The Open Session on Geosciences Instrumentation is the only European forum with an open call for professional conference papers in the field of Geosciences Instrumentation, Methods, Software and Data Systems. The session aims to inform the scientific and engineering geosciences communities about new and/or improved instrumentation and methods, and their related new or existing applications. The session also deals with new ways of utilizing observational data by novel approaches and the required data infrastructure design and organization.

Review talks on specific topics will be accepted on the basis of invitation by the conveners. Please contact the conveners if you have a topic that may be suitable for a review talk.

The session is open to all branches of geosciences measurement techniques, including, but not limited to, optical, electromagnetic, seismic, acoustic and gravity. The session is intended as an open forum and discussion between representatives of different fields within geosciences is strongly encouraged. Past experience has shown that such mutual exchange and cross fertilization between fields have been very successful and can open up for a break-through in frontier problems of modern geosciences.

The session is also open for applications related to environmental monitoring and security providing, like archeological surveys, rubbish deposits studies, unexploded ordnance and/or mines detection, water dam inspection, seismic hazards monitoring etc.

The nature of science has changed: it has become more interconnected, collaborative, multidisciplinary, and data intensive. Accordingly, the main aim of this session is to create a common space for interdisciplinary scientific discussion, where EGU-GA delegates involved in geoscientific networks can share ideas and present the research activities carried out in their networks. The session represents an invaluable opportunity for different networks and their members to identify possible synergies and establish new collaborations, find novel links between disciplines, and design innovative research approaches.

Part of the session will be focused on COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) Actions*. The first edition of the session (successfully held in 2018) was actually entirely dedicated to the COST networking programme and hosted scientific contributions stemming from 25 Actions, covering different areas of the geosciences (sky, earth and subsurface monitoring, terrestrial life and ecosystems, earth's changing climate and natural hazards, sustainable management of resources and urban development, environmental contaminants, and big data management). Inspiring and fruitful discussions took place; the session was very well attended. We are looking forward to continuing the dialogue this year and to receiving new contributions from COST Action Members.

Another part of the session will be dedicated to the activities of other national and international scientific networks, associations, as well teams of scientists who are carrying out collaborative research projects.

Finally, the session is of course open to everyone! Accordingly, abstracts authored by scientists not involved in wide scientific networks are most welcome, too! In fact, in 2018 we received a good number of such abstracts, submitted by individual scientists or small research teams who wished to disseminate the results of their studies in front of the multidisciplinary audience that characterizes this session, as an alternative to making a presentation in a thematic session. This may be a productive way to broaden the perspective and find new partners for future interdisciplinary research ventures. We hope to receive this kind of abstracts this year, as well.


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* COST (www.cost.eu) is a EU-funded programme that enables researchers to set up their interdisciplinary research networks (the “Actions”), in Europe and beyond. COST provides funds for organising conferences, workshops, meetings, training schools, short scientific exchanges and other networking activities in a wide range of scientific topics. Academia, industry, public- and private-sector laboratories work together in Actions, sharing knowledge, leveraging diversity, and pulling resources. Every Action has a main objective, defined goals and clear deliverables. This session was started as a follow up initiative of COST Action TU1208 “Civil engineering applications of Ground Penetrating Radar” (2013-2017, www.GPRadar.eu).

Geoscience witnessed a flurry of major breakthroughs in the 19th and 20th century, leading to major shifts in our understanding of the Earth system. Such breakthroughs included new concepts, such as plate tectonics and sequence stratigraphy, and new techniques, like radiometric dating and remote sensing. However, the pace of these discoveries has declined, raising the question of whether we have now made all of the key geoscience breakthroughs. Put another way, have we reached “Peak Geoscience” and are we now in a time of synthesis, incremental development and consolidation? Or are there new breakthroughs on the horizon? If so what will these developments be?

One key remaining challenge is the management of the inherent uncertainties in geoscience. Despite the importance of understanding uncertainty, it is often neglected by interpreters, geomodellers and experimentalists. With ever-more powerful computers and the advent of big data analytics and machine learning, our ability to quantify uncertainty in geological interpretation, models and experiments will be crucial.

This session aims to bring together those with an interest in the future of geoscience. We welcome contributions from any field of geoscience which either demonstrate a new, disruptive geoscience breakthrough or provide insights into where the next breakthrough will come. We encourage contributions associated with uncertainty in geoscience models and data, machine learning or big data analytics.

State-of-the-art environmental research infrastructures become increasingly complex and costly, often requiring integration of different equipment, services, and data, as well as extensive international collaboration. Clear and measurable impact of the research Infrastructures is therefore needed in order to justify such investments (from member states and the EU) - whether it is an impact in terms of knowledge, developments in the environmental field of science, new innovative approaches, capacity-building or other socio-economic impacts. Moreover, improving the impact supports the long-term sustainability of the research infrastructures.

This session aims at discussing how to best monitor, interpret, and assess the efficiency and impact of environmental and Earth system research infrastructures. Even more importantly, the session seeks a breadth of contributions, with focus on ways to increase and improve the impact of research infrastructures, not only through the scientific outcomes they produce, but also, for example, through increasing the number of touchpoints with other actors in the society, or awareness of the services they offer- whether this is enhanced by lobbying, direct cooperation with industrial partners, or any other action. Talks on how to enhance the impact through the strategic communications activities are especially welcome.

The originality of the session is to emphasize on the central position of human activities in environmental research (both terrestrial and atmospheric), as a driving factor and/or a response, by combining different spatio-temporal scales.
Continental environments (under various climatic conditions) experience profound societal and physical changes, which prompt scientists to investigate the complex interactions between environmental functioning and human activities.
The complexity originates from the multiplicity of factors involved and resulting spatial and temporal variabilities, of their multiple origins in time (historical integration) and/or legacy.
As a consequence, causal links in this societal-environmental relationship are difficult to establish but, it is fundamental to understand these causal links to adapt, conserve, protect, preserve and restore the functioning of the environment as well as human activities. From this point of view, the geographical approach highlights the relationships (or their absence) through the expression of the spatial and temporal trajectories of the processes studied by clarifying the observation of signals.
The ensuing issues on the relevance of indicators used in different supports of nowadays research (imagery, archives, models ...) are raised as a methodological open up.
In this context, oral and poster presentations dealing with any studies related to the following issue(s) are welcome:
- human forcing on the environments and environmental resilience
- response of socio-systems to environmental changes
- scenarios, prospective and retrospective models of the evolution of environments and human activities
- management modes (adaptive management) of anthropised continental environments, reciprocity, mutual benefits (ecosystem services), positive feedback

The session may include the following methodological aspects:
- in situ metrology,
- statistical and numerical modeling,
- spatio-temporal analysis,
- remote Sensing,
- surveys,
- landscape analysis,
- paleoenvironmental approach,
at various scales:
- spatial scales, from the station and site through watershed,
- time scales from the event to the Holocene.

