Project description
Innovative soil fertility monitoring system
Extreme weather and climate change are having a major impact on soil health. However, existing tools to monitor soil health are limited due to high costs or lack of robust underlying models. The ERC funded Emerald Proof of Concept project will test, develop and promote an innovative soil fertility monitoring and forecasting method founded on the statistical physics of disordered systems. The project will apply the expertise built on the underlying physics of spin systems to the accurate modelling of vegetation growth and use earth observation data. The project’s findings will benefit farmers, agricultural organisations and governments in land use planning.
Objective
Climate change is an urgent challenge and impacts ecosystems, society and economic activities. Here we focus on the problem of loss of fertile soil (soil degradation), a process that is induced and accelerated by extreme weather and climate change and affects, among other sectors, agriculture, land use planning and food security. Current tools to monitor soil health for commercial purposes or policymaking are either limited in scale due to high cost, or insufficiently accurate due to the lack of underlying robust models.
The EMERALD Proof of Concept aims to test, further develop, and promote final users' uptake of a novel soil fertility monitoring and forecasting method founded in the statistical physics of disordered systems. The expertise built on the underlying physics of spin systems as part of the ERC starting grant will be applied to the accurate modelling of vegetation growth, substantially building on our promising preliminary results.
This early warning and large scale survey of soil degradation offers an effective climate change adaptation tool, helping farmers, agricultural organization and governments in land use planning on the medium and long term. The use of earth observation data will ensure a scalable solution to tackle the problem of desertification globally.
The final aim is to develop the research results into a service, evaluate the market, obtain the first users, evaluate its impact and develop a comprehensive non-profit commercial strategy for the uptake of this technology.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- social sciences sociology demography fertility
- natural sciences biological sciences ecology ecosystems
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC-POC - HORIZON ERC Proof of Concept Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2022-POC1
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
D02 CX56 Dublin
Ireland
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.