosciences. 

In its first seven months (June-December 2022)year, it received 22 manuscript submissions, covering a range of topics from active tectonic geodesy to microstructures. Two accepted manuscripts are being published online in January 2023, respectively seven and six months after initial submission. At the same time, 6 manuscripts are at the revision stage (either waiting for author’s to submit their revised version, or already attending a second round of reviews). 

A year ago, at EGU22, Tektonika opened its doors to manuscript submissions. One year later, we return to reflect on the journal’s first year of life and discuss what might be next for the growing body of DOAJs established over recent years.

How to cite: Perez-Diaz, L., Lacassin, R., Magee, C., and Gouiza, M. and the the Tektonika community: Tektonika: breaking barriers in scientific publishing one manuscript at a time, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-14679, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-14679, 2023.

This research explores the experiences of students and staff who have been involved in online courses delivered by the National Centre for Atmospheric Science since March 2020, with a view to developing a pedagogic approach which will help to make online learning more engaging for all students.

I work for the National Centre for Atmospheric Science coordinating the training that we deliver in Atmospheric Science to postgraduate researchers. Over the last two years we have moved much of our training online and I have invested time in working with staff to understand the ways we can best support them to maximise student engagement. When students are attending a course virtually it is challenging to create an environment within which they feel comfortable speaking and sharing their experiences and also for them to feel engaged enough with their learning community to feel that their presence is valued and that they would be missed if absent. When looking to engage students throughout a programme, building a sense of community is a key factor (Boyle et al., 2010; Yates et al., 2014) and builds a sense of dependency amongst the students. Although generally, students are defined as being engaged if they are actively involved in doing something, whether that be activities, discussions or group work (Radloff & Coates, 2010), Kahu et al suggest a broader definition where students feel a connection to their studies (Kahu et al., 2014). As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic many courses have needed to be delivered online, and few teachers have the specific skills needed to develop and deliver high quality online training (OECD, 2020), meaning that delivering teaching that engages students has been challenging. This work unpacks the different approaches used to help students and teachers connect with online delivery, and then applies this to the experiences of those we have worked with in recent times.  I then synthesise our experiences with others taken from literature to propose a best practice approach to creating an inclusive environment within our online teaching spaces and implementing it into future courses.

I define an inclusive pedagogy as an approach to teaching that is intended to engage all students (Florian & Black-Hawkins, 2011). So this is not about access for those with specific additional needs or protected characteristics, but developing a pedagogy which extends what is available for everyone to engage with, rather than providing access for all by differentiating for some. This work focuses on extending what the classroom community offers to all students and making them part of that community, rather identifying some learners as having specific needs which must be met.

How to cite: Whitehouse, L.: How can we develop an inclusive pedagogy for online teaching in atmospheric sciences to maximise student engagement?, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-14923, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-14923, 2023.

The "Icelandic Center for Energyscape (ICE)" is an inter-university teaching and research centre located in Hvanneyri on the campus of the Agricultural University of Iceland and in Reykjavik on the campus of Reykjavik University. The centre focuses on the incorporation of renewable energy into natural landSCAPES, by applying the concept of ENERGYSCAPE. ICE offers undergraduate and graduate courses for students, experts, interested pupils, and research fellows.

Renewable energy production can significantly impact natural resources and landscapes. ICE aims to combine the benefits of renewable energy production with other ecosystem services in order to develop sustainable solutions for a climate-neutral society. This requires a multidisciplinary approach using existing knowledge of landscapes, energy technology, ecology and circular economy solutions to address holistic challenges in energy production. The Agricultural University of Iceland (AUI) has extensive expertise in agriculture, environmental science, and landscape architecture. Reykjavik University (RU) closely cooperates with the Icelandic industries to develop innovative engineering and technology solutions. Therefore, the AUI and RU established a joint research and training Center for Icelandic Energyscape in Hvanneyri. 

The AUI campus in Hvanneyri is located in the protected area of Ramsar - an internationally recognized wetland area for wildlife, vital for the white geese during the summer months. The unique location provides the ideal conditions for innovative and applied research in Energyscape. ICE educate and train a new generation of practitioners to reduce the impact of engineering and agricultural production on sensitive natural resources and ecosystems, to address the challenges of designing and implementing renewable energy infrastructure, with minimal visual and environmental impact in the protected area of Hvanneyri.

Biomass Energyscape:  The organic waste from local farms will be used to develop a biomass energy centre. A small biogas reactor is built to convert biowaste and biomass into climate-friendly biogas.

Hydropower Energyscape: The Andakill hydropower plant is located a few kilometres east of the AUI campus. In order to mitigate and minimize the power plant's environmental impacts, various Nature-based Solutions have been implemented upstream and downstream of the plant. Accordingly, Andakill is the ideal case study to demonstrate and teach sustainable hydropower production.

Tidal Energyscape: Borgarfjörður is an ideal case study to investigate the energy potential of tidal currents, to investigate the tidal currents in the fjord and estimate the power potential of the currents. The impacts on marine flora and fauna will be investigated and demonstrated to students.

Geothermal Energyscape: Being close to Reykholt and Bæjarsveit, two large geothermal sources, geothermal energy pass through the Hvanneyri campus. The evolution of geothermal energy will be monitored with complementary sensors. This will allow students to discuss and analyze the optimal usage of geothermal energy for electricity production, agricultural production, district heating and recreational spas. 

Wind Energyscape: Heggstaðir and Vatnshamrar are two potential locations close to Hvanneyri with suitable weather conditions for wind farms. The energy potential will be assessed using weather monitoring stations. Furthermore, a potential wind farm's visual and environmental impacts can be compared to socio-economic benefits and its impacts on the Ramsar area's fauna.  

How to cite: Nickayin, S. S. and Finger, D. C.: Icelandic Center for Energyscape (ICE) - Creating solutions for a climate-neutral society, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-15462, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-15462, 2023.

We describe the creation and running of ‘Introduction to Climate Change and Sustainability’ a student led interdisciplinary undergraduate module. The course was designed and led by 2 undergraduate students with a passion for climate action, bringing together an interdisciplinary array of academic speakers from different departments. The format has been a mixture of lecture and in-class discussion, with assessment using presentations and group work. It has now been run 3 times. We will discuss some of the experiences and challenges around designing and running a credit bearing module with a joint team of students and staff support, with thoughts from running the course both online and in-person. 

How to cite: Petrie, E., Nanthakumar, V., Marot, S., Toney, J., Lemal, N., Antener, S., and Murphy, B.: Designing and running a student led Climate Change and Sustainability module, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-15573, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-15573, 2023.

The recently formed University Partnership for Atmospheric Sciences (UPAS) has been developed by student, academic staff and faculty representatives of the 10 German universities that provide consecutive studies in the field of meteorology through both Bachelor (BSc) and Master (MSc) programmes. UPAS is open to all meteorologists at all levels and is supported by an executive office hosted at the University Bonn. The explicit goal of UPAS is to secure, guide and further develop meteorology as a study and research field at German universities while also synergizing the efforts of the individual partners in the four areas of

• Attracting suitable students,
• Excellent education,
• Synergies for successful science, and
• Societal and Community outreach.

We will present our efforts of the past months, which included e.g. establishing an international network of early-career scientists in the field of meteorology through virtual monthly meet-ups as well as an annual early-career scientist conference, testing experiments focusing on climate change and developing a handbook for meteorologists to showcase these experiments in a classroom near them, and using tools on our website to interact with the general public. Our upcoming plans include strategically entering the world of online and social media to both communicate to and interact with meteorology students in addition to interested citizens regarding meteorology as a whole, as well as establishing a nation-wide citizen science project. We are also interested in forming international ties to networks with similar objectives.

How to cite: Thiele-Eich, I. and Uebachs, A.: Communicating meteorology: the University Partnership for Atmospheric Sciences (UPAS), EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-15763, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-15763, 2023.

Traditional geological field education includes organized trips of large student groups to geological outcrops. Typically, instructors guide students to outcrops and give (mini-) lectures. The students’ notes consist of the provided verbal summaries instead of one’s sketches and descriptions of outcrops, often leading to poor reports. In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic prevented group travel to geological sites, which halted such forms of teaching. To continue field education despite the contact restrictions, I designed an alternative way of field-based learning through proactive engagement of students in trip planning, site selection, outcrop study, discussion, and report writing. The concept involves (1) geotope sites provided by survey offices (e.g., Geotoprecherche LfU Bayern) because they contain precise outcrop locations and just the right amount of relevant geological information allowing students to visit geotopes of their interest on their own. It also involves (2) a shared project on GOOGLE EARTH WEB to which students post field photos, sketches, and text, which they present in (3) in the weekly zoom-seminars (geotope seminar). Instructors provide feedback and stimulate discussion among participants based on the presented field observations. The resulting sketches and reports are of higher quality because they are exclusively based on the student’s concentrated work at the outcrop (only 2 per day). However, no instructor accompanied any student in the field. The geotope seminar accommodates day trips, multi-day field exercises, and mapping projects for geoscience students of all ages and interests. Geotope courses could be offered to the broader public if safe site access is secured.

How to cite: Friedrich, A. M.: Geotopes as a tool for geoscience teaching and outreach, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-16110, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-16110, 2023.

The international partnership GEOMME seeks to develop collaborative activities in research and education on climate-induced geohazards in South Korea, Japan, and Norway. The partnership focuses on excellence in education and research to increase societal resilience against climate-induced geohazards. The objective of the GEOMME partnership is to increase the adaptive capacity of the partner nations to climate change through research-based education, knowledge exchange, and international collaboration. Activities centre on four scientific themes: (1) geohazards in a changing climate, (2) geohazards over large spatial scales, (3) advanced modelling and monitoring techniques, and (4) green solutions for hazard- and risk mitigation – including Nature-Based Solutions.

A novel aspect of the GEOMME partnership is the collective development of four education packages – each focusing on one of the scientific themes. The target audience is graduate students, researchers and practitioners. Education packages consist of two components – an online module and an in-person research- and experience-based course. The online modules are standalone introductions to the scientific themes and are openly accessible. The modules promote rapid accessibility to international perspectives in geohazards education and research, guiding interested parties towards an understanding of these complex topics. The modules will live on beyond the project period, hosted by GEOMME partners. Intensive research- and experience-based courses are implemented as a follow-up to the online modules and allow affiliated partners to further develop in-depth expertise in the topic areas. The content of the education packages reflects the state-of-the-art in research and current state-of-practice in applications within the domains of the three partner countries.

This contribution will present the approach of combining digital and in-person research-based teaching methodologies for geosciences, and experiences and challenges from early-stage implementation.

The GEOMME partnership is financed through INTPART program the Research Council of Norway (project number 322469). The INPART program seeks to promote long-term international partnerships to enhance the quality of higher education and research in Norway. The GEOMME partnership is running between 2021 and 2026.

How to cite: Gilbert, G. L., Gisnås, K. G., Solheim, A., Kwon, T.-H., Yamaguchi, S., Ito, Y., Park, J.-Y., Nishii, R., Niiya, H., and Vick, L.: Leveraging digital and research-based teaching methodologies for international geohazards education – experience from the GEOMME partnership with Japan, South Korea, and Norway, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-17227, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-17227, 2023.

Landscapes Live is a weekly online seminar series freely accessible to the international scientific community interested in various aspects of geomorphology. Established in summer 2020 during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the goal of better serving the needs of all interested scientists regardless of international mobility and promoting a transition to a greener future.

Landscapes Live is proud to be affiliated with the Geomorphology (GM) division of EGU, as part of EGU’s pioneering CampFire concept to bring together the geoscience community between General Assemblies. Landscapes Live is led by a multinational team of researchers wherein members serve a maximum term of 3 years. The members of the Landscapes Live team reflect the geographical, topical and gender diversity of the Geomorphology division of EGU, which underpins our ethos of equitable science.

Since its foundation, the Landscapes Live seminar has presented over 60 scientific talks free and open to everyone all around the world. Most of the talks are recorded and later uploaded onto our YouTube page which has received upwards of 15 thousand views from 30 different countries across Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, Europe, and North, Central, and South America. Landscapes Live is committed to the promotion of diversity and inclusion in the geosciences and has made it its mission to bring talks from a  variety of speakers from different genders, career stages, and locations. Over the past year, Landscapes Live has expanded its virtual activity bringing a day of talks by and for researchers located in the south Pacific. The success of the Landscapes Live Pacific pilot has opened the door to more collaborations that will bridge physical geographical divides within scientific communities. This year, Landscapes Live will further endeavor to expand its activities to the Asia Pacific region. 