Climate change, globalization, urbanization, and increased interconnectedness between
physical, human, and technological systems pose major challenges to disaster risk reduction
(DRR). Subsequently, economic losses caused by natural hazards are increasing in many regions of the world, which call for novel scientific approaches and new types of data collection to integrate the study of the natural processes triggering hazards, with the study of socioeconomic, political and technical factors that shape exposure and vulnerability.

This session aims to gather contributions on research, empirical studies, and observations that are useful for understanding and unravel the nexus between physical, human, and technological systems in DRR. We have identified a few examples of empirical puzzles where knowledge that is more fundamental is needed, thus contributions on the following topics are particularly welcome (but not limited to):

- Failure is a potential source of lesson-drawing, but history also offers success stories where disasters were avoided that deserve more rigorous assessment – What can we learn from comparative studies?

- Why do some societies that experience frequent natural hazards increase their resilience, while others become more vulnerable?

- Why do lowering hazard levels sometimes paradoxically lead to increased risks in some places?

- Why – despite major progress in understanding drivers of risk and developing enhanced methodologies and tools for assessing it – do we still see an increase in impacts associated with natural hazards?

In recent years an increasing number of research projects focused on natural hazards (NH) and climate change impacts, providing a variety of information to end user or to scientists working on related topics.

The session aims at promoting new and innovative studies, experiences and models to improve risk management and communication about natural hazards to different end users.

End users such as decision and policy makers or the general public, need information to be easy and quickly interpretable, properly contextualized, and therefore specifically tailored to their needs. On the other hand, scientists coming from different disciplines related to natural hazards and climate change (e.g., economists, sociologists), need more complete dataset to be integrated in their analysis. By facilitating data access and evaluation, as well as promoting open access to create a level playing field for non-funded scientists, data can be more readily used for scientific discovery and societal benefits. However, the new scientific advancements are not only represented by big/comprehensive dataset, geo-information and earth-observation architectures and services or new IT communication technologies (location-based tools, games, virtual and augmented reality technologies, and so on), but also by methods in order to communicate risk uncertainty as well as associated spatio-temporal dynamic and involve stakeholders in risk management processes.

However, data and approaches are often fragmented across literature and among geospatial/natural hazard communities, with an evident lack of coherence. Furthermore, there is not a unique approach of communicating information to the different audiences. Rather, several interdisciplinary techniques and efforts can be applied in order to simplify access, evaluation, and exploration to data.

This session encourages critical reflection on natural risk mitigation and communication practices and provides an opportunity for geoscience communicators to share best methods and tools in this field. Contributions – especially from Early Career Scientists – are solicited that address these issues, and which have a clear objective and research methodology. Case studies, and other experiences are also welcome as long as they are rigorously presented and evaluated.

New and innovative abstract contributions are particularly welcomed and their authors will be invited to submit the full paper on a special issue on an related-topics Journal.

In cooperation with NhET (Natural hazard Early career scientists Team).

The aim of this session is to present the latest research and case studies related to various data analysis and improvement methods and modeling techniques, and demonstrate their applications from the various fields of earth sciences like: hydrology, geology and paleogeomorphology, to geophysics, seismology, environmental and climate change.

Environmental systems often span spatial and temporal scales covering different orders of magnitude. The session is oriented in collecting studies relevant to understand multiscale aspects of these systems and in proposing adequate multi-platform surveillance networks monitoring tools systems. It is especially aimed to emphasize the interaction between environmental processes occurring at different scales. In particular, a special attention is devoted to the studies focused on the development of new techniques and integrated instrumentation for multiscale monitoring high natural risk areas, such as: volcanic, seismic, slope instability and other environmental context.
We expect contributions derived from several disciplines, such as applied geophysics, seismology, geodesy, geochemistry, remote sensing, volcanology, geotechnical and soil science. In this context, the contributions in analytical and numerical modeling of geodynamics processes are also welcome.
Finally, a special reference is devoted to the integration through the use of GeoWeb platforms and the management of visualization and analysis of multiparametric databases acquired by different sources

Non-destructive testing (NDT) methods have been increasingly used over the last decades in a wide range of engineering and geosciences applications. New theoretical developments, technological advances in both hardware and software resources as well as the progress achieved in surveying, data processing and interpretation have led to a tremendous growth of equipment reliability, allowing outstanding data quality and accuracy. To this effect, the potential of many optical, acoustic, electric and electromagnetic NDT methods for stand-alone use has been greatly investigated to date. Hence, these pieces of equipment have become popular for assessment and monitoring purposes in many fields of application.
Nevertheless, the requirements of a comprehensive site investigation may be complex and time-consuming and may involve multiple expertise and many pieces of equipment. The challenge is to step forward and provide effective integration between data outputs with different physical quantities, scale domains and resolutions. In this regard, enormous development opportunities relating to data fusion, integration and correlation between different NDT methods and theories are to be further investigated in the near future.
Within this framework, this Session primarily aims at disseminating contributions from state-of-the-art NDT methods and numerical developments, promoting the integration of existing equipment and the development of new algorithms, surveying techniques, methods and prototypes for effective monitoring and assessment of survey sites. Non-destructive testing techniques of interest are related – but not limited to – the application of acoustic emission (AE) testing, electromagnetic testing (ET), ground penetrating radar (GPR), geoelectric methods (GM), laser testing methods (LM), magnetic flux leakage (MFL), microwave testing, magnetic particle testing (MT), neutron radiographic testing (NR), radiographic testing (RT), thermal/infrared testing (IRT), ultrasonic testing (UT), seismic methods (SM), vibration analysis (VA), visual and optical testing (VT/OT).
The Session will focus on the application of different NDT methods and theories and will be related – but not limited to – the following investigation areas:
- advanced data fusion;
- advanced interpretation methods;
- design and development of new surveying equipment and prototypes;
- assessment and monitoring methods for site investigations;
- assessment and monitoring protocols and procedures for site investigations;
- comprehensive and inclusive information data systems for the monitoring and assessment of survey sites;
- numerical simulation and modelling of data outputs with different physical quantities, scale domains and resolutions;
- advances in NDT methods, numerical developments and applications (stand-alone use of existing and state-of-the-art NDTs).

