| Project of the Month - September 2011

enviroGRIDS - Building Capacity for a Black Sea Catchment Observation and Assessment System supporting Sustainable Development

The Black Sea Catchment is internationally known as one of ecologically unsustainable development and inadequate resource management, which has led to severe environmental, social and economic problems. The EnviroGRIDS project addresses these issues by bringing several emerging information technologies that are revolutionizing the way we are able to observe our planet. The Group on Earth Observation Systems of Systems (GEOSS) is building a data-driven view of our planet that feeds into models and scenarios to explore our past, present and future.
EnviroGRIDS aims at building the capacity of scientist to assemble such a system in the Black Sea Catchment, the capacity of decision-makers to use it, and the capacity of the general public to understand the important environmental, social and economic issues at stake. EnviroGRIDS will particularly target the needs of the Black Sea Commission (BSC) and the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) in order to help bridging the gap between science and policy.source: enviroGRIDS projectlarger image

Project information

Website address: www.envirogrids.net
Project type (funding instrument): Large scale integrated collaborative project
Project start date: 01/04/2009
Duration: 48 months
Total budget: EUR 8m
EC contribution: EUR 6.2m

EC project officer:

Jane Shiel
DG Research and Innovation, Directorate: Environment,
Unit I3: Management of Natural Resources,
Earth Observation Sector,

Office CDMA 3/157 

B-1049 Brussels, Belgium
e-mail: jane.shiel@ec.europa.eu

Coordinator:
Dr Anthony Lehmann University of Geneva,
Institute for Environmental Sciences,
enviroSPACE Lab, Battelle D
7 Route de Drize
CH-1227 Carouge, Switzerland
Ph: (+ 41 22) 379 00 21
Fax: (+41 22) 379 07 44
e-mail: anthony.lehmann@unige.ch

Partners

 Beneficiary name

 Short
 name		  Country
 International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River  ICPDR  Austria
 Soresma n.v.  SORESMA  Belgium
 Black Sea Regional Energy Centre  BSREC  Bulgaria
 National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology  NIMH  Bulgaria
 Czech Centre for Science and Society  CCSS  Czech Republic
 Geographic GIS&RS Consulting Center  Geographic  Georgia
 Environmental Protection and Water Management Research Institute    VITUKI  Hungary
 Central European University    CEU  Hungary
 Advanced Studies, Research and Development in Sardinia    CRS4   Italy
 Danube Delta’ National Institute for Research and Development    DDNI  Romania
 Institute of Geography of the Romanian Academy    IGAR  Romania
 National Institute of Hydrology and Waters Management    INHGA  Romania
 Technical University of Cluj-Napoca    UTC  Romania
 St. Petersburg  State University    SPSU  Russian
 Federation
 University of Barcelona, European Topic Centre Land Use and  Spatial Information
 supported by the European Environment Agency 		 (EEA) UAB  Spain
 University of Malaga    UMA  Spain
 Université de Genève    UNIGE  Switzerland
 ArxIT consulting  ARXIT   Switzerland
 Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology  EAWAG  Switzerland
 European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN)    CERN  Switzerland
 (Int.)
 UNESCO: Institute for Water Education   IHE   The Netherlands
 (UN)
 Istanbul Technical University    ITU  Turkey
 Permanent Secretariat of the Commission on the Protection of the Black Sea against Pollution   BSC PS   Turkey
 Ministry of Environment and Forestry   MEF   Turkey
 Ukrainian Scientific and Research Institute of Ecological Problems     USRIEP  Ukraine
 Melitopol State Pedagogical University  and Azov-Black Sea Ornithological Station  AZBOS   Ukraine
 Danube Hydrometeorological Observatory  DHMO   Ukraine
 Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas    IBSS  Ukraine
 Odessa National I.I. Mechnikov University   ONU   Ukraine
 Tavrida National University   TNU  Ukraine

 

Objectives

  • run a gap analysis of existing regional observation systems to prepare recommendations for improvement of networks of data acquisition in each region/country
  • build capacity on observation systems in the Black Sea catchment
  • improve regional network to coordinate the efforts of partners active in observation systems
  • link, gather, store, manage and distribute key environmental data
  • develop the access to real time data from sensors and satellites
  • create spatially explicit scenarios of key changes in land cover, climate and demography
  • distribute large calculations and datasets on large computer clusters
  • streamline the production of indicators on sustainability and vulnerability of societal benefits
  • provide a standard for integrating data, models and information and communication tools
  • provide policy-makers and citizens with early warning and decision support tools at regional, national and local levels
  • produce innovative tools to visualize and interpret data and results of integrated models
  • alert citizens concerning exposure to environmental risks
  • build capacities in the implementation of many new standards and frameworks (INSPIRE, GEOSS, OGC,..)

Expected results

  • contribute to free publicly-funded data through interoperable databases and services
  • streamline data process from data warehouses, to scenarios, hydrological models, impacts assessments and finally to disseminations tools
  • use grid enabled computer technology to store and analyse environment data
  • gridify the code of hydrological model calibration and validation
  • create regional scenarios of development in function of expected climate, land cover and demographic changes
  • build efficient virtual and life trainings on EnviroGRIDS main topics
  • make available useful open source software and data on DVD and on Internet
  • raise public and decision-makers awareness through innovative collaborative systems
  • provide an early warning system to inform the citizens and decision-makers on environmental vulnerability and risks associated to selected Societal Benefit Areas

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