In this session, we will present data analytics from our previous talks as well as past and future extensions for the Landscapes Live seminar series. We are looking forward to hearing suggestions for how LL can best serve the geomorphology community and new ideas about how to move Landscapes Live forward from our fellow geoscience community members attending EGU both on-site and virtually.

How to cite: Ben-Israel, M., Harries, R., Carrasco, A. R., Orr, E., and Dave, A. K.: Landscapes Live online seminar series: Promoting and sharing geomorphology research beyond borders and timezones, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-17398, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-17398, 2023.

Climate change (CC) and ocean degradation (OD) affect every living species on the planet.  CC and OD negatively impact marine life, plant life, soils and agriculture, animals and humans.  One way to fight against CC and OD is by learning from climate and ocean programmes and activities, both formal and informal.

Climate and ocean education is crucial as it helps people to better understand how climate is changing and how the ocean is degrading.  Such education will thus provide know-how and ways to act for individuals and for communities to adapt to and mitigate CC and OD.

In this poster, we survey some of the variety and diversity of climate and ocean literacy activities at personal and institutional levels.  At the personal level, we will show experiences that help people to learn about CC and OD, such as work with indigenous communities, attending conferences and studying in MOOCs.  Examples at the institutional level include working in an environmental association, attending workshops (eg, EN-ROADS) and participating in a participatory simulation (eg, IOCS).

We invite you to visit our poster and share your climate and ocean literacy activities.

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References

UNESCO. (n.d.).  Climate change education.  Paris, UNESCO. https://www.unesco.org/en/education/sustainable-development/climate-change

United Nations. (n.d.).  Education is key to addressing climate change.  United Nations. https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/climate-solutions/education-key-addressing-climate-change

How to cite: Promduangsri, P., Promduangsri, P., Alvarez de la Campa, S., Bolouri, F., and Gökçekuş, H.: Variety and diversity in climate and ocean literacy activities, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-215, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-215, 2023.

Climate and culture influence each other.  On the one hand, climate change (CC) and ocean degradation (OD) have an impact on culture (with a small c).  According to UNESCO (2021), the negative impacts of CC on culture include loss of cultural heritage, local knowledge and language.  CC also reduces access by communities to their culture.

On the other hand, culture plays an essential role in helping communities to fight against, adapt to and mitigate CC and OD (UNESCO, 2021).  Culture includes knowledge, know-how and local practices in combating climate and OD.  Culture is informally and formally transmitted through society and education.  UNESCO (2021) illustrates the role of culture in fighting against CC:

Culture is a powerful resource for addressing climate change impacts.  …  Intangible cultural heritage practices have proven to be highly effective tools for helping communities prepare for, respond to and recover from climate change-related impacts and emergencies.

CC and ocean literacy methods encourage and embody cultural diversity.  This presentation will provide examples of the cultural dimensions of climate and ocean literacy.  These includes:

• The views of indigenous communities about climate and ocean literacy (Barbados);
• EN-ROADS (international and Iran), an online participatory simulation, often includes people from several cultures, especially in online workshops;
• IOCS (intercultural and France), an online participatory simulation, specifically includes an intercultural dimension and encourages people from different cultures to participate. 

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Reference

UNESCO. (2021).  Culture & climate change, Question & answers.  Paris, UNESCO.  https://en.unesco.org/sites/default/files/info_sheet_climate_change.pdf

How to cite: Promduangsri, P., Promduangsri, P., Alvarez de la Campa, S., Bolouri, F., and Gökçekuş, H.: Climate and ocean literacy: Cultural dimensions, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-217, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-217, 2023.

Since the beginning of the military aggression of the Russian Federation in Ukraine on 24 February, 2022, military actions and rocket attacks caused a powerful devastating impact on the objects of the residential sector and industry, infrastructure of life support and energy sector as well as on the natural environment, ecosystems, life, and health of people. This factor had a significant impact on the educational process in the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. On the one hand, aspects of the methodology and practice of assessing the environmental impact of military operations are reflected in the subjects taught to students of the master's program in Ecology. On the other hand, students of master's and PhD programs are involved in real surveys and environmental assessments of the state of deteriorated and polluted territories. The purpose of this study with students’ participation was to analyze the consequences of rocket and artillery shelling of oil depots in the villages of Kalynivka and Kryachky, Kyiv region, and the oil depot of the Aistra Enterprise in the city of Chernihiv. The article presents the results of the analysis of the impact of fires caused by shelling on atmospheric air, terrestrial ecosystems, and climatic characteristics of the Polissia region. The research and learning experience of the students are discussed additionally in terms of the capacity building of young researchers in extraordinary conditions.

How to cite: Karamushka, V., Boychenko, S., and Nazarova, O.: Fossil war impact on atmosphere air, terrestrial ecosystems, and climate: involvement of master’s degree and post-graduate students in Ukrainian Polissia case study, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-600, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-600, 2023.

For a certain time since the beginning of the aggression of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, education in many Ukrainian universities has been suspended due to security reasons. Ffurther adaptation of the educational process within the Ecology program to the conditions of war included, inter alia, the integration in educational courses the research methodology, and environmental impact assessment of hostilities. The impact of the military actions on the environment in general and the atmosphere, in particular, was in the focus of the discussions during the course Climatology and Meteorology. Researchers and students analyzed powerful direct and indirect effects, namely due to changes in the optical characteristics of the atmosphere, atmospheric pollution as a result of the emission of products of detonation of missiles and shells and increasing emission of greenhouse gases and gas-aerosol impurities. Satellite data were used for this purpose.

Satellite observation of atmospheric concentrations of formaldehyde, aerosol, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, and sulphur dioxide from the Sentinel-5P satellite was an important research method integrated into the educational process. Daily satellite observation data were analyzed using the Google Earth Engine platform for the period 2019-2022. Data were monthly and yearly averaged within the boundaries of rayons (second-level administrative units of Ukraine). In addition, shelling incidents data from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) were analyzed. It helped to register dynamic of the air pollution in the conditions of war.

A full-scale war in Ukraine caused the suspension of many enterprises that were the main sources of gas emissions into the atmosphere, especially in the eastern and southern parts of Ukraine. Therefore, in recent months, the content of pollutants in the atmosphere over these regions is mainly tent to background values and as a result of hostilities. However, massive shelling, the use of military heavy equipment, and fires caused additional emissions of a number of pollutants into the atmosphere. It should be noted that in certain regions and certain months during the active phase of hostilities, these emissions were exceeded by several times compared to the average for the period 2019-2021.

How to cite: Boychenko, S. G., Kuchma, T., and Karamushka, V.: Integrating research in educational process: assessment of gas-aerosol atmospheric pollution over the southern and south-eastern regions of Ukraine due to military actions, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-659, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-659, 2023.

 In communicating the science behind climate change, there is no single magic bullet. This is because different people process received information in different ways. Some communication-methods have been used far less than others, one in particular being narrative. Opportunities for narrative present themselves worldwide because of the large eustatic rise in sea levels following the Last Glacial Maximum, a well-understood phenomenon in terms of timing and rate. That rise flooded over fertile lowland plains, such as the mostly <30 metres deep modern-day Cardigan Bay, off the western coast of Wales. The advance of the shoreline towards modern-day land created many well-known coastal features. One such is the shingle-spit, dune hinterland and intertidal submerged forest at Ynyslas, Ceredigion, Wales (UK). Ynyslas is a National Nature Reserve with a Visitor Centre and ca. 250,000 visitors a year. A book describing how its landscape came into being has proved popular with almost 2000 copies having been bought since publication in August 2019 (despite closure during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020-21). Interviews with some of those who read the book indicate that weaving climate science into an interesting narrative, explaining what actually happened, gives people important new insights into the processes involved and the threats now facing modern coastal communities.

How to cite: Mason, J.: The Making of Ynyslas: weaving hard scientific evidence into an understandable narrative, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-2367, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-2367, 2023.

 Ynyslas National Nature Reserve is a shingle-spit and sand dune complex on the western coast of Wales. In its hinterland are extensive estuarine flats, shifting sandbanks and deep channels. The shingle-spit fronts a wide sandy beach that uncovers at low tide, featuring extensive peat deposits of mid-Holocene and younger ages (6-4.7 KYA). Set in the peat are the stumps of the famous Submerged Forest, consisting of alder, birch, oak and pine that once flourished here before rising water-levels drowned them. Offshore in Cardigan Bay, although extensively reworked Quaternary glaciogenic sediments predominate, similar but either older or undated peatlands have been encountered sporadically in boreholes, one undated example being twenty meters beneath the sea bed in a water depth of 20 m. Clearly these and the Submerged Forest record parts of the post-glacial marine transgression that created the shallow (typically <<50 meters) Cardigan Bay over several thousand years following the onset of the Holocene. The fact that the results of the transgression can be so starkly seen at low tide, coupled with the offshore borehole records, provides a stark reminder of the effects of climate change, of which sea level rise is probably the greatest threat to communities along the Welsh coast. Such straightforward evidence for the effects of climate change provides an excellent opportunity to further explore topics around both its causes and its effects, using a narrative of what actually happened, based on the scientific literature. The Making of Ynyslas (2019) is that narrative and has proved to be an effective method of outreach based around this highly popular (250 K visitors per year) destination. Given that the post-glacial transgression was global in nature, other such science-communication opportunities are likely to present themselves elsewhere.

How to cite: Mason, J.: The Making of Ynyslas: communicating change through the visual impact of a drowned landscape, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-3261, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-3261, 2023.

Inspiring the next generation of scientists and science-policy makers is crucial for continued scientific development and to tackle the largest issues currently facing the Arctic and the globe. Outreach in the Arctic has an added importance by promoting future development of northern and Indigenous communities and inspiring educated individuals to remain living and working in the north, thereby providing value creation in the local areas. But at what age should we focus our outreach efforts? And how can we ensure that the children we inspire go onto careers in science and decision making?

Arctic Frontiers is a non-profit organisation based in Tromsø with the purpose of bringing together scientists, business leaders, policy makers and local communities for knowledge-based discussions. Each year, they organise a series of education and outreach activities for a range of audiences, from 'Science for Kids' and 'Science for Schools' for young children to 'Student Forum' and 'Emerging Leaders' for those up to 35 years old. As well as those in formal education (high school and university), outreach is also vital for those outside of academia and education, including in business, cultural fields and the public sector.

The main focus of the outreach and education is the Arctic: a broad and multidisciplinary topic spanning climate change, biodiversity, cultural preservation, sustainable development, energy transition and science-policy interactions. The science and activities that are planned are tailored to each age group. The youngest children focus on experiments and gaging an interest in science. For those in high school, the program lasts three months, from inspiration days to holding a science conference with findings of their research project. Collaborations and funding are necessary for these events to run, and this can alter the amount of scientific outreach as well as numbers and diversity of students they can reach.

The education and outreach components of Arctic Frontiers have been running now for over 10 years. Testimonials and feedback from attendees are largely positive, but efforts should now be made to increase the circle of impact. In this presentation we will focus on how we tailor the outreach to different groups and discuss how we use science at the heart of bringing together different audiences for holistic Arctic discussions. We also welcome feedback on new methods or activities for outreach, to ensure that we see scientific interest from childhood to career.

How to cite: Turton, J., El bani Altuna, N., Weber, C., Dahle, S., Boine Olsen, N., Fosshaug, E., Opheim, K., and Morales-Aguirre, J.: Fostering the next generation of Arctic scientists, from five to 35, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-3485, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-3485, 2023.

The knowledge generated through scientific research in the Arctic Ocean is often done with little input or communication with the public. In particular, school communities have few opportunities to engage in and contribute to knowledge generation and sharing related to the Arctic Ocean.

To address this issue, the 2022 AKMA OceanSenses expedition (11-23 May) brought together scientists and teachers to co-create educational materials that are scientifically accurate and pedagogically engaging. Here, we present an educational video about methane activity in the Arctic Ocean. The video follows a pedagogical model known as paired teaching. This approach enables scientists and teachers to create and instruct virtual lessons and activities that are carried out under the guidance of in-class teachers in school classrooms. The video is designed to be viewed in short segments. In each segment, the video scientist asks questions that will be explored through hands-on activities and group discussions under the guidance of the classroom teacher in between segments.