Instrumentation and measurement technologies are currently playing a key role in the monitoring, assessment and protection of environmental resources. Climate study related experiments and observational stations are getting bigger and the number of sensors and instruments involved is growing very fast. This session deals with measurement techniques and sensing methods for the observation of environmental systems, focusing on climate and water. We welcome contributions about advancements on field measurement approaches, development of new sensing techniques, low cost sensor systems and whole environmental sensor networks, including remote observation techniques.
Studies about signal and data processing techniques targeted to event detection and the integration between sensor networks and large data systems are also very encouraged. This session is open for all works about an existing system, planning a completely new network, upgrading an existing system, improving streaming data management, and archiving data.

What is known as Silk Road, was a trade route active since the Han Dynasty (207 BC-220 BC) which played an essential role in connecting East and West in terms of exchanges of goods, technology and civilization. In recent years a new interest arose about it especially after the launch of the big project named "Belt and Road Initiative". Nowadays it covers more than 70 countries and 4.4 billion people (63% of the world). However, due to the active underlying geological structure, rapid tectonic uplift, and climate change, the frequency of natural hazards (e.g. Floods, landslides, debris flow) dramatically increased in this area. In addition to that, haphazard urbanization and human activities amplified the disaster risk and associated loss. As concern this aspects the Sendai Framework and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development proposed clear targets to reduce disaster loss and risk and make human settlements resilient and sustainable in local, national and regional levels.
To promote a safe, green, and resilient Silk Road, several main challenges need to be addressed:
1. Major gap in terms of common geological and meteorological background of natural hazards along the Belt and Road with few shared information and an unclear coordination mechanism.
2. Under climate change, natural hazards showed new characteristics in terms of formation, triggering criteria and mobility which is yet to be understood.
3. The demand of understanding disaster risk and risk assessment in this area.
4. Mechanisms to deal with the trans-boundary disasters.

The proposed session would like to focus on the wide area interested by the Silk Road and call for contributes submission on (but not limited to) the following topics:
• Disaster information collection and data sharing
• Understanding physical nature of disaster: Mechanisms, physical process
• Disaster risk assessment and reduction
• Typical trans-boundary disaster events and collaboration mechanism
• Affordable solutions for disaster management, such as early warning system, community-based risk management
• Haphazard urbanization, human activities and negative impact on disaster risk

The session gathers geoscientific aspects such as dynamics, reactions, and environmental/health consequences of radioactive materials that are massively released accidentally (e.g., Fukushima and Chernobyl nuclear power plant accidents, wide fires, etc.) and by other human activities (e.g., nuclear tests).

The radioactive materials are known as polluting materials that are hazardous for human society, but are also ideal markers in understanding dynamics and chemical/biological/electrical reactions chains in the environment. Thus, the radioactive contamination problem is multi-disciplinary. In fact this topic involves regional and global transport and local reactions of radioactive materials through atmosphere, soil and water system, ocean, and organic and ecosystem, and its relation with human and non-human biota. The topic also involves hazard prediction and nowcast technology.

By combining >30 year (halftime of Cesium 137) monitoring data after the Chernobyl Accident in 1986, >5 year dense measurement data by the most advanced instrumentation after the Fukushima Accident in 2011, and other events, we can improve our knowledgebase on the environmental behavior of radioactive materials and its environmental/biological impact. This should lead to improved monitoring systems in the future including emergency response systems, acute sampling/measurement methodology, and remediation schemes for any future nuclear accidents.

The following specific topics have traditionally been discussed:
(a) Atmospheric Science (emissions, transport, deposition, pollution);
(b) Hydrology (transport in surface and ground water system, soil-water interactions);
(c) Oceanology (transport, bio-system interaction);
(d) Soil System (transport, chemical interaction, transfer to organic system);
(e) Forestry;
(f) Natural Hazards (warning systems, health risk assessments, geophysical variability);
(g) Measurement Techniques (instrumentation, multipoint data measurements);
(h) Ecosystems (migration/decay of radionuclides).

The session consists of updated observations, new theoretical developments including simulations, and improved methods or tools which could improve observation and prediction capabilities during eventual future nuclear emergencies. New evaluations of existing tools, past nuclear contamination events and other data sets also welcome.

#FlumeFriday is a twitter hashtag established by the HYDRALAB+ project, to share insights and expertise from all types of physical modelling experiments and to build an active online community to support hydraulic experimentalists. #FlumeFriday provides an opportunity to improve the communication of scientific results to the public and to broaden societal involvement in laboratory activities. Since its inception in March 2016, participants and followers of the hashtag have grown extensively with worldwide participation, and many different types of experiment represented in posts.

This online community provides an opportunity to bring together the scientists involved in experimental work who come from many different disciplines including, but not limited to, geologists, geographers, biologists, engineers, geochemists and sedimentologists. These experts bring complementary field, laboratory, numerical and modelling skills to understand the processes controlling environmental flow dynamics using both established and novel instrumentation and techniques.

In this session, we welcome submissions from all our past, present and future #FlumeFriday contributors to share more details about their innovative and novel approaches to experimental modelling, including any interesting and unusual results.

We would also encourage contributions focused on methodologies, instrumentation and techniques, both established and innovative, to share knowledge on how to overcome difficulties and improve results. A particular emphasis is put on recent advances or new challenges associated with the idea of using low-cost and easy-to-find materials as hydro/morphodynamic or bio/geochemical markers or surrogates. The sharing of new strategies and initiatives to support an open science approach in experimental hydraulics is also welcome.

Many new high quality and high resolution geophysical and geological data had been acquired in the past years that need to be updated, re-analysed and re-interpreted in the light of our present knowledge in subductions processes. Moreover it is needed to better clarify the temporal and spatial evolution of those processes in order to much precise our geodynamic ideas of mountain building, subduction, transition of collision to subduction, or transition of subduction to collision.
Among other global places, the zone from Japan, Taiwan to the Philippines is a key area to study such subduction/collision transition due to the rapid convergence between Eurasian and Philippine Sea plates. There are geodynamic inversion of the east dipping Manila oceanic subduction, that evolves northward, first, into a Continental Subduction (also called Collision) onshore Taiwan, then secondly, east of Taiwan, into the north dipping Ryukyu arc/continent subduction. Due to the so rapid Plates shortening rate (10cm.y-1), those active Oceanic to Continental Subductions processes in Taiwan creates 1/8 of the annual seismicity in the World !
There are other places in the World active or not, that should also be taken into careful consideration in order to reveal and lead us to better understand new tectonic processes (e.g.: Alpes, Pyrénées, Cascades and so on).
To conclude in this EGU session, we aim to update the existing geodynamic state of the art of the oceanic to continental subductions processes after so numerous data that had been collected recently and all the works that had been done on this subject. Therefore this EGU Session should help us to much better understand the tectonics related to plate, plate collision and the transition between the subduction and collision.

