Project description
Data assimilation to improve observations in vulnerable arctic regions
Understanding changes in the Earth’s system requires a thorough comprehension of carbon, water and energy exchanges between land and atmosphere. Unfortunately, scientists lack a methodology to estimate these surface fluxes at the scale of a single grid cell within an Earth System Model. The EU-funded ACTIVATE project aims to address this challenge by combining drones, flux towers and satellite technology to observe land-atmosphere interactions. These observations are integrated with models through data assimilation methods. The project will develop an adaptive Bayesian Experimental Design framework to optimise the use of drone swarms for data collection. The goal is to enhance model data assimilation, improve our understanding of these interactions, and enhance observations in Arctic regions lacking robust observational data.
Objective
While land-atmosphere exchanges of carbon, water, and energy are key to understanding changes in the Earth system, we still fundamentally lack a methodology to obtain representative estimates of these surface fluxes at the scale of a single grid cell of an Earth System Model (typically 10-100 km), let alone for a wider region. ACTIVATE combines an observing system consisting of a swarm of drones carrying meteorological sensors and gas analyzers, mobile and stationary flux towers, as well as satellites, and fuses their observations with different land-atmosphere models using data assimilation methods. ACTIVATE will develop an adaptive Bayesian Experimental Design framework to generate maximally informative observation strategies for expensive data collection, and adaptively reposition drone swarms during a flight as new observations become available to optimally infer surface fluxes in the landscape. We will demonstrate the framework (i) in idealized synthetic experiments, (ii) at managed and industrial sites with known flux hotspots, and (iii) in targeted high-resolution simulations in poorly represented regions with expensive models that explicitly resolve subgrid-scale processes in Earth System models. We will apply the ACTIVATE framework around existing observatories in vulnerable arctic regions, where the lack of strong observational constraints from state-of-the-art observing systems is particularly apparent and problematic. ACTIVATE will produce: unprecedented observational datasets for new model developments in some of the most data-sparse regions on Earth, uncertainty-aware parameter estimates for critically unconstrained processes, and a pioneering active experimental design framework for terrestrial observing systems. The broader vision of ACTIVATE is to develop active learning capabilities for improved data assimilation in models to elevate our understanding of land-atmosphere interactions across spatio-temporal scales.
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.
- engineering and technology mechanical engineering vehicle engineering aerospace engineering satellite technology
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering electronic engineering robotics autonomous robots drones
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering electronic engineering sensors
- social sciences educational sciences pedagogy active learning
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
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)
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Topic(s)
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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.
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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 - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2023-STG
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0313 Oslo
Norway
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