The video introduces students to methane and gas hydrates, their geographical distribution, and global significance. These topics are taught through lively discussions and observation-based exercises where students work together to relate scientific datasets to discover processes that produce methane and gas hydrates. The video and supporting materials are freely available on the YouTube channel of the European Geoscience Union (https://youtu.be/k0awmdQQlTA).   

How to cite: Aune, V., Panieri, G., and Mohadjer, S.: A journey to a cold seep: a paired teaching video lesson on how scientists study methane in the Arctic Ocean, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-4157, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-4157, 2023.

Marine insurers: cargo, shipping (hull and P&I) while insuring their insureds, aid and abet ocean biodiversity damage and climate change. In the process they are also a threat to the related planetary boundaries.

While marine insurance is a direct threat to the well-being of our oceans, insurers of land-based assets - with multiple forms of discharges - also critically and adversely impact the oceans need to be taken into account.

The author will highlight an overview on what these damages are, the possible corrective actions required, seek the insights from the participants and ideally agree upon a plan of action to mitigate this threat.

How to cite: Gupta, P.: How marine insurance causes damage with insurers aiding and abetting it!, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-4214, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-4214, 2023.

The current state of the climate and environmental crisis calls for science to be able to have a deep impact on society, and to have it quickly. Here we propose to discuss how scientists engaging in climate activism can contribute to educating the general public and press for urgent action, as well as under which conditions such scientific activism can be most effective. The classical way science has been interacting with society has mostly consisted in making scientific results public, without interfering in how politicians, business and the general public would make use of them. Similarly, the role of science educators has been often limited to spreading knowledge to students and broader audiences, independently from how this knowledge affects society. However, such a dynamic is clearly not enough for nowadays climate and environmental science education. Despite an overwhelming scientific consensus about the trajectory of the Earth’s climate and about what is going to happen in the coming decades unless humanity drastically changes its use of natural resources and cuts greenhouse gases emission, too little is still happening. As a result, many scientists, both within and outside academia, have been looking for other ways to communicate the urgency of the climate crisis, including outreach to policy makers and the general public. Notably, communication efforts have been increasingly extending to the public support of environmental action movements and the joining of protests and civil disobedience actions. Since it is good practice to adapt educational methods to both the audience and the message, we argue that activism can be seen as the result of a search for methods that produce viable results and the desired impact on society. 
Using recent examples of civil disobedience by scientists, including actions we joined and/or supported in national or international groups, we discuss how such activism can be complementary to classical approaches to public education about the urgency of the climate and environmental crisis. We also present the reception and reaction from other actors (politicians, companies) and how such actions are received, supported or criticized by the scientific community. We specifically discuss the relation between activism and the broader scientific community, since we believe that scientific activism can only become an efficient way to communicate science and enhance policy-makingif (i) it finds a way to be accepted and respected within the scientific community, and (ii) it follows some rules allowing such communication to maintain (or ideally increase) scientific reputation and position in the broader society. We also stress the important role of universities and research institutes in making possible, especially for early career scientists, to engage in such activism. Scientific institutions need to make clear that climate activism and advocacy is welcome among both researchers and teachers, that their freedom of speech is protected, and that such activities are recognized as valuable.
Finally, we will show some examples of how scientists engaging in climate action can build networks of support, contribute to normalizing such activism in the scientific community, and valorise this form of engagement.

How to cite: Riva, R., Duyck, E., Kuppel, S., Marc, O., and Wens, M.: Activism as a tool for education and societal outreach: making action attractive and accessible for scientists and effective for a greater audience., EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-7892, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-7892, 2023.

A classic conception held by many scientists is that their role is to produce and provide new and reliable information for use by the rest of society (public, decision-makers, media, etc). In the case of the ongoing climate and ecological crisis, this has been the dominant stance of many scientific actors, including the IPCC and IPBES. It has resulted in producing and making available syntheses of scientific results both on the “natural” processes and “societal” impacts. The relevance of this conception has been seriously challenged through decades of mismatch between expected and observed translation of scientific communication regarding the ongoing crisis into policy-relevant mitigation measures. At the same time, the urgency of current climate and ecological crisis calls more than ever for actionable science with a deep and immediate impact on society.
Effective communication requires that the recipients of knowledge (i) are able to understand, (ii) want to understand, and (iii) are not distracted by contradictory information (Oreskes, 2022). Most of the effort on science communication has focused on (i), ignoring that conditions (ii) and (iii) are often not met. Other cognitive or psychological issues with important political implications must also be carefully pondered, most notably the fact that popularity or acceptability of a discourse is judged by the public in relation to other discourses, and not in absolute terms, (e.g., Overton window, Simpson et al., 2022) and in relation to the position of the communicator (such as emotional state and personal actions in relation the message, e.g., Attari et al., 2019).
Here we contend that scientists joining environmental activist groups, including engaging in direct actions of civil disobedience, have the potential to enhance effective scientific communication on several levels. Indeed, scientists taking their share of discomfort and even breaking the law, is a strong signal of the emotional involvement of the scientists, of the magnitude of the crisis (e.g., the latter largely dwarfs the risk of receiving judiciary sanctions) and of the need to revise the interactions between science, media and politics. In addition to making more acceptable or even legitimizing more moderate ways of communication, such radical propositions of engagement may also raise media attention and therefore audience and support in the general public (Capstick et al., 2022).
We review recent non-violent actions involving scientists, and then discuss the complementary/synergistic aspects that such disobedience and related direct actions bring to the spectrum of scientific outreach, as a renewed way of communication and dissemination, especially about urgent challenges. Besides, the question of its complementarity with common ways (process of peer review, consolidation of scientific knowledge before dissemination at the University) is also evaluated. The targeted strategy may not replace the "ancient system" with a new one but rather lead to the development of a new system aimed at reinforcing the efficiency of the existing ones.

References

• Attari, S. Z., et al., Climatic Change, 154, 529–545, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-019-02463-0, 2019.
• Capstick, S., et al., Nat. Clim. Chang., 12, 773–774, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01461-y, 2022.
• Oreskes, N., Proc.Indian Natl. Sci. Acad., 88, 824–828, https://doi.org/10.1007/s43538-022-00121-1, 2022.

How to cite: Kuppel, S., Marc, O., Riva, R., and Wens, M.: Activism as a tool for education and societal outreach: legitimacy, efficiency and complementarity with classic science communication, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-8324, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-8324, 2023.

Armed conflict and military activity can be highly destructive for the environment. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has unexpectedly elevated global media attention on the humanitarian, environmental and societal impact of the war, with media reporting on the environmental consequences beyond the scale of other contemporary conflicts.^a However, while this attention on the carbon costs of conflict and military actives is welcome, significant data and knowledge gaps remain on the overall contribution that day-to-day military activities make to climate change.^b Communicating the issues around military emissions is difficult, given both their complexity and because it is politically sensitive. This is particularly the case around military decarbonisation plans, which some regard as a low priority and a risk to military operational effectiveness or preparedness. This makes geoethics important and communication of the problem especially challenging during a time when military spending is increasing due to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. 

This perceived political sensitivity has contributed to the exclusion of military emissions from mainstream climate discourse, despite their potential scale. A study - led by Scientists for Global Responsibility - suggests that the world’s militaries are responsible for 5.5% of global emissions.^c This is considerable yet many governments do not yet publish or fully understand the contribution that their militaries make to climate change. The significant data gaps mean it is inherently difficult to estimate the emissions of the world’s militaries as a whole. In turn, this makes it challenging to communicate the importance of the topic. 

This presentation will set out some of the initiatives – such as https://militaryemissions.org - which have been developed by civil society to communicate the problem to the broad range of stakeholders, including the public, the military, civil society organisations and policy makers. Given the diverse audience, a spectrum of communication narratives has been used, including a podcast series with the military think-tank Royal United Services Institute,^d policy briefs,^e webinars,^f blogs, papers, and media articles. Effective, ongoing communication and education is vital to increase awareness around the military’s contribution to climate change and seek to ensure that any emerging climate and decarbonisation plans for the military are properly implemented and their effectiveness scrutinised.

^a CEOBS, 2022a. Sustainable recovery? First sustain interest in Ukraine’s environment.  https://ceobs.org/sustainable-recovery-first-sustain-interest-in-ukraines-environment/
^b Rajaeifar, M. et al, 2022.  Decarbonize the military — mandate emissions reporting. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-03444-7
^c SGR/CEOBS, 2022b. Estimating the Military’s Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions. https://ceobs.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/SGRCEOBS-Estimating_Global_MIlitary_GHG_Emissions_Nov22_rev.pdf
^d Greening Defence podcast series, available at https://rusi.org/podcast-series/greening-defence-podcasts
^e CEOBS, 2022c. Policy brief: Military greenhouse gas emissions – transparency, reporting and action. https://ceobs.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/CEOBS_briefing_note_military_GHG_reporting.pdf
^f COP27 virtual panel: Military Emissions Gap annual update 2022, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRi5Apxht5M&t=3621s

How to cite: Cottrell, L., Parkinson, S., and Kinney, E.: Communicating the need for better understanding of the military’s contribution to climate change and action to be taken, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-8483, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-8483, 2023.

Human-induced climate alteration is impacting ecosystem functioning and services. Ocean acidification and deoxygenation, mass extinction, rising sea level and extreme meteorological events are related to the rise of atmospheric CO₂ and the consequent increase in temperature. The rate of environmental change is extremely fast, hampering the biota to adapt to the ongoing new conditions, therefore increasing the potential impact on the ecosystem. The geological record is a powerful tool to investigate past trends in order to better understand the current climate change. The ability of geosciences to reconstruct the whole “evolutionary history” of past extreme events, from their onset to their conclusion and the consequent recovery of the ecosystem is something that must be exploited to increase awareness. As an example, the environmental reconstruction of the main events related to abrupt (natural) emissions of CO₂ during Earth history underlines that the current climate change is outstanding in terms of rate of environmental change and impact on ecosystems. Understanding and disclosing these findings is crucial in order to increase the population’s awareness of the current ecosystem threat and therefore, contributing to mitigate the impact. This because, trivially, “people cannot care about something that they do not know”. Anthropogenic pressure mostly derives from governance regime; this can be changed if population consciousness boosts governance actions for climate change mitigation. In this perspective, the geoscience, with its potential to explore and constrain past environmental changes, necessitate to be more considered in the educational career both at school and in the mass media worldwide. Clear examples of how, and how much, the awareness of the population regarding the current climate change plays a fundamental role in stimulating sustainable governance actions derive from the “Youth for climate” movement. Here we propose easily performable, inclusive and proactive educational tools for mitigation strategies to face possible future impacts deriving from the climate evolution, as pointed out in the United Nations 2030 Agenda (Sustainable Development Goal 13: Climate Action). We mainly focus our activities on marine sediments, in order to draw the attention to this widely unknown environment and to show how climate change affects the oceans; this also supports the UN Ocean Decade. In order to assess the knowledge and perception on climate change and ocean life evolution, we will present some data collected among the secondary school students reached by a public engagement project devoted to the dissemination of these subjects.

How to cite: Mancini, A. M., Negri, A., Tonon, M., and Lozar, F.: Time to recognize the geoscience disclosure as the tool to face climate change impacts: can we care about something that we do not know?, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-15590, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-15590, 2023.

Climate literacy means making individuals aware of the daily interactions we all have with the world around us and, consequently, supporting them in making responsible and informed decisions on how to make such interactions sustainable and not harmful to the environment. The idea behind climate literacy is not only to educate people on such principles but also to provide learners with practical applications and equip them with tools they can use to become active change agents in their communities. CMCC is actively taking part in this ambitious challenge through an innovative, interactive platform in which climate change information, tools and data are narrated in a new, multidisciplinary way to help people understand what climate literacy is and what is the meaning of successful adaptation to climate change - and how to practically do it.

Focused on the Adriatic area, the multimedia platform collects a series of nine success stories taking place in the context of the Italy-Croatia Interreg AdriaClim project, which involves local authorities, experts, scientists and citizens in a common effort to adapt to climate change impacts in coastal areas.

The nine stories are presented through the use of new - or different - words, images,  unheard voices and multimedia contents to provide a new narration for innovative solutions. We simplify scientific jargon, giving new life to the words of climate science and sharing information that appeals to facts, and data but also emotions. We dived into the heart of the climate change discourse to extract the most useful keywords to talk about adaptation: we collected and organised them in a simpler, non-canonical dictionary, with practical examples, general context scenarios, differentiated sources and more. Images represent reality but can also be used as access points to knowledge, and impactful visual narratives to explain and illustrate complex concepts and phenomena. Getting in touch with experts and institutional representatives who are at the forefront of the adaptation activities carried out in their areas gives life to a peer-to-peer process that can be an inspiration for different stakeholders. 