From the real-time integration of multi-parametric observations is expected the major contribution to the development of operational t-DASH systems suitable for supporting decision makers with continuously updated seismic hazard scenarios. A very preliminary step in this direction is the identification of those parameters (seismological, chemical, physical, biological, etc.) whose space-time dynamics and/or anomalous variability can be, to some extent, associated with the complex process of preparation of major earthquakes.
This session wants then to encourage studies devoted to demonstrate the added value of the introduction of specific, observations and/or data analysis methods within the t-DASH and StEF perspectives. Therefore studies based on long-term data analyses, including different conditions of seismic activity, are particularly encouraged. Similarly welcome will be the presentation of infrastructures devoted to maintain and further develop our present observational capabilities of earthquake related phenomena also contributing in this way to build a global multi-parametric Earthquakes Observing System (EQuOS) to complement the existing GEOSS initiative.
To this aim this session is not addressed just to seismology and natural hazards scientists but also to geologist, atmospheric sciences and electromagnetism researchers, whose collaboration is particular important for fully understand mechanisms of earthquake preparation and their possible relation with other measurable quantities. For this reason all contributions devoted to the description of genetic models of earthquake’s precursory phenomena are equally welcome. Every 2 years selected papers presented in thsi session will be proposed for publication in a dedicated Special Issue of an international (ISI) scientific journal.

Global losses due to natural hazards have shown an increasing trend over the last decades, which is expected to continue due to growing exposure in disaster-prone areas and the effects of climate change. In response, recent years have seen greater worldwide commitment to reducing disaster risk. Working towards this end requires the implementation of increasingly effective disaster risk management (DRM) strategies. These must necessarily be supported by reliable estimates of risk and loss before, during, and after a disaster. In this context, innovation plays a key role.
This session aims to provide a forum to the scientific, public and private discourse on the challenges to innovate DRM. We welcome submissions on the development and application of groundbreaking technologies, big data, and innovative modeling and visualization approaches for disaster risk assessment and DRM decision-making. This includes the quantification and mapping of natural hazard risks and their components (i.e. hazard, exposure, and vulnerability), as well as the forecasting of hazard and impacts prior to a disaster event, or as it is unfolding (in real- or near real-time). We are particularly interested in contributions covering one or more of the following thematic areas in the context of disaster risk assessment and reduction: artificial intelligence and machine learning, big data, remote sensing, social media, volunteered geographic information (VGI), mobile applications, crowdsourcing, internet of things (IoT), and blockchain. We also welcome submissions exploring how these or other innovations can support real-world DRM strategies and translate into improved DRM decisions.

The ENES Climate Analytics Service (ECAS) is a new service from the EOSCHUB project. It enables scientific end-users to perform data analysis experiments on large volumes of climate data, by exploiting a PID-enabled, server-side, and parallel approach.
It aims at providing a paradigm shift for the ENES community with a strong focus on data intensive analysis, provenance management, and server-side approaches as opposed to the current ones mostly client-based, sequential and with limited/missing end-to-end analytics workflow/provenance capabilities.

This short course is divided into a teaching as well as a hands on training part and includes:
- presentation(s) on the theoretical and technical background of ECAS. This covers the data cube concept and its operations (eg.: subset extraction, reduction, aggregation). Furthermore, we provide an introduction to the Ophidia framework, which is the components of ECAS for processing multidimensional data.
- tutorials and training materials. Participants will have the opportunity to dive into the ECAS software stack and learn how to manipulate multidimensional data through real world use cases from the climate domain.

This short course is open to everyone interested in processing multidimensional data. ECAS is server-based, thus all required software and tools are already available on our sites. Participants do not need to install any software stack on their laptop. All they need is a browser to access the ECAS portal. Only a prior registration is required and it is straightforward by following these links: https://ecaslab.dkrz.de/registerproc.html or https://ophidialab.cmcc.it/web/registration.html

During this short course, the participants will learn:
- what the data cube concept is and how is manipulated with ECAS/Ophidia
- how to perform analysis on multidimensional data
- how to publish, access and share data and workflows with ECAS
- how to implement/deploy their own scientific workflows

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without a human pilot aboard. Originating mostly from military applications, their use is rapidly expanding to commercial, recreational, agricultural, and scientific applications. Unlike manned aircraft, UAVs were initially used for missions too "dull, dirty, or dangerous" for humans. Nowadays however, many modern scientific experiments have begun to use UAVs as a tool to collect different types of data. Their flexibility and relatively simple usability now allow scientist to accomplish tasks that previously required expensive equipment like piloted aircrafts, gas, or hot air balloons. Even the industry has begun to adapt and offer extensive options in UAV characteristics and capabilities. At this session, we would like people to share their experience in using UAVs for scientific research. We are interested to hear about specific scientific tasks accomplished or attempted, types of UAVs used, and instruments deployed.

Airborne observations are one major link to get an overall picture of processes within the Earth environment during measurement campaigns. This includes application to derive atmospheric parameters, surface properties of vegetation, soil and minerals and dissolved or suspended matter in inland water and the ocean. Ground based systems and satellites are other key information sources to complement the airborne data sets. All these systems have their pros and cons, but a comprehensive view of the observed system is generally best obtained by means of a combination of all three. Aircraft operations strongly depend on weather conditions either to obtain the atmospheric phenomenon of interest or the required surface-viewing conditions and hence require sophisticated flight planning. They can cover large areas in the horizontal and vertical space with adaptable temporal sampling. Future satellite instruments can be tested and airborne platforms and systems are widely used in the development process. The validation of operational satellite systems and applications is a topic that has come increasingly into focus with the European Copernicus program in recent years. The large number of instruments available on aircraft enables a broad and flexible range of applications. The range includes sensors for meteorological parameters, trace gases and cloud/aerosol particles and more complex systems like high spectral resolution lidar, hyperspectral imaging at wavelengths from the visible to thermal infra-red and synthetic aperture radar. The development of smaller state-of-the-art instruments, the combination of more and more complex sets of instruments simultaneously on one platform, with improved accuracy and high data acquisition speed together with high accuracy navigation and inertial measurements enables more complex campaign strategies even on smaller aircraft or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). This will further increase the capabilities of the existing fleet of airborne research.

This session will bring together aircraft operators and the research community to present
• an overview of the current status of airborne related research
• recent airborne field campaigns and their outcomes
• multi-aircraft campaigns
• satellite calibration/validation campaigns
• sophisticated airborne instrument setups and observations
• advanced airborne instrument developments
• UAV applications
• future plans for airborne research

Remote sensing techniques and earth system modelling have been widely used in earth science and environmental science. In particular, the world is suffering significant environmental changes such as hydro-climatic extremes, sea level rise, melting glaciers and ice caps and forest fires. The earth observations and earth system models provide valuable insight into climate variability and environmental change. Meanwhile, the question on how to derive and present uncertainties in earth observations and model simulations has gained enormous attention among communities in the earth sciences.

However, quantification of uncertainties in satellite-based data products and model simulations is still a challenging task. Various approaches have been proposed within the community to tackle the validation problem for satellite-based data products and model simulations. These progress include theory advancement, mathematics, methodologies, techniques, communication of uncertainty and traceability.

The aim of this session is to summarize current state-of-the-art in uncertainty quantification and utilization for satellite-based earth observations and earth system models.

This session invites contributions on the latest developments and results in lidar remote sensing of the atmosphere, covering
• new lidar techniques as well as applications of lidar data for model verification and assimilation,
• ground-based, airborne, and space-borne lidar systems,
• unique research systems as well as networks of instruments,
• lidar observations of aerosols and clouds, thermodynamic parameters and wind, and trace-gases.
Atmospheric lidar technologies have shown significant progress in recent years. While, some years ago, there were only a few research systems, mostly quite complex and difficult to operate on a longer-term basis because a team of experts was continuously required for their operation, advancements in laser transmitter and receiver technologies have resulted in much more rugged systems nowadays, many of which are already operated routinely in networks and some even being automated and commercially available. Consequently, also more and more data sets with very high resolution in range and time are becoming available for atmospheric science, which makes it attractive to consider lidar data not only for case studies but also for extended model comparison statistics and data assimilation. Here, ceilometers provide not only information on the cloud bottom height but also profiles of aerosol and cloud backscatter signals. Scanning Doppler lidars extend the data to horizontal and vertical wind profiles. Raman lidars and high-spectral resolution lidars provide more details than ceilometers and measure particle extinction and backscatter coefficients at multiple wavelengths. Other Raman lidars measure water vapor mixing ratio and temperature profiles. Differential absorption lidars give profiles of absolute humidity or other trace gases (like ozone, NOx, SO2, CO2, methane etc.). Depolarization lidars provide information on the shapes of aerosol and cloud particles. In addition to instruments on the ground, lidars are operated from airborne platforms in different altitudes. Even the first space-borne missions are now in orbit while more are currently in preparation. All these aspects of lidar remote sensing in the atmosphere will be part of this session.

The interactions between geo-environmental and anthropic processes are increasing due to the ever-growing population and its related side effects (e.g., urban sprawl, land degradation, natural resource and energy consumption, etc.). Natural hazards, land degradation and environmental pollution are three of the possible “interactions” between geosphere and anthroposphere. In this context, spatial and spatiotemporal data are of crucial importance for the identification, analysis and modelling of the processes of interest in Earth and Soil Sciences. The information content of such geo-environmental data requires advanced mathematical, statistical and geomorphometric methodologies in order to be fully exploited.

The session aims to explore the challenges and potentialities of quantitative spatial data analysis and modelling in the context of Earth and Soil Sciences, with a special focus on geo-environmental challenges. Studies implementing intuitive and applied mathematical/numerical approaches and highlighting their key potentialities and limitations are particularly sought after. A special attention is paid to spatial uncertainty evaluation and its possible reduction, and to alternative techniques of representation of spatial data (e.g., visualization, sonification, haptic devices, etc.).

In the session, two main topics will be covered (although the session is not limited to them!):
1) Analysis of sparse (fragmentary) spatial data for mapping purposes with evaluation of spatial uncertainty: geostatistics, machine learning, statistical learning, etc.
2) Analysis and representation of exhaustive spatial data at different scales and resolutions: geomorphometry, image analysis, machine learning, pattern recognition, etc.

'Cosmic rays’ collectively describe particles that bombard the Earth from space. They carry information about space and, once near the Earth, interact with the magnetosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere. Secondary cosmic rays created within the atmosphere can provide information about our planet that is vital to science and society. Secondary neutron radiation plays an extraordinary role, as it not only carries information about solar activity, but also produces short and long living tracer isotopes, influences genetic information of living organisms, and is extraordinarily sensitive to hydrogen and therefore also to water. Given the vast spectrum of interactions of cosmic rays with matter in different parts of the Earth, cosmic-ray research ranges from studies of the solar system to the history of the Earth, and from health and security issues to hydrology and climate change.

Although research on cosmic-ray particles is connected to a variety of disciplines and applications, they all share similar questions and problems regarding the physics of detection, modeling, and environmental factors that influence the intensity. Questions that all disciplines have in common are, for example, “How does the cosmic-ray intensity and energy spectra change with time and location on Earth?”, “How to correct the signal for magnetospheric or atmospheric fluctuations?”, “What is the influence of local structures, water bodies, and surface conditions?”, “Which computer model for cosmic-ray propagation is correct?”, or “What can we learn from other types of cosmic-ray particles?”.

The session brings together scientists from all fields of research that are related to monitoring and modeling of cosmogenic radiation. It will allow sharing of expertise amongst international researchers as well as showcase recent advancements in their field. The session aims to stimulate discussions about how individual disciplines can share their knowledge and benefit from each other.

We solicit contributions related but not limited to:
- Health, security, and radiation protection: cosmic-ray dosimetry on Earth and its dependence on environmental and atmospheric factors
- Planetary space science: satellite and ground-based neutron and gamma-ray sensors to detect water and soil chemistry
- Neutron monitor research: detection of high-energy cosmic rays variations and its dependence on local and atmospheric factors
- Hydrology and climate change: low-energy neutron sensing to measure water in reservoirs at and near the land surface, such as soils, snow pack and vegetation
- Cosmogenic nuclides: as tracers of atmospheric circulation and mixing; as a tool in archaeology or glaciology for dating of ice and measuring ablation rates; and as a tool for surface exposure dating and measuring rates of surficial geological processes
- Detector design: technological advancements for the detection of cosmic rays
- Cosmic-ray modeling: advances in modeling of the cosmic-ray propagation through the magnetosphere and atmosphere, and their response to the Earth’s surface
- Impact modeling: How can cosmic-ray monitoring support environmental models, weather and climate forecasting, irrigation management, and the assessment of natural hazards

This session aims at bringing together multidisciplinary studies that address the current state of Arctic observing systems, including strategies to improve them in the future. We invite contributions covering atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere and terrestrial spheres, or combinations thereof, by use of remote sensing, in situ observation technologies, and modeling. Particular foci are placed on (i) the analysis of strengths, weaknesses, gaps in spatial/temporal coverage, and missing monitoring parameters in existing observation networks and databases, and (ii) studies describing the development and/or deployment of new sensors or observation platforms that extend the existing observing infrastructure with multidisciplinary measurements. This session will be supported by the EU-H2020 project INTAROS, and welcomes contributions from other pan-Arctic networks (e.g. INTERACT, GTN-P, NEON, ICOS, SIOS, IASOA, AOOS), multi-disciplinary campaigns (e.g. ABoVE, NGEE Arctic, Arctic Ocean 2018, RV Polarstern cruises) or databases.