Our Climate Literacy platform narrates stories that are born within science but are able to reach non-experts and citizens and help them understand and act about the challenges and solutions of coastal adaptation. Through a multimedia and interdisciplinary dialogue, the platform provides a unique hub for the contamination of knowledge and ideas to act in the face of future impacts.

How to cite: Santin, S., Buonocore, M., Carlon, O., and Glauda, A.: Innovative tools to narrate the importance of climate literacy, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-15886, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-15886, 2023.

What questions can clarify our thinking so that we understand our technosphere more fully and can actually reduce our ecocidal impacts? Starting by naming our assumptions, say that our biosphere is the world of flora and fauna that can reproduce and biodegrade. Say that our technosphere is anything fabricated—including the Internet, motorized vehicles of all kinds, solar PVs, industrial wind turbines and battery energy storage systems. What are the technosphere’s main energy guzzlers? What kind of water use, extractions, greenhouse gases, electromagnetic radiation, abusive labor practices and toxic waste are involved in manufacturing, operating and discarding the technosphere? What regulations could promote safety and limit ecocidal growth? Katie Singer will sketch what we take from the biosphere to manufacture, operate and discard our technosphere. She’ll propose questions and activities for reducing our digital footprint. For example, could every smartphone user trace the supply chain of one substance in their smartphone or laptop—and share their research?

How to cite: Singer, K.: Mapping Our Technosphere: what questions make it (and our biosphere) more sustainable?, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-15965, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-15965, 2023.

In order to successfully address climate change, society needs education that scales rapidly, transmits scientific information about its causes and effects, and motivates sustained commitment to the problem and science-based action to address it. For decades, government agencies in the US and elsewhere have funded the development of innovative, evidence-based pedagogies and curricula to teach STEM fields, including climate change and sustainability. Research shows that many of these innovations deliver strong gains in learners’ knowledge, sense of urgency, and desire to learn more about climate change and sustainability. To build capacity needed to meet the climate and related grand challenges, rapid scaling of educational innovations is needed in higher education. However, current practices of outreach and word-of-mouth propagation mostly fall short. We develop and analyze a simple computational model to understand why and, using the model and conducting sensitivity analyses, test other, more promising strategies. Our dynamic analysis reveals that outreach has limited impact and does little to accelerate word-of-mouth adoption under conditions typical in higher education. Instead, we find that community-based propagation can rapidly accelerate adoption, as is also shown by successful real-world scaling efforts.

How to cite: Kapmeier, F., Rooney-Varga, J. N., Henderson, C., and Ford, D. N.: Getting to impact at scale: A dynamic analysis to guide propagation of educational innovations in climate change, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-16102, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-16102, 2023.

Fuel prices, inflation and war have created the perfect storm for the green economy and fossil fuels alike.  

The presentation is special in its global focus on the perfect storm interconnections of components, much like a huge jigsaw puzzle for which all the pieces fit together, but in a complicated way.

Renewables are expected to represent 90% of newly installed electrical generation capacity between 2022 and 2027, overtaking coal in the process. 

Electric vehicle (EV) sales are growing hastily in China and Europe.  By contrast, North American targets are weak, leaving much room for automakers to continue to favour the more profitable gas-powered vehicles.  Another constraint is the lack of availability of many EV models, with delivery wait times as long as 2 years or more.

The U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) combined, will catapult U.S. clean energy production plus close American EV and clean tech gaps with China and Europe.  There was a mind-boggling momentum for green economy projects, existing, under construction and planned, prior to the IRA and BIL.  The new legislative initiatives promise to stimulate massive investments green economy research, applications and R & D unparalleled elsewhere, with the possible exception of China.

The IRA and BIL are complex and likely to give the U.S. a North American green advantage at the expense of Canada.

Concurrently, with trillions in profits, the oil and gas sector is headed for gargantuan fossil fuel agenda.  Though the sector was writing off tens of billions of dollars in 2020 and all signs point to peak oil and gas nearby, the short-term sector view has taken precedence. 

This oil and gas industry tunnel vision perspective is propelled by executive bonuses linked to production increases, 41% in the case of ExxonMobil and 20% for Shell.  While the bonus criteria include transition positive elements, many of these elements may actually increase production and/or are greenwashing.  Such is the case with characterizations of natural gas as a bridge fuel, howbeit shale gas methane emissions could render this fuel as bad as coal.  Notwithstanding, greater production trumps all other considerations.

This is what it is like in a transition, the path is bumpy with much tugging in opposite directions.  Not unlike the long history of the struggle for women’s rights.  The green transition shakedown is tramping ahead, but gamechangers are only noticed when tide is omnipresent.

There are reasons that give hope for a green metamorphosis, but the foundation is shaky.

How to cite: Dubitsky, W.: Perfect storm for green economy and fossil fuels alike, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-16618, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-16618, 2023.

In order to face the challenges of climate change, coordinated actions and efforts are required on global, regional and local scales. To succeed, they must be conveyed to informed, conscious and active citizens who understand the challenges and are ready to alter their way of living and thinking toward protecting our planet. Therefore, educating young people is one of the most effective tools for combating climate change. However, the increasing interest in climate change education by stakeholders, policymakers and the research community is not yet broadly incorporated into science education activities.

Atmospheric research stations provide valuable information about evolving climate change. Long-term observations of atmospheric parameters provide scientific evidence for the connections between the anthropogenic effect on atmospheric composition and the resulting changes in the planet’s climate.

Here we present educational activities at well-established atmospheric observatories part of international observational networks like ACTRIS, LTER, GAW and ICOS. The stations in those networks provide the necessary data and the links between atmospheric composition changes and climate perturbations. At the same time, these stations host at their premises local hubs where teachers and students have the chance to receive hands-on training on using environmental data in education and, ultimately, in school classrooms. The atmospheric research stations support networking, training and community building by stimulating personal engagement and out-of-school education of trainees.

How to cite: Kalivitis, N., Stavrou, D., Vrekoussis, M., Levrini, O., Tasquier, G., Riuttanen, L., Ginoudi, A., Bellentani, G., Mavromanolakis, G., and Kanakidou, M.: Education for climate change - Utilizing atmospheric research facilities, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-16704, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-16704, 2023.

Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals is essential to resolving the climate crisis. Higher education is critical in preparing climate-resilient societies and preparing students for careers in sustainable development. But how can universities reach more students in a larger variety of disciplines, outside of the dedicated climate or sustainability studies? The key is to show how their chosen field contributes to just and fair solutions. Since 2019, the Center for Environmental Policy at Bard College in New York has led a global initiative in collaborative climate education, The Worldwide Teach-In on Climate and Justice www.WorldwideTeachIn.org. In March 2022, more than 350 universities, high schools and other organizations held climate education events in 60 countries, directly engaging over 50,000 participants. The theory of change behind the initiative is that, at every school in the world, there are dozens of deeply climate-concerned faculty and staff. How do we empower these faculty to reach students across campus-- beyond the few dozen students who are directly studying climate-- in discussion about climate solutions and justice? The key is creating opportunities for faculty who are not climate experts to teach about climate from their disciplinary perspective—to focus on how artists, economists, chemists, philosophers, or business experts and others, are all working to resolve the climate crisis. For the March 2023 Teach-In, Bard is working with universities worldwide to help their climate-concerned faculty to #MakeClimateAClass. In this presentation, the local coordination team for Europe will provide insights into promoting campus-wide conversation about climate solutions in all disciplines.

How to cite: Petkov, R. and Van Mensel, E.: The European Teach-In On Climate And Justice, March 2023, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-17036, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-17036, 2023.

Science-inspired art has recently gained momentum as an effective communication tool for educating the public about scientific topics, benefiting from the intrinsic abilities of art to reach a broad audience, convey ideas in novel ways, and inspire on a deep, emotional level.  An upcoming science-art exhibition furthers this concept by offering an immersive, interactive experience to the public. Titled Seas & Oceans, the two-month event seeks to educate and inspire the public about the environment, climate change, sustainability, biodiversity, and related topics through a variety of activities:

• 1) an art exhibition containing artwork produced by collaborations between scientist and artist pairings,
• 2) scientific talks given to the public by scientists from a range of disciplines,
• 3) workshops for local schools and children’s organizations,
• 4) informal chats between scientists and the public through a “Science Café”, and
• 5) other interactive performances and activities.

Serving as the scientific coordinator of the event, I will present the strategies used to prepare the event, challenges faced in its organization, feedback from scientists and artists about their collaborations, and methods / performance indicators used to gauge its success in educating the public and energizing interest in the associated scientific topics.

How to cite: Baker, N.: “Seas & Oceans”:  An interactive, immersive science-art exhibition for communicating science and educating the public, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-17490, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-17490, 2023.

Recent developments in hydrologic science include a strong focus on open-source data sets and modeling tools. These developments can easily be leveraged into hydrologic education in the form of classroom exercises and term projects. Here we present a computational exercise designed to teach the concept of model structure uncertainty to students, using a specific selection of two catchments and two simple conceptual models from open-source data and tools.

The exercise first familiarizes the students with the modeling tool they will use and then has them calibrate and evaluate model performance on each combination of model and catchment. For these specific catchment and models, model structure uncertainty is the dominant source of uncertainty (compared to data, parameter and objective function uncertainties). The exercise includes guiding questions that help the students reach the defined learning goals. Trials at the Technische Universität Dresden show that the exercises are effective in doing so. This introduction to open-source models and data yields the benefit of being easily expanded on during further exercises and term projects.

How to cite: Knoben, W. and Spieler, D.: An example of using open-source data and hydrology models for classroom exercises and term projects, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-2675, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-2675, 2023.

Public and private organizations and institutions distribute a large volume of Open Data on a continuous basis with aim of increasing efficiency, saving time or reducing costs. Technological advancement offers easy access to open datasets that have potentially added value as educational resources in teaching and learning processes. Open Data provides the educational community with learning experiences related to real world problems and allows students to engage with activities normally undertaken by professionals, without increasing the level of difficulty. In this study, we designed an educational intervention that uses open data from the Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters, and we investigated how it can be integrated into the Greek secondary school curriculum. The results suggest that this open data-based practice has increased students’ motivation and has had an impact on selfbeliefs on topics of aquatic environments as well as an impact on students’ perception of the importance of aquatic environmental problems in rivers and lakes. 

How to cite: Tziortzioti, C., Dimitriou, E., and Mavrommati, I.: Introducing the use of Open Data into the secondary education: A study on inland water quality, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-2741, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-2741, 2023.

Precipitation is one of the essential parts of the hydrological cycle. Regardless of the important role that precipitation plays for life on Earth, in extreme conditions, such as high intensities and amounts, it can negatively affect various ecosystem services (e.g., flood protection, agriculture). Precipitation is spatially highly variable. Traditionally, precipitation, with rain as the most common type, is measured over very small surface areas (of a few square decimetres) by rain gauges or sensors. However, reliable and representative rainfall data are crucial for understanding the interconnection of different parts of the hydrological cycle (e.g., rainfall interception by vegetation, rainfall erosivity) and quantification of flood, drought, water quality, and other water-related problems. Reducing the negative consequences of the mentioned problems is part of the 2030 Agenda sustainable development goals. Therefore, an interdisciplinary student project on the design and construction of a rainfall simulator was submitted to the University of Ljubljana's call for sustainable development student projects. Rainfall simulators are recognized as important tools for studying the effects of rain on soil. Rainfall simulators can be used in controlled conditions in the laboratory or with additional settings also in the field. The design and construction of the simulator is entirely within the domain of the project team of six students of environmental civil engineering and electrical engineering. This includes the choice of pipe materials, pump capacity, size and type of spray nozzles, development of a control system for monitoring and recording of results, and, last but not least, the determination of rain properties we would like to simulate (e.g., intensity). Three pedagogical mentors and one mentor outside the academia supervise the project. With such a project, group work and co-creation are encouraged among students, theoretical knowledge acquired within the curriculum is transferred into practice and knowledge is exchanged between different disciplines. Skills such as communication, critical thinking, organization of tasks and time management, interdisciplinary problem solving, analytical reasoning, information and technology literacy, are developed in the project. Additionally, such equipment will be used for teaching and research purposes in the future, which is another sustainable feature of this project.

How to cite: Klun, M., Lebar, K., Zabret, K., and Zdešar, A.: Design and construction of a rainfall simulator: an interdisciplinary student project towards sustainable development goals achievement, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-5020, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-5020, 2023.