Radioactivity is ubiquitous in the natural environment as a result of i) cosmic radiation from space and secondary radiation from the interaction of cosmic rays with atoms in the atmosphere, ii) terrestrial sources from mineral grains in soils and rocks, particularly Potassium (K-40), Uranium (U-238) and Thorium (Th-232), and their decay products, and iii) Radon gas (Rn-222). The use of nuclear techniques enables the measurement of natural radioactivity in air, soils and water even at trace levels, making it a particularly appealing tool for characterizing time-varying environmental phenomena. This session welcomes contributions addressing the measurement and exploitation of environmental radioactivity in all areas of geosciences, including, but not limited to:

- volcanic monitoring and surveillance;
- identification of faults and tectonic structures;
- earthquakes;
- groundwater contamination;
- coastal and marine monitoring;
- atmospheric tracing, including of greenhouse gases and pollutants;
- air ionisation and atmospheric electricity;
- cosmic rays;
- public health including the EU BSS directive.

Contributions on novel methods and instrumentation for environmental radioactivity monitoring are particularly encouraged, including payloads for airborne measurements and small satellites.

World population growth combined with continuous climate changes increase the possibility of the human settles to be affected by landslides, earthquakes, floods and others natural and anthropogenic geohazards. As consequences, human settlements, structures and infrastructures can suffer important damage, casualties and injuries, and an enormous amount of resources are needed to restore direct and indirect costs. Furthermore, the social impact and the loss of cultural and historical heritage must be considered.
The International Disaster Database created by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) states that more than 14,000 worldwide relevant natural disasters occurred during the last century, causing casualties or requiring of international assistance.
For this reason, the investigation, characterization and monitoring of geo-hazardous phenomena play a fundamental role in order to improve the knowledge for avoiding further recurrences with additional social, human and economic losses. The use of Earth Observation (EO) techniques for monitoring and characterizing geohazards is a well-known way to study these phenomena. The application of EO methods in this field has risen exponentially in the last decades yet nowadays is constantly evolving.
Remote sensing approaches allow to efficiently retrieve relevant information on geological processes at regional scale to investigate, characterize, monitor and model, as well as to prevent, geohazards. Satellites constellations, air and ground platforms equipped with different sensors, (e.g. optical camera, radar or LiDAR), coupled with advanced processing techniques and algorithms are one of the best ways to investigate geohazards. The possibility to combine different types of data allows to perform multi-sensor and multi-temporal analyses. In this way, the wide area coverage capabilities combined with high accuracy and precision play an important role in the widespread use for different applications.
Submissions are encouraged to cover a broad range of topics on the various applications of remote sensing techniques, which may include, but are not limited to, the following topics: i) innovative applications and methods on remote sensing, ii) significant cases of study, iii) applications and models concerning the use of satellite, iv) air and ground platform taking advantage of the use of different sensors for investigating a broad range of topic (e.g. landslide, subsidence, damage assessment, infrastructure stability).

The session focuses on the variability of the tropospheric and stratospheric chemical composition on diurnal, seasonal and longer timescales and looks at the processes driving this variability. Special emphasis is put on the scientific value of high-quality long-term measurement data sets and supporting model simulations. Both approaches contribute to improved understanding of the mechanisms that control the variability of atmospheric chemical composition (including multiple gaseous species). Presentations related to the projections of the atmospheric composition are welcome in this session as well.
Researchers are invited to present novel scientific results from mid- and long-term observational time series from various programmes and networks such as the Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) Programme, European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP), Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC), Southern Hemisphere Additional Ozonesondes (SHADOZ), Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment (AGAGE), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), regular airborne (e.g. CARIBIC, IAGOS, CONTRAIL) and other campaigns as well as satellite data and model simulations. Data relevant to tropospheric and stratospheric composition, in particular related to ozone depletion, climate change and air quality as well as firn data on past atmospheric composition are welcome. We welcome contributions from multi-year modeling studies and inter-comparison exercises which address past and future tropospheric or stratospheric composition changes, carried out in the framework of international projects and initiatives. The session will be dedicated in particular to the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the GAW Programme.

Ensuring long-term water sustainability for increasing human populations is a common goal for water resource managers. Measuring evapotranspiration (ET) at watershed or river-reach scales, upland or urban areas is required to estimate how much water can be apportioned for human needs while maintaining healthy vegetation and habitat for wildlife.
Consequently, much research has been devoted to this topic. However although there have been many advances in meteorological equipment and observations, more universal recognition of the impact of climate and land cover changes on evaporation and hydrology, and the increased accessibility of many parts of the world, evaporation from much of the globe remains elusive to quantify. This is particularly true in areas with few meteorological observations, in regions where precipitation is particularly hard to predict such as in arid and semi-arid or mountain environments. ET measurements are often made on local scales, but scaling up has been problematic due to spatial and temporal variability.
There are challenges associated with handling temporal variability over complex agro-climatic regions and in places with strong effects of unpredictable climate oscillations. For instance, crop/plant coefficients vary seasonally, particularly for riparian, upland vegetation, and urban greenery; traditional approaches of ET estimation commonly neglect the heterogeneity of microclimate, density, species, and phenology that have often led to gross overestimates of plant water use.
In this session, we want to focus on quantifying evapotranspiration dynamics in diverse climates and environments as a tool for improving hydrologic assessments and predictions at a catchment scale. Remote sensing products in many cases are the only spatially distributed information available to account for seasonal climate and vegetation variability and are thus extremely valuable data sources for ET estimation on larger scales.
We invite researchers to contribute theoretical and empirical ET model applications for a variety of dryland vegetation associations and other sensitive environments. We welcome studies that estimate ET using both prognostic and diagnostic approaches from process-based models that rely on the integration of precipitation and soil-vegetation dynamics to a more direct estimation of ET using e.g. remote sensing based data streams. Applications in drought-prone forests, rangelands, mountain and urban areas at a range of spatial and temporal scales are encouraged.