Active learning strategies such as simulations or problem sets have been shown again and again to be critically useful for helping students understand complex concepts. Students develop a more thorough understanding of processes or problem solving strategies when they are able to practice or explore them with hands-on activities. In hydrology, however, there are several concepts taught, even in introductory classes, where developing suitable activities for this type of learning is difficult. For example, even a simple water balance activity often requires a relatively thorough understanding of spreadsheets or a lot of tedious hand-calculations if students are going to explore relationships between multiple inputs and outputs. Similarly, even the most basic discussion of how a simple box model works is difficult to supplement with an activity that doesn’t involve spreadsheets or writing computer code. Furthermore, it is often beyond the scope of introductory level hydrology classes to teach programming or spreadsheet skills, and hand calculations often take a prohibitive amount of time. Web applications offer a tool to address some of these issues. With the development of tools like Shiny apps for R or Python, instructors with programming experience can relatively easily create interactive learning tools for their classes. Many studies in fields such as statistics and mathematics have shown that these web-apps aid in student learning. Furthermore, hosting and sharing these apps is becoming more accessible, with organizations like CUAHSI running shiny servers. In this presentation, I will show two examples of implementations of a web app to aid in student learning, one on the concept of a water balance, and one on running and parameterizing a basic catchment hydrology model. I will also discuss tools and strategies for building and hosting your own shiny app to address the learning goals for your classes.

How to cite: Gannon, J.: Web-apps as active learning tools in hydrology classrooms, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-8427, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-8427, 2023.

Resource use decisions in the extractive resource industry in Canada are supported in various ways by collection and analysis of water resources data.  Data quality assurance and analysis are influenced by the methods taught in academic training, the tools used to teach and practice, and industry standards and culture.  The growth in popularity of computer programming languages such as Matlab, Python, and R, and new web-based collaboration and publishing tools from Project Jupyter (Notebook, Book) have created opportunities for teaching applied hydrology in new ways that can support the evolving nature of data in hydrology practice, namely in treating open-ended problems more typical to industry practice.

The abrupt shift to web-based instruction at the undergraduate level in 2019 spurred development of interactive instructional content in an applied hydrology course at the University of British Columbia, in Vancouver, Canada.  Using the open-source Jupyter Book software framework, we developed open-access course material to complement the hydrology theory curriculum.  The new course content consists of a set of tutorials designed to give students a practical introduction to important components of engineering practice such as data quality assurance, and uncertainty in hydrological models.  The content is provided as an open-access online textbook with an embedded Python code interpreter.   With each successive cohort, the material has adapted to student feedback, namely in treating the types of open problems common in industry, and in the amount of programming experience required. 

How to cite: Kovacek, D. and Weijs, S.: Lessons from Adapting Applied Hydrology Instruction to Open Source Software Tools, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-10592, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-10592, 2023.

Open science is commonly associated with open access publications, and FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable) data. Open source code is progressively being considered an essential component of open science, too. However, even if all these ingredients are available and openly accessible, it is often impossible to reproduce the graphs in a paper from the data and code provided. Which script was used on what part of the data to generate a given plot? Which version of a cited database was used, and what query to extract the presented data points? Moreover, even the basic steps of a scientific analysis, i.e. the derivation of mathematical equations, are often not traceable. Ever came across the famous “it follows that”, where, what follows, contains variables that were not present in the preceding equations?

Here I present part of a hydrology course based on a framework designed to address many of the above challenges. It is based on the open-source RENKU platform and deployed in a Jupyterhub instance at https://renkulab.io. RENKU enables the tracking of datasets and their versions, and records executions of code with their respective input and output files, producing a knowledge graph of the entire project and enabling the user to easily re-do all necessary steps to update relevant results whenever a data or code file is updated. RENKULAB uses the docker system to help reproduce the computational environment needed to re-execute the analysis. This greatly facilitates collaborative research and learning, as it removes the need for collaborators and students to recreate the computational environment in their local systems. Integration of GITLAB in RENKULAB facilitates student feedback and collaborative problem solving through issue tracking, where students can gain points by submitting meaningful issues and helping others.

The course also uses an open source package for mathematical derivations (ESSM, https://essm.readthedocs.org), which is based on the Python package Sympy, and facilitates clear definitions of variables including their dimensions and units, and dimensionally consistent fundamental equations. These can then be used to deduce derived equations by automatic solving of systems of equations for unknown variables, derivatives, integrations, and many other mathematical operations contained in Sympy. The package combines graphical depiction of equations, as seen in papers, with computational reproducibility of derivations and transparent re-use of equations in numerical code.

By employing Open Science approaches from the start, students become naturally accustomed to reproducible research and can use the skills they learn in any professional environments, as they are not bound to proprietary software that their future employers and collaborators may or may not have purchased licenses for.

How to cite: Schymanski, S.: The benefits of Open Science approaches when teaching hydrology, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-12489, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-12489, 2023.

The UK’s 25-year Flood Hydrology Roadmap was published in 2022. The Roadmap was developed by the UK hydrology community to identify the areas of greatest need and to deliver actions across four themes: Ways of Working, Data, Methods, and Scientific Understanding. Ways of Working Action W5 aims to build the ‘skills, esteem and value’ of flood hydrology but this is currently not possible as there is no baseline available. To provide a baseline, a UK-wide survey of hydrologists and the users of hydrology was conducted.

The survey was designed after consultation with hydrologists working in academia, consultancies, and other authoritative bodies in the UK. The objective of the survey was to baseline the current number, skills, satisfaction, backgrounds, and diversity of hydrologists practicing in the UK. A further consideration was to understand how prepared hydrology is as a discipline for anticipated changes in methods and skill requirements. The survey covered both low and high flow hydrology, not just flood hydrology.

In this presentation, we will summarise the key results of the survey and highlight the implications for hydrology training, education, and teaching. Finally, we will share our recommendations, from the perspective of operational users of hydrology, for the future skills needs in hydrology.

How to cite: Skinner, C., Ockelford, A., King, A., Goodship, E., and Harfoot, H.: The UK Hydrology Skills and Satisfaction Survey, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-12552, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-12552, 2023.

The ubiquitous "field trips in geography" type courses often exclude students on the basis of mobility and flexibility, have a high travel footprint, and rely primarily on passive knowledge.  In the summer of 2022, we taught a master level geography course, Geosensing of the Environment for the first time at the Geography Institute at the University of Bern. The course was team taught by the institute field technician, the assistant and master student, and a researcher in hydrology. This course is unlike anything currently or previously taught at our institute. It put the students in charge of their own scientific trajectories, taking them on a full scientific cycle "journey" from idea and question, to device development and measurement, to analysis and communication. The main goal of the course was for all students to use raspberry pi micro controllers or similar devices and a variety of sensors however they wish to build a scientific measuring device, while maintaining this course's relevance and connection to all physical geography subjects.

The pedagogical framework of the course was innovative in a number of ways, namely bringing together a self-learning module teaching the basics of programming microelectronic boards, a hands-on workshop where they got to build their own sensor device based on their own scientific questions, and a follow-up phase where they got to propose a bigger project using their progress in the workshop as a pilot. Students particularly appreciated the open-ended nature of the course that could be adapted to their interests. Although the students' backgrounds were not technical, by the end of the course, we had one group measuring CO₂ over a freeway, one group analyzing temperature variation caused by balcony vegetation, and one group measuring water temperature profiles around Bern. In the end, one device was based on raspberry-pi pico and a second based on the sparkfun thing plus RP2040. In the future, we hope to put more emphasis on energy management and communication of sensor networks.  Improvements to this course must balance the goal to empower each student to "start from scratch" or to provide ready-to-go kits, leaving students to mainly choose which sensors they use.  Our main lessons learned concern teaching technical subjects in non-technical disciplines, focusing on instrumentation to transcend disciplines, transforming field courses to more accessible and lower-impact formats, and empowering students to build sensing devices starting with a blank sheet of paper (and a raspberry pi).

How to cite: Ceperley, N., Fässler, L., Leiser, P., and Schaefli, B.: Teaching by doing or a field course in our backyard: the first geosensing of the environment course in this geography institute, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-13006, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-13006, 2023.

Regular visitors of the EGU General Assembly are familiar with the ‘MacGyver’ sessions where hydrologists present measuring solution they have designed, build and tinkered (often ducttaped) themselves. We often get asked how we convey the MacGyver mentality to our students: how to teach them the skills and attitude to tackle their own problems hands on?

We teach this in the undergraduate course ‘measuring water’. In this course the learning goals include teaching hydrology students how to measure the different states and fluxes in the water cycle. We approach this by having teams of students design, make and demonstrate their own sensor. This ‘maker-education’ approach is known for stimulating intrinsic motivation in students to work on their projects, but it also comes with its own challenges: how to make sure that all students learn about all different types of sensors and not only about the one they choose? How to steer students towards choosing a project topic that is both challenging enough and not too challenging, without giving them the idea you are curbing their freedom to choose their own topic?

In this presentation we will reflect on lessons learned from a decade of teaching ‘Measuring Water’ and provide take-aways applicable for all geoscientific teaching.

How to cite: Hut, R., Coenders, M., and Vis, G.: Making MacGyvers: lessons from a decade of maker education, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-13088, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-13088, 2023.

Groundwater represents more than 97% of the globally available freshwater resources. Groundwater is situated in geological structures in the subsurface and is therefore not visible, difficult to characterize, and manage. As a consequence, it is often not adequately considered by authorities, the general public – and in education. However, teaching and learning Hydrogeology and Groundwater Management at universities, but also as a part of continuing education training for professionals, is essential to deal with future challenges. For this reason, it is important to use suitable teaching material to improve the understanding of the complex topic of groundwater among these target groups. The recent challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the demand for digital and remote teaching. An ongoing Erasmus+ cooperation project named iNUX – interactive understanding of groundwater hydrogeology aims to address the need for digital teaching material. The project aims to achieve an interactive and digital learning environment in hydrogeology and groundwater management with a European but also global target of teachers and students.

Existing experience in teaching relevant groundwater subjects from highly reputable European universities will be used to develop interactive and digital teaching material focusing on basic and applied hydrogeology. The teaching material will cover basic theory in combination with field and laboratory applications in different European environments (Northern Europe, Central Europe, and the Mediterranean). The teaching material will comprise (1) various types of videos (e.g., field experiments, lab experiments, screencasts of calculations and software use), (2) interactive Jupyter notebooks that combine explanation with live code (e.g., based on Python), (3) various types of questions and problems that allow different assessments to enhance self-controlled learning of students. All materials are intended as open source and publicly available. The iNUX activities also comprise initiatives to establish interest groups to combine efforts towards larger pools of commonly developed digital teaching material (e.g., question pools) and to link with other activities like the 'Groundwater project' (https://gw-project.org/).

How to cite: Reimann, T., Barthel, R., Birk, S., Fernandez-Garcia, D., and Chen, Z.: Interactive understanding of groundwater hydrology and hydrogeology – the iNUX project, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-14794, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-14794, 2023.

Increasingly, funded research projects are expected to address critical societal challenges. These challenges require generating and integrating multi-disciplinary and practical knowledge through collaboration among different actors. Correspondingly, many funding agencies demand more insightful planning, reporting and proof of performance, showing how and what the research has achieved against key performance indicators, as well as societal impacts and contributions, such as to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Such complex reporting requires accessible data management where researchers and coordinators can manipulate large amounts of data, gathered over time from different sources, and in a broad range of formats. A practical expectation is to inform meaningful and repeated progress reports which list and link deliverables, publications, indicators of performance and social impacts.

This paper presents the research management experience of a multi-disciplinary team and their reflections on how they responded to these challenges and implemented working solutions. As a team from five disciplines, we reflect on this shared experience gained over a 6.5 year-long EU-funded project. Stimulated by the project complexity, we came to recognise that how we managed the data provided us with an opportunity to collaborate meaningfully and to link in novel ways the contributions of research activities to the outcomes and impacts of the project. In brief, we devised a new research data management approach through which we collated and visualised the data so as to facilitate deeper exploration of the interactions among the researchers, tasks and deliverables.

We began by designing an Excel-based matrix to facilitate managing project metadata. Our objective was to demonstrate progress and achievement against key performance indicators, the level of engagement among stakeholders, and the links of tasks to the SDGs. The ideation and design of the original matrix emerged from discussions among task-leaders. Implementation required contributions from all team members. Given the nature of the project, the matrix was extensive and, so, needed to be interrogated using filters.  

Recognising the limitations of data tabulation, we linked the matrix to a powerful visualisation web-based software to create user-friendly visuals, inviting interactive analyses of workflows and stakeholder engagement. The matrix and visualisation tool will be demonstrated during the presentation. This approach enabled visualisation of planned and emergent interactions within the project, underpinned by interconnections among key activities and researchers.

The approach is usable by different stakeholders and useful at different project/programme stages. Research project managers can use it to anticipate and track researcher deployment and work package management at funding application/proposal stage and at project reporting stages. Researchers can use it to manage their workload, share reporting responsibilities, promote discussion with other team members, and reflect on actual and potential collaborations. They can also capture their achievements to support applications for subsequent research or non-academic positions. Finally funding agencies and scientific coordinators can interrogate and visualise project metadata and evaluate them against project aims, objectives and milestones.

How to cite: Bellini, R., Coughlan, P., Bello-Dambatta, A., Rigby, A., Ritsos, P., and Mc Nabola, A.: An interactive visualisation tool to manage metadata in engaged research projects, track progress, map stakeholders, and evaluate output, outcomes and impacts., EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-2630, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-2630, 2023.

The field of Open Science has made scientists agree on the idea that data, workflows and services should be findable, accessible, interoperable, and thus optimally reusable (FAIR). These principles apply to Earth Science communities also, dealing with rapidly evolving natural phenomena. However, there is still a weakness regarding research sharing and re-use through the scientific community, due to lack of technological solutions and their long-term implementation. The H2020 Reliance project (https://www.reliance-project.eu) delivers a suite of innovative and interconnected services that extend European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) capabilities to support the management of the research lifecycle within Earth Science communities, Copernicus users, and beyond. The project has delivered three complementary technologies: Research Object, Data Cubes and AI-based Text Mining. ROHub (https://reliance.rohub.org/) is the Research Object management platform that implements these three technologies and enables researchers to collaboratively manage, share and preserve their research work. ROHub implements the full Research Object model and paradigm: resources associated to a particular research work are aggregated into a single FAIR digital object, and metadata relevant for understanding and interpreting the content is represented as semantic metadata that are user and machine readable. 

Research Objects are the innovative and interoperable service, open-by-default, and cross-disciplinary research management environment. Research Objects are virtual aggregations of resources that bring together data, methods, results and people to document scientific investigations, according to Open Science principles. To guide researchers, different types of Research Objects can be created: Basic, that can contain anything; Bibliography-centric, including manuals, and/or other material that support research; Data-centric, focused on datasets which can be indexed, discovered, and manipulated; Executable, including code, data and computational environment. This type of Research Objects can be executed and is often used for scripts and/or Jupyter Notebooks. Research Objects can be public/open/private and can be snapshotted or archived with permanent identifier (DOI). Additional information is associated and displayed in ROHub such as number of downloads, additional discovered metadata (automatically generated from the Reliance Text Mining service), keywords and citation. The toolbox and share tools in ROHub allow end-users to download, snapshot and archive the Research Object and/or share it. Any Research Object in ROHub is a FAIR digital object that is for instance findable in OpenAire, including those without DOI associated.

The development of ROHub is co-designed and validated through multidisciplinary and thematic real life use cases led by three different Earth Science communities: Geohazards, Sea Monitoring and Climate Change communities. In our presentation, we will showcase different types of Research Objects for the three Earth Science communities represented in Reliance to highlight how the scientists in our respective disciplines fostered their work towards Open Science.

The RELIANCE (Research lifecycle management for Earth Science Communities and Copernicus users in EOSC) project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 INFRAEOSC programme under grant agreement No 101017501.

How to cite: Fouilloux, A., Foglini, F., and Trasatti, E.: The FAIR “Research Object” paradigm for realizing Open Science with the RELIANCE EOSC project, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-3605, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-3605, 2023.

In order to achieve a successful research and innovation project, it is increasingly critical to clearly define efficient coordination and management processes. Keeping in mind the limited research funding at the National and European levels and the growing competition in academic areas and more, in general, in the research environment, the proper management of research projects has become essential. Designing and ensuring a realistic project plan in terms of scope, objectives, time and costs is a critical condition to obtain financing and a crucial element to guarantee a successful implementation of a project. This is even more decisive when the project provides for the participation of affiliated entities; this is a common practice in the case of the ERIC- European Research Infrastructure Consortium.  

In the case of EMSO ERIC- The European Multidisciplinary Seafloor and water column Observatory -the project management should normally consider an effective way of coordinating human resource efforts and activities between its central management office and the different affiliated Research Organisations, members of the ERIC  consortium, who could join the same project.

In general, and even more so within a distributed ERIC,  participation in a project means delivering precise impacts and results relevant to the mission of the Consortium and its members, in relation to their strategic roadmap and vision.

For this reason, within EMSO ERIC, an internal service has been created that aims to encourage and promote a permanent and structured collaboration between the EMSO ERIC Central Management office and the research organizations, in the context of activities and strategies planned and implemented since the beginning of the project.

While ensuring a constant and effective cooperative link in the framework of externally funded projects, the EMSO ERIC coordination and management service offers the opportunity to leverage the impact of project activities and results on the growth, strength, outreach and cohesion of EMSO ERIC.

This process covers the whole project life cycle, from its embryonic stage as a proposal, through its implementation and until its completion and conclusion, supporting the development of all the project management steps and monitoring the technical implementation of the activities to fulfil deadlines and targets, trying to be successful in project management as well as in research.

How to cite: Quaranta, G., Tegas, V., and Dañobeitia, J.: EMSO ERIC support, coordination and management service for the benefit of a distributed consortium, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-12995, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-12995, 2023.

Best Practices in  Program Management: A Review of Experiences and Insights from the ITINERIS PROJECT proposal

Objective: The objective of this study is to identify and analyze the various experiences and best practices that have been documented in the ITINERIS proposal with a focus on the research and academic aspect

Methodology: To achieve this objective, we will conduct a literature review of multiple sources, including academic journals and industry publications. In addition, we will conduct interviews with research coordinators and project managers to gather insights into their own experiences and best practices during the time of the proposal. The data collected through these methods will be analyzed using a qualitative approach to identify common themes and patterns in the experiences, and best practices reported.

Expected Outcomes: The expected outcomes of this study are as follows:

A comprehensive overview of the experiences and best practices pertaining to the research and academic sector.

Identify key themes and patterns in the experiences, and best practices reported, including the importance of strong leadership, clear communication, and robust project management processes.

Recommendations for researchers and project managers on how to effectively apply these best practices in their own work.

Contribution to the academic literature on how to propose a successful research infrastructure proposal.

How to cite: Abruzzese, L., Bilotta, M., and Beranzoli, L.: Best Practices in  Program Management: A Review of Experiences and Insights from the ITINERIS PROJECT proposal, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-16968, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-16968, 2023.

How to cite: Abruzzese, L., Bilotta, M., Migliazza, R., and De Luca, G.: Keys to risk management in the energy efficiency conversion of government buildings: the INGV NZEB case study, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-16982, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-16982, 2023.

To enable an efficient and economical use of limited water resources, sensing techniques to determine root zone soil moisture are gaining importance. Because of their easy handling and ability to provide simultaneous measurements in different depths, so-called soil moisture profile sensors (SMPS) exhibit high potential for climate-smart agriculture. However, determining soil moisture with reasonable accuracy is a complex task. Especially clay content and soil temperature influence the soil dielectric permittivity and might thus affect the electromagnetic soil moisture measurement of the SMPS.

To date, an accurate and easy-to-use method for the evaluation of long SMPS is not available. To this end, we designed a laboratory and a field experiment to better discriminate between changes in soil dielectric permittivity and sensor variability due to environmental effects. The tested SMPS are the SoilVUE10 (50 cm) from Campbell Scientific, the Drill&Drop (60 cm) from Sentek, as well as the SMT500 (50 cm), which is an early prototype from TRUEBNER. The following questions were addressed: (1) How high is the measurement variability of the vertical measurement sections of an SMPS? (2) How strong is the sensor response influenced by changes in temperature? (3) What is the SMPS accuracy compared to reference TDR measurements and how high is the sensor-to-sensor variability? We addressed questions 1 and 2 by placing the SMPS into a container filled with well-characterized fine to medium sized sand (type F36, Quarzwerke Frechen). The sand was water saturated and the temperature of the container was stepwise increased from 5 to 40 °C using a water cooling/heating. Question 3 was addressed by setting up a 2 x 2 x 1.5 m sandbox, also filled with F36 sand at a field site. The sandbox is sealed watertight to the sides and to the bottom and provided with a drainage layer of 20 cm gravel. The water level inside the sandbox can be controlled by pumping water in or out using piezometer tubes, which are permeable in the drainage layer. The SMPS were installed into the sandbox and the measurements were compared against reference measurements made using CS610 TDR probes with TDR100 (Campbell Scientific) and against SMT100 (TRUEBNER) TDT measurements.

Preliminary results using factory calibrations indicate that all tested SMPS have their shortcomings regarding the accuracy of soil moisture estimation. The D&D probe shows a high agreement between the measurement depths and a fair temperature stability, but the soil moisture content was underestimated compared to the reference measurements. In comparison, the SoilVUE10 displayed larger variability between different measurement depths, as well as between different sensors. In addition, the soil moisture was overestimated at high soil moisture content and the accuracy declined strongly above a soil temperature of 25°C. The SMT500, albeit a prototype, performed well at low soil moisture but strongly overestimated the soil water content under saturated conditions. Our experimental setup has generally proven useful for the characterization of SMPS. It clearly showed that the accuracy of the soil moisture estimates obtained with the SMPS is quite variable, especially at high soil moisture content.

How to cite: Nieberding, F., Huisman, J. A., Huebner, C., Weuthen, A., Schilling, B., and Bogena, H. R.: Playing in the sandbox: An experimental set-up for comparison of soil moisture profile sensors, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-1098, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-1098, 2023.

Soil aggregate stability is a measure of the resistance of soil aggregates to degradation and breakdown. It is a major factor influencing the soil health and fertility. The aggregates stability also affects soil erosion rates and water retention. Several factors can influence the stability of soil aggregates, including the type and amount of soil organic matter, the presence of soil biota, and the type and intensity of land management practices. Soil management practices that promote the incorporation of organic matter, such as cover cropping and reduced tillage, can increase soil aggregate stability. The aggregate stability is commonly measured using a variety of techniques, such as the water drop penetration test, in which the penetration of a water droplet is used to assess the strength of soil aggregates, and the wetting and drying method, in which the stability of soil aggregates is measured after they have been subjected to alternating wetting and drying cycles. A common method for measuring soil aggregate stability is the wet sieving method. Within this contribution we present a newly developed procedure based on the equation of Kemper & Rosenau that utilizes laser diffraction to estimate the aggregate water resistance index (AWRI). In developing this new method, emphasis was placed on comparability with the standard sieving procedure carried out with the Eijkelkamp wet sieving apparatus. The water resistance of the soil aggregates was tested for five different soil types (Haplic Luvisol, Chernozem, Regosol, Fluvisol, and Cambisol) sampled in the Czech Republic. The AWRI value determined by the laser diffraction procedure is based on an average particle size of the disturbed aggregates recorded for each fictitious sieve size. The results from a limited number of soil samples show promising agreement between the standard wet sieving and the laser diffractometer procedures. The main advantage of the method is the much faster processing of many samples and their replicates with less variability in the results. However, further measurements are needed to validate the procedure.

This study has been supported by Grant of Technology Agency of the Czech Republic QK22020179 and EC H2020 Project 101000224 (TuDi)

How to cite: Kubát, J.-F., Vrána, M., Zumr, D., and Kavka, P.: Fast and Reproducible Aggregate Water-Resistance Index Determination Using Laser Diffraction, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-5300, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-5300, 2023.

The main goal of this study was to determine the effect of surface cover on soil percolation. Many previous papers have focused on reducing soil loss on steep slopes using geotextiles, but not on the intensity of percolation. Reducing surface runoff can help reduce soil loss, but increased infiltration can also increase the risk of slope collapse. For this research, Enkamat 7220 (plastic geotextile) in six different cover variations was used, as well as bare soil for comparison. A laboratory rainfall simulator with variable rainfall intensity and adjustable slope was used for the experiments, which were conducted at rainfall intensities of 60-160 mm/h. The results showed that the lowest soil percolation occurred on the plot with bare soil and on the plot where the entire surface was covered with geotextile and fully backfilled, likely due to soil compaction. The highest percolation was observed on the plot where the geotextile was fixed on top of the surface using ground anchors. The hypothesis that percolation at the foot of the slope is higher than at the top of the slope due to surface and subsurface flow was also confirmed. In future studies on the effectiveness of geotextiles, additional measurements of percolation would be beneficial for a deeper understanding of these processes. This research was supported by the research projects QK22010261, SS05010180 and CTU in Prague, grant No. SGS OHK1-086/23/11143.