Using a wide range of sensors and platforms, remote sensing allows examining and gathering information about an object or a place from a distance. A key development in remote sensing has been the increased availability of data with very high-temporal, spatial and spectral resolution. In the last decades, several types of remote sensing data, including optical, radar, LiDAR from terrestrial, UAV, aerial and satellite platform, have been used to detect, classify, evaluate and measure the Earth surface, including different vegetation covers and forest structure. For the forest sector, such information allow the efficient monitoring of changes over time and space, in support of sustainable forest management, forest, and carbon inventory or for monitoring forest health and their disturbances. Remote Sensing data can provide both qualitatively and quantitatively information about forest ecosystems. In a qualitative analysis forest cover types and species composition can be classified, whereas the quantitative analysis can measure and estimate different forest structure parameters related to single trees (e.g., DBH, height, basal area, timber volume, etc.) and to the whole stand (e.g. number of trees per unit area, distribution, etc.). However, to meet the various information requirements, different data sources should be adopted according to the application, the level of detail required and the extension of the area under study. The integration of in-situ measurements with satellite/airborne/UAV imagery, Structure from Motion, LiDAR and geo-information systems offer new possibilities, especially for interpretation, mapping and measuring of forest parameters and will be a challenge for future research and application. This session explores the potentials and limitations of several types of remote sensing applications in forestry, with the focus on the identification and integration of different methodologies and techniques from different sensors and in-situ data for providing qualitative and quantities forest information.

The session aims to collect original or review contributions on the use of data from Low-Earth-Orbiting (LEO) satellites making measurements in the thermosphere-ionosphere to investigate ionospheric anomalies related to space weather, geophysical and artificial sources. In fact, data from LEO satellites can provide a global view of near-Earth space variability and are complementary to ground-based observations, which have limited global coverage. The AMPERE project and integration of the Swarm data into ESA’s Space Weather program are current examples of this. The availability of thermosphere and ionosphere data from the DEMETER satellite and the new operative CSES mission demonstrates that also satellites that have not been specifically designed for space weather studies can provide important contributions to this field. On the other hand, there are evidences that earthquakes can generate electromagnetic anomalies into the near Earth space. A multi-instrumental approach, by using ground observations (magnetometers, magnetotelluric stations, GNSS receivers, etc.) and LEO satellites (DEMETER, Swarm, CSES, etc.) measurements can help in clarifying the missing scientific knowledge of the lithosphere-atmosphere-ionosphere coupling (LAIC) mechanisms before, during and after large earthquakes. We also solicit contributions on studies about other phenomena, such as tropospheric and anthropogenic electromagnetic emissions, that influence the near-Earth electromagnetic and plasma environment on all relevant topics including data processing, data-assimilation in models, space weather case studies, superimposed epoch analyses, etc.

The Open Session on Moon, Mars, Mercury, Venus as terrestrial planets systems aims at presenting highlights of relevant recent results through observations, modelling, laboratory and theory. Key research questions concerning the surface, subsurface, interior and their evolution will be discussed, as well as instruments and techniques from Earth and space.
Review talks on specific topics will be accepted on the basis of invitation by the conveners. Please contact the conveners if you have a topic that may be suitable for a review talk.
The session is open to all branches of terrestrial planets systems geosciences, and is intended as an open forum and discussion between their diverse experts and Earth geoscientists.

Space is at the verge of a paradigm change. Earlier, mostly larger space agencies or international organizations were able to launch spacecraft. Today, the less expensive access to space increases the number of spacecraft, space-faring interest groups, and space-based research fields. The Science with CubeSats session emphasizes this new trend and highlights the possibilities and science objectives that can be achieved by small dedicated spacecraft, which can be built faster and in a more cost-efficient way than larger missions. These CubeSat missions can be either standalone or complementary to larger missions. The session solicits abstracts related to science onboard past, current or future CubeSats missions. We also solicit abstracts related to miniaturized instrument designs that can be accommodated on CubeSats as well as abstracts related to technologies and subsystems that enable science with CubeSats.

Remote sensing and Earth Observations (EO) are used increasingly in the different phases of the risk management and in development cooperation, due to the challenges posed by contemporary issues such as climate change, population pressure and increasingly complex social interactions. EO-based applications have a number of advantages over traditional fieldwork expeditions including safety, the provision a synoptic view of the region of interest, the availability of data extending back several years and, in many cases, cost savings. Fortunately, the advent of new, more powerful sensors and more finely tuned detection algorithms provide the opportunity to image, assess and quantify natural hazards, their consequences, and vulnerable regions, more comprehensively than ever before.
For these reasons, the civil protections, the development agencies and space agencies have now inserted permanently into their programs applications of EO data to risk management. In particular, the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) has a permanent working group on Disasters that supports and promotes the use of EO data for Disaster Risk management (DRM). During the preparedness and prevention phase EO revealed, especially in data scarce environments, fundamental for hazard, vulnerability and risk mapping. EO data intervenes both in the emergency forecast and early emergency response, thanks to the potential of rapid mapping. EO data is also increasingly being used for mapping useful information for planning interventions in the recovery phase, giving to managers and emergency officials a wealth of time-continuous information for assessment and analysis of natural hazards, from small to large regions around the globe. In this framework, CEOS has been working from several years on disasters management related to natural hazards (e.g., volcanic, seismic, landslide and flooding ones), including pilots, demonstrators, recovery observatory concepts, Geohazard Supersites and Natural Laboratory (GSNL) initiatives and multi-hazard management projects.

The session is dedicated to multidisciplinary contributions especially focused on the demonstration of the benefit of the use of EO for the risk management, with an operational user-oriented perspective.
The research presented might focus on:
- Addressed value of EO data in risk/hazard forecasting models (observation of possible precursory events and evaluation of potential predictive capabilities)
- Innovative applications of EO data for rapid mapping.
- Innovative applications of EO data for hazard, vulnerability and risk mapping.
- Innovative applications of EO data for the post-disaster recovery phase.
- Innovative applications in support to disaster risk reduction strategies (eg. landscape planning).
- Development of tools and platforms for assessment and validation of hazard/risk models

The use of different types of remote sensing (e.g. thermal, visual, radar, laser, and/or the fusion of these) might be considered, with an evaluation of their respective pros and cons. Evaluation of current sensors, data capabilities and algorithms will be welcomed, as will suggestions for future sensor considerations, algorithm developments and opportunities for emergency management agency buy-in.
Early stage researchers are strongly encouraged to present their research. Moreover, contributions from international cooperation, such as CEOS and GEO initiatives, are welcome.

Significant recent changes in climate are linked to an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather and weather-related events such as heat and cold waves, floods, wind and snow storms, droughts, wildfires, tropical storms, dust storms, etc. This underscores the critical need for: (i) monitoring such events; (ii) evaluating the potential risks to the environment and to society, and; (iii) planning in terms of adaptation and/or mitigation of the potential impacts. The intensity and frequency of such extreme weather and climate events follow trends expected of a warming planet, and more importantly, such events will continue to occur with increased likelihood and severity.

Agricultural and forested areas cover large surfaces over many countries and are a very important resource that needs to be protected and managed correctly for both the environment and the local communities. Therefore, potential impacts deriving from a changing climate and from more frequent and intense extreme events can pose a serious threat to economic infrastructure and development in the coming decades, and also severely undermine food, fodder, water, and energy security for a growing global population.

Remote Sensing that includes the use of space, aerial and proximal sensors provide valuable tools to monitor, evaluate and understand ecosystem response and impacts at local, regional, and global scales based on spatio-temporal analysis of long-term imagery and related environmental data. Further, studies allowing the quantitative or qualitative evaluation of the risks, including integrating environmental and socio-economical components are particularly important for the stakeholders and decision-makers at all administrative levels. Thus, it is important to better understand links between climate change/extreme events in relation to associated risks for better planning and sustainable management of our resources in an effective and timely manner.

Relevant abstracts will be encouraged to submit a full paper to a related special issu in the journal NHESS (Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences - https://www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net/special_issue980.html).

We especially encourage, but not limit, the participation of Early Career Scientists interested in the field of Natural Hazards.

The session is organized in cooperation with NhET (Natural hazard Early career scientists Team).

The use of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) for geosciences applications has strongly increased in last years. Nowadays the massive diffusion of mini- and micro-RPAS is becoming a valuable alternative to the traditional monitoring and surveying applications, opening new interesting viewpoints. The advantages of the use of RPAS are particularly important in areas characterized by hazardous natural processes, where the acquisition of high resolution remotely sensed data could be a powerful instrument to quickly assess the damages and plan effective rescues without any risk for operators.
In general, the primary goal of these systems is the collection of different data (e.g., images, LiDAR point clouds, gas or radioactivity concentrations, etc.) and the delivery of various products (e.g., 3D models, hazard maps, high-resolution orthoimages, etc.).
The possible use of RPAS has promising perspectives not only for natural hazards, but also in the different field of geosciences, to support a high-resolution geological or geomorphological mapping, or to study the evolution of active processes. The high repeatability of RPAS flight and their limited costs allows the multi-temporal analysis of a studied area. However, methodologies, best practices, advantages and limitations of this kind of applications are yet unclear and/or poorly shared by the scientific community.
This session aims at exploring the open research issues and possible applications of RPAS in geosciences, collecting experiences, case studies, and results, as well as define methodologies and best practices for their practical use. The session will concern the contributions aiming at: i) describing the development of new methods for the acquisition and processing of RPAS dataset, ii) introducing the use of new sensors developed or adapted to RPAS, iii) reporting new data processing methods related to image or point cloud segmentation and classification and iv) presenting original case studies that can be considered an excellent example for the scientific community.

This session will cover instrumentation and measurement techniques for all aspects of space borne scientific sensors. The intention is to encourage a discussion between instrument scientists/engineers across the fields on the one hand and between these people and the data exploiting scientists on the other hand. We welcome contributions discussing new ideas and enabling technologies as well as reviews and presentations of instruments already in space or near launch. In addition, generic talks discussing design principles, miniaturisation, shared use of subsystems, component selection, instrument calibration etc. are most appreciated

This session is seeking papers that address new mission concepts, enabling technologies, and terrestrial analogue studies for future planetary science and exploration. In particular, papers describing mission studies proposed for ESA and international space agency programs are encouraged.

The analysis of spectral remote sensing observations from orbiting spacecraft and rovers in the last decades has improved our knowledge about the different bodies in our Solar System. Visible to near infrared as well as thermal infrared spectroscopy enable the mapping of surface compositions of the different planetary surfaces, through the detection of rock-forming minerals as well as secondary mineralogies. Moreover, future explorations will likely involve other spectroscopic techniques (e.g., Raman) and will achieve new scientific goals including high spatial resolution hyperspectral mapping of planetary bodies (e.g. Mercury, asteroids, Phobos, and outer icy moons) and the search for biosignatures (e.g. Mars, Europa, and Enceladus).
Each Solar System object has its specifics, including surface temperature ranges, atmospheric pressure and composition and exposition level to solar and galactic energetic particles. For these reasons, past and future explorations, both from orbit and in-situ, need the support of laboratory activities involving different types of spectroscopic techniques, sample characterization and the integration of those different data sets.
Papers on experimental works and modeling of laboratory data, as well as the integration of data from different experimental techniques applied to planetary missions are solicited to provide the scientific community the opportunity to exchange their expertise and knowledge.

The session should address all aspects of dust detection in space by both dedicated and non-dedicated dust detectors (i.e., electric field antennas, Faraday cups, etc.), theoretical approaches to detection mechanisms, and laboratory simulations of dust impact.

Solicited talk by Paul Kellogg (Minnesota Institute of Astrophysics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA) focused on the dust impacts detected by STEREO.

Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) is a safe, advanced, non-destructive and non-invasive imaging technique that can be effectively used for inspecting the subsurface as well as natural and man-made structures. During GPR surveys, a source is used to send high-frequency electromagnetic waves into the ground or structure under test; at the boundaries where the electromagnetic properties of media change, the electromagnetic waves may undergo transmission, reflection, refraction and diffraction; the radar sensors measure the amplitudes and travel times of signals returning to the surface.

This session aims at bringing together scientists, engineers, industrial delegates and end-users working in all GPR areas, ranging from fundamental electromagnetics to the numerous fields of applications. With this session, we wish to provide a supportive framework for (1) the delivery of critical updates on the ongoing research activities, (2) fruitful discussions and development of new ideas, (3) community-building through the identification of skill sets and collaboration opportunities, (4) vital exposure of early-career scientists to the GPR research community.

We have identified a series of topics of interest for this session, listed below.

1. Ground Penetrating Radar instrumentation
- Innovative GPR equipment
- Design, realization and optimization of GPR antennas
- Equipment testing and calibration procedures

2. Ground Penetrating Radar methodology
- Survey planning and data acquisition strategies
- Methods and tools for data analysis and interpretation
- Data processing algorithms, electromagnetic modelling, imaging and inversion techniques
- Studying the relationship between GPR sensed quantities and physical properties of inspected subsurface/structures useful for application needs
- Advanced data visualization methods to clearly and efficiently communicate the significance of GPR data

3. Ground Penetrating