How to cite: Neumann, M., Kavka, P., Tejkl, A., Laburda, T., and Beck-Broichsitter, S.: Influence of soil cover on surface runoff, infiltration, and percolation, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-5351, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-5351, 2023.

Time-lapse photogrammetry has been proven to be a valuable tool to support the understanding of earth surface processes since it can be used to create 3D models with an unprecedented temporal resolution. Overlapping images are captured simultaneously and structure from motion (SfM) photogrammetry is used to reconstruct 3D point clouds from these images automatically.

We performed one rainfall simulation on an erosion plot in the field covering about 16 square meters and having a slope of 9 degrees and another experiment in the laboratory with a plot of about 4 square meters and a slope of 20 degrees. Rainfall intensities were similar and high in both simulations to ensure rill formation. During the experiment, we measured soil surface changes with a time series of 3D point clouds derived via SfM photogrammetry. We also estimated runoff flow velocities with a tracer and observed the spatial pattern of runoff velocities with particle tracking velocimetry (PTV) applied to videos captured during the field experiment. At the plot outlet, we also measured runoff and sediment yield. These datasets were used as validation data for the soil erosion model.

Soil erosion was simulated with the physically-based model RillGrow and SMODERP, which conceptualizes the formation of erosion rills as a self-organizing dynamic system. We ran several thousand erosion simulations using a Monte Carlo approach. The aim was first to assess the sensitivity of the input parameters of the model, and secondly to automatically find the best fitting set of input parameter values for the given field site conditions and rainfall intensity. We compare the simulation results to global values, such as the sediment yield and runoff, and to local changes, measured by the photogrammetric 4D data.

Our study combines established as well as newly developed data recording and processing methods to create a spatio-temporal high-resolution dataset. This is used to test a soil erosion model with the aim of enhancing understanding of rill erosion processes.

This research was supported by the projects DFG EL926/3-1, SFZP 085320/2022, SS05010180, and SGS OHK1-086/23/11143.

How to cite: Grothum, O., Favis-Mortlock, D., Kavka, P., Neumann, M., Laburda, T., and Eltner, A.: Spatio-temporally highly resolved validation of a rill-based soil erosion model with 4D data, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-6524, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-6524, 2023.

This contribution presented cartographic visualization of project aims.  The goal is to presented the classification the potential utility of irrigation and available water in the Czech Republic territory in the scale of small catchment in square km size. Definition and basic classification of the are presented by Kavka (Kavka, 2021). Classification of the these catchments based on various factors such as terrain morphology, soil characteristics, drought risk, and rainfall variability with final. Main goal of presented are involves the assessing options for retention of the water in the agriculture landscape for the consequence irrigation systems. The research are also focused to the designing and implementing a system for monitoring soil water regimes in irrigated areas as a tool for optimizing irrigation systems and managing water resources.

Water resources are limited by the amount of rainfall and the ways to capture water from extreme precipitation events. To make the most efficient use of these resources, it is important to capture water directly in source catchments and use it for irrigation, rather than relying on technology-intensive infrastructure. Given the changes in climate, which in temperate Central Europe can bring about higher concentrations of extreme precipitation and longer dry periods, it is crucial to adaptation for future changes. From an agricultural perspective, changes in the rapid component of runoff and reduced retention capacity are also key considerations.

In areas that are not near significant watercourses with constant and relative high flow, local sources of water for irrigation may not be relevant. The project includes the identification of areas where it may be possible to store irrigation water at a local scale. The evaluation of the need for hydrological models, local measurements, and balance characteristics of the area. This involves determining the water needs in small catchments, primarily targeted at local irrigation systems, and researching sources of moisture needs. Data on existing and historical small reservoirs and areas with potential water storage for irrigation needs in the source catchments are used for these analyses, considering existing agro-climatic areas and identified historical irrigation systems. The areas with low or zero infiltration (paved road, cities, buildings, etc.) are identified.

 Acknowledgements: This contribution was supported by grant of the The Technology Agency of the Czech Republic – No. SS01020052 - “Utility and risk of irrigation over the Czech Republic in changing climate”. 

How to cite: Kavka, P., Neumann, M., Tejkl, A., Kuráž, M., and Hanel, M.: The Influence of Climate Change on Runoff from Headwater Catchments, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-8277, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-8277, 2023.

Ammonia volatilization (AV) is one of the main pathways of nitrogen fertilizer loss, resulting in reduced crop yields, and a negative impact on the environment. Therefore, reducing AV through proper fertilizer management is essential. We can, however, only provide appropriate management advice when based on accurate measurements, along with understanding the processes involved. For this purpose, the ¹⁵N technique has a unique advantage over other methods to precisely identify the sources of ammonia production.

A field experiment was established at the SWMCN laboratory in Seibersdorf on maize with four replications and 120 kg N ha^-1 was applied through two equal split applications at 20 DAP (Days After Planting) and 34 DAP. Two ¹⁵N microplots inside each main plot were installed. In these microplots, ¹⁵N-labeled urea replaced the unlabeled urea according to the time of fertilizer application. Each microplot for ¹⁵N-labelled urea was 2.5 m by 2.5 m,and the buffer zone between microplots was 1 m to minimize ¹⁵N contamination from adjacent microplot. For these microplots, ¹⁵N-labeled urea was used with an enrichment of 5.23 atom% ¹⁵N excess. The first microplot received ¹⁵N-urea at 20 DAP and unlabeled urea at 34 DAP, the second microplot received ¹⁵N-urea at 34 DAP and unlabeled urea at 20 DAP. Ammonia volatilization was measured with semi-static chambers and chambers were installed inside the ¹⁵N microplots.

The total cumulative NH₃ emissions from urea after the first and second split applications were 13.9 kg N ha^-1 and 18.0 kg N ha^-1, respectively. This calculation is based on the difference in AV between experimental treatments and control treatment, assuming that AV in control plots indicates the amount of AV from the soil source, whereas AV of the fertilized treatments presents AV from soil and fertilizer sources. It also assumes that all nitrogen transformations, i.e., mineralization, immobilization, and other process in the case of nitrogen, are the same for control and experimental plots. Therefore, the amount of AV in urea treatment was subtracted from the amount of AV in control treatment. The cumulative NH₃ emissions from the control treatment (without nitrogen fertilizer) at the same time were 2.7 kg N ha^-1 and 3.6 kg N ha^-1, respectively. Accordingly, about 20% of the ammonia volatilized from the soil source and the rest could be attributed to the added urea fertilizer.

However, using the ¹⁵N labelled fertilizer, it was found that the above assumption shows some flaws. The fraction of nitrogen in the ammonia samples derived from the soil is not constant but changes significantly due to nitrogen fertilizer application. The results show that the nitrogen in the ammonia derived from the fertilizer was 65% and 53% after the first and second split applications, respectively. Therefore, the fraction of nitrogen in the ammonia samples derived from the soil source was 35% and 47% after the first and second split applications. So, the use of the ¹⁵N technique shows that adding nitrogen fertilizer likely increased the rate of mineralization by changing the ratio of carbon to nitrogen.

How to cite: Heiling, M., Mirkhani, R., Resch, C., Pucher, R., Toloza, A., and Dercon, G.: Determining the contribution of nitrogen fertilizer and mineralization to volatilized ammonia through the use of nitrogen-15, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-12071, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-12071, 2023.

Rising demand for functionality of green infrastructure in urban environments led to the development of combined systems for stormwater retention and infiltration together with urban trees. Frequently, a special type of substrate is used based on coarse gravel or cobbles (ca. 5 – 20 cm) as structure element ensuring load bearing capacity as well as stable pore volume and combine it with a fine growing substrate with a certain storage capacity for water and nutrients. These systems got different names in different parts of the world. They are called structural soils in the US and Singapore, Stockholm systems in Northern and parts of Central Europe, as well as sponge city substrates for urban trees in Austria. Despite progress in technical knowledge about Dos and Don´ts in the installation of structural soils and their stormwater retention functionality, there are no standard lab methods for their hydrological characterization by now.

The main goal was to develop a lab method to determine the retention capacities at different matric potential states and the respective hydraulic conductivity of structural soil substrates. A major challenge therein is to handle the dimensions of the cobbles in lab conditions. For hydrological characterization, the multi-step-outflow method and the evaporation method were combined. The adopted changeable lab setup allows to determine the saturated hydraulic conductivity as well as the total pore volume at the beginning. Afterwards a ceramic pressure plate is used to perform the multistep-outflow method by applying certain negative pressures with a suction pump. In a third step the setup is changed to an evaporation method, which is used to determine the volumetric soil water content at more negative matric potentials.

The first results provide a promising basis for further developments. For example, the available water capacity of structural soil substrates can be narrowed down to around 5 percent by volume, while the air capacity is around 21 percent by volume. This study represents a first step for developing appropriate methodology for a practicable hydrological characterization of structural soils. For the future, the experiment is intended to be extended by observations of wetting front characteristic and to be applied in standard procedures by a wide range of geotechnical or soil science laboratories.

How to cite: Rath, S., Zeiser, A., Kumpan, M., Strauß, P., and Weninger, T.: Progressing experimental methods for the hydrological characterization of structural soil substrates, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-12154, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-12154, 2023.

Soil is defined in different ways, depending on the scientific discipline and a project’s scope. Understanding these differences is key to facilitate clear communication of subsurface conditions within interdisciplinary project teams and allow a comprehensive presentation of results towards a broader audience. The goal of herein presented research is to find differences and analogies in discipline-dependent definitions of soil, outline resulting challenges and suggest possible solutions.

Definitions of the word soil were reviewed and analyzed in discipline-specific dictionaries of the Oxford reference dictionary series and international standards in regard to soil classifications (i. e. ISO and ASTM). Additionally, a survey was performed among professionals from different disciplines, including, but not limited to pedology, geology, engineering, geomorphology and chemistry. The survey aimed at finding out (i) how the word soil is defined by representatives of different disciplines, (ii) if there are divergent understandings between and within disciplines, (iii) if the various interpretations result in problems in interdisciplinary research and (iv) if and what kind of solutions are needed. The survey was filled out by sixty-two, mostly senior-level professionals from the private sector as well as universities and research institutions.

Together with the results of the analysis of dictionaries and international standards, the answers to the survey showed that there are recognizable differences in the understanding of the word soil and that the majority of the survey participants sees a need to find solutions to how these can be addressed, especially for interdisciplinary projects. It was found that consense among the project team and a clear and comprehensive definition of soil, as it is understood within in a specific project, is required as a minimum from the on-start of a project. Additionally, based on the results of the definitions given in literature as well as in the survey, typical definitions of soil are categorized according to discipline (e. g. soil science, geology, engineering) and a comprehensive summary of terminology and vocabulary is presented in regard to possible synonyms for the word soil. Both approaches aim to assist in defining the word soil by providing a simple terminological framework, in which the project’s detailed definition can be integrated. This framework is flexible enough to be extended to other relevant disciplines (e. g. agricultural science, forestry, law).

How to cite: Kurka, M.: What is Soil? – Addressing challenges due to interdisciplinary differences in the understanding of the word soil, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-12277, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-12277, 2023.

Abstract：The reservoir-bank collapse has caused soil erosion and bank expansion in the lower Yellow River, which seriously affects the ecological environment and agricultural development. Understanding the processes of mass movement occurred on reservoir-bank is important to predict and control bank expansion. However, little research exists concerning how to accurately quantify the process of bank collapse and trace the source of sediment. In this study, a reservoir-bank model with the gentle slope of 3°, steep slope of 40° and abrupt slope of 70°, was constructed according to geomorphological characteristics of the soil reservoir-bank in Xiaolangdi Reservoir, in which rare earth elements were used to trace the provenance of sediment originated from mass movement on reservoir-bank under different rainfall conditions, and quantify the soil loss from the bank contributed to sediment deposition in reservoir. The results show that the sediment in reservoir mainly comes from steep slope, and the percentage contribution of abrupt slope to the total soil loss increases significantly in rainstorms with the precipitation larger than 60 mm. Under the rainstorms, the contributions of the gentle slope, steep slope and abrupt slope to soil loss were 10%, 55% and 35%, respectively. Without rainstorm, the contributions of the gentle slope, steep slope, and abrupt slope to soil loss were 4%, 72% and 24%, respectively. Meanwhile, sediment deposition in reservoir also mainly derived from steep slope and abrupt slope. The contribution of steep slope and abrupt slope to sediment deposition were 49% and 40% under the rainstorms, and the contribution of steep slope and abrupt slope to sediment deposition without rainfall were 67% and 28%, respectively. In addition, most of the sediment generated from the lower abrupt slope accumulates near the reservoir-bank, while the sediment generated from the steep slope accumulates at a distance from the reservoir-bank. Under the rainstorms, the contribution of upper steep slope to sediment deposition was 54% at 240 cm from the reservoir-bank, while the contribution of lower steep slope to sediment deposition without rainfall was 70% at 180 cm from the reservoir-bank. Whether with or without rainfall, the contribution of lower abrupt slope to sediment deposition was all about 54% at 40 cm from the reservoir-bank. Thus, in the near future, engineering measures such as grid protected slope may be used in the reservoir area to protect the steep slope of reservoir-bank, which can effectively reduce soil erosion and bank expansion in the reservoir area.

Keywords: Bank collapse; Mass movement; Xiaolangdi Reservoir; REEs; Rainstorm

How to cite: Ran, G., Li, T., and Xu, X.: Quantifying provenance of soil originated from mass movement on soil reservoir-bank using rare earth elements, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-16172, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-16172, 2023.

The rational use of soil has taught in Basic Education in Brazil, in accordance with the National Common Curricular Base (BNCC), from the 2nd year of elementary school. However, for the development of specific skills that involve the interaction between reflective teaching, sustainability, problem solving, among other themes, there are few school projects that promote interdisciplinary strategies for such purposes. In carrying out this pedagogical action, it was necessary to develop methodologies that would integrate the student into the knowledge construction process, from the perspective of environmental education and geoethics.

The project involves directly basic education students, 1st and 5th years of Elementary School level I, and 6th and 9th years of Elementary School level II, and indirectly with participation of high school students, as monitors, in activities in the garden and vegetable garden of School Prof. Francisco de Paula Conceição Junior, a state public school of São Paulo, Brazil.

Based on the Sustainable Development Objective - SDG 15, of the 2030 Agenda, the project developed behavioral changes in students, based on the rational use of land, while developing a teaching methodology in which the student was the protagonist in the learning process. The construction of learning spaces, such as the school's vegetable garden and garden, and the soil laboratory, were strategies in the Interventions adopted in the form of practical, theoretical, and concluding classes.

Built by the students and the teacher in charge, the garden and garden spaces corroborated the development of practical learning within the scope of sustainable development, such as recycling (maintenance of the compost bin for the production of fertilizers from waste produced at school); inclusion of the community in the project (use of sawdust and wood ash donated by traders around the school to correct the soil together with fertilizer); maintenance and planting of garden and garden spaces; implantation/use of the soil laboratory for the application of geoscientific knowledge; holding events at school about soil/planting; conducting thematic theoretical classes, conversation circles for decision-making, among others. In addition to the soil theme, the inclusion of other themes such as water resources, air quality/pollution, types and production of energy were approached, so that the student could discuss geoethics, in the use of resources of the Earth system, and man as a geological agent.

The development of activities allowed the transversality with other curricular components, the inclusion of local environmental problems, since the proposal is based on the construction of knowledge committed to the conservation, preservation, and rational use of resources, regarding geoethics.

The spaces built during the project have become pedagogical instruments for the promotion of environmental, social, cultural, scientific, and intellectual knowledge.

How to cite: Reis Silva, H., Aparecida Liguori Imbernon, R., and Vasconcelos, C.: Development of Geoethics and Sustainable approaches based on Pedological Education, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-16474, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-16474, 2023.

Structural studies foresee a detailed three-dimensional model. In this work we present the results of constructing a virtual outcrop at the quarry base in the city of Turka. Such objects are especially valuable for structural geology, sedimentology, mining, etc.

From a geological point of view, it is located in the Outer Ukrainian Carpathians, tectonically it belongs to the Krosno nappe. Here, the rocks are mainly represented with sandstones, siltstones and argillites.

Workflow. The study predicted: 

- Reconnaissance of the object (detailed overview of the object of research, determination of future positions of control and reference points, and standing stations);

- Establishing and determining the coordinates of reference points (placement of six black and white marks);

- Determining the coordinates of control points (fixation on the outcrop body using the electronic total station Leica TCR 405);

- A terrestrial laser scanning process (3/4 scanning points are located approximately on the same line with a step of 25 and 15 meters, the fourth station is located at the top of the right slope of the quarry, the elevation is 29 m; scanning was performed with a Leica ScanStation C10 scanner);

- Photographing the object (in order to improve the quality of the future mesh model, some details and textures. 344 pictures were taken with a Canon Mark 3 5D digital camera);

- Creating a point cloud based on laser scanning data (Processing was performed in the Leica Cyclone Register 360 program. Five reference points were used to orient the cloud of points in the coordinate system);

- Creating a mash model based on point clouds and digital images (This step was done in the Reality Capture program. The accuracy of the mash model was assessed by comparing the coordinates of control points obtained from the mash model and surveying with TPS; the absolute spatial difference does not exceed five centimeters).

The geological field camp was financed by American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) for the first author.

How to cite: Oliinyk, M., Bubniak, I., Bubniak, A., Shylo, Y., Bihun, M., and Vikhot, Y.: Creation of 3D model of the Turkа quarry using terrestrial laser scanning, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-364, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-364, 2023.

The construction and interpretation of digital outcrop models (DOM) from outcropping reservoir analogues enable to capture and characterize reservoir heterogeneities (in terms of facies, diagenesis, and petrophysical properties) from centimeter to kilometer scales, thus allowing to improve upscaling approaches in 3D reservoir modeling. Digital outcrop models offer a reliable tridimensional representation of sedimentary heterogeneities, which can strongly impact fluid flow and therefore geothermal reservoir exploitation.

The Roda Sandstones (Lower Eocene) are considered as a world-class outcropping example for deltaic sedimentary systems outcropping in the Graus-Tremp Basin (South Pyrenean Basin). Thanks to the quality of its outcrops and to the drilling of 50 to 80-meter-long cores in their vicinity, the Roda Sandstones are commonly used for educational and research purposes (Crumeyrolle et al., 1992; Martinius, 2012).

Over the past 15 years, a few digital outcrop models have been published from the Roda Sandstones (Enge et al., 2007; Leren et al., 2010). These models were only constructed at a small scale (decimeter to hectometer) and did not allow to capture the large-scale architecture of the Roda fluvio-deltaic system. In this study, we built a complete photogrammetric model of one of the prograding sand wedges of the Roda Sandstones (also called Y body) from more than 11000 photos acquired by drone. The model is accurately georeferenced thanks to a dGPS campaign carried out simultaneously with the drone acquisitions. This outcrop model covers a total area of about 4km², and the pixel resolution ranges between 3 mm and 3 cm.

A significant amount of quantitative and qualitative information could be extracted from this digital outcrop model, that helps at constraining the reservoir model. Its interpretation in a software dedicated to the geological interpretation of DOMs enabled to take measurements (e.g., dips, distances, etc.), to identify and to trace the main stratigraphic surfaces, locate the field observations and samples, allowing to precisely assess the architecture and the facies distribution of the Y sandbody.

The results show a multiphase sandbody, made up of different prograding lobes, with variable progradation directions and a diversity of sedimentary structures formed by the competition between fluvial and tidal currents, contributing to the complexity of the sedimentary system. Paleocurrent directions, sediment thicknesses, numerical outcrops painted in facies, digitized sedimentological sections, and boreholes interpreted in facies were used as input data to build a static facies model. The geological static model was then filled with porosity and permeability properties and used as a base for fluid flow simulations in order to assess the impact of sedimentary heterogeneities in deltaic reservoirs for geothermal exploitation purposes.

How to cite: Mas, P., Bourillot, R., Brigaud, B., Deschamps, R., and Saint-Bezar, B.: From 3D digital outcrops to fluid flow reservoir simulations in a deltaic system: An integrated approach, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-565, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-565, 2023.

Outcrops are the focus of geological research. Oblique photogrammetric technology with the aid of unmanned aerial vehicles can build 3D digital outcrop models and further help to achieve visualization research of outcrops, which provides new ideas to solve the problems of low efficiency, high risk, and poor data reusability that exist in traditional geological research methods. This paper investigates the key technologies of 3D modeling of oblique images, 3D visualization of digital outcrops, and visualization of panoramic models, and design and implement a Web platform named DDE-Outcrop3D for real-scene 3D digital outcrops based on the Cesium open-source 3D earth engine. The platform achieves the visualization of high-precision 3D models of geological outcrops and combines the outcrop-related information such as text, pictures, videos, panoramas, documents, observation stops, and geological plotting with 3D outcrop models, realizing upload and panoramic roaming of 3D models of outcrops and self-supply, sharing, and visualization of outcrop-related information. As the first choice for the virtual field trips of the 21^st International Sedimentological Congress, the platform has been successfully applied to 12 of the 15 field routes. Compared with traditional geological research methods, the visualization of 3D outcrops can help geologists understand the spatial and temporal distribution of geological phenomena and features of outcrops more comprehensively and intuitively. This platform also achieves the co-construction and sharing of resources of outcrops under digital environment, saving the time and economic costs of geological expeditions.

Keywords: Oblique photogrammetry, Real-scene 3D outcrops, Cesium, Visualization platform

How to cite: Zhong, H., Chen, J., Lin, Z., Wang, S., Hou, M., Li, Y., and Wang, C.: Fieldwork anytime!——The functions and applications of DDE-Outcrop3D, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-2729, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-2729, 2023.

Although the use of digital outcrops may have become a routine way to collect and share geological information, this approach is less well used as a communication tool in geomorphology, whether to support students’ understanding of landform processes or to engage the public in a scientific understanding of landscape features. This study sets out the use of 3D landform and outcrop models in virtual field trips (VFTs); initially developed as a COVID response when fieldwork was curtailed, but subsequently refined to support the Learning Outcomes of in-person fieldwork, as well as to promote Equity, Inclusion, Diversity (EDI) and Access in Environmental Education. On the basis of techniques developed for geoscience in Higher Education, digital visualisation tools (DVTs) have also been applied to reach out and facilitate the (virtual) accessibility of less accessible terrain.

Accessing the efficacy of the use of VFTs to augment the real-world experience of fieldwork in our Geography and Environmental Management degrees indicates that students are positive in engaging with these DVTs to support their learning. Moreover, VFTs can facilitate the inclusion of those unable to participate directly. 3D landform models are particularly useful in providing context and scale for VFTs but can be limited by surface distortion effects when some secondary sources are employed. Bespoke models, made through drone-based photogrammetry in particular, can significantly enhance the fieldwork experience. The additional perspectives they can provide, made available either alongside or directly in the field (i.e., on a mobile device) via interactive features, act effectively as an accessible ‘remote’ guide. Nevertheless, digital tools are seen as augmenting in-person field trips rather than as a replacement.

Given the recent enhanced interest in outdoor activities and the greater familiarity of much of society with digital devices, DVTs also offer a significant opportunity for public outreach with an Environment focus. Tegg’s Nose Country Park (NW England) includes a RIGG (Regionally Important Geological and Geomorphological Site). Working collaboratively with the Park Ranger, the existing geological trail has been enhanced using DVTs to provide a VFT along the route and 3D models of the key outcrop and landform features. We aim to highlight the educational dimension of the Park’s provision and better link the hub of the Park, where there are facilities, with the wider site which is less well used due to its layout and terrain. Engaging virtually provides potential visitors with a greater level of confidence and an enhanced awareness of the site’s features, promoting positive engagement and behaviours.

Challenges in widening the use of DVTs lie in the provision of non-specialist interfaces and access to resources to facilitate their use by the widest range of Educators to promote inclusion and support outreach. Applications also need to remain mindful of the format that viewers will probably employ i.e., hand-held devices which may not have Internet access when really needed e.g., in the ‘real’ field.

How to cite: Hutchinson, S. and Evans, A.: Going digital in landform fieldwork: fad or opportunity and challenge?, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-5122, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-5122, 2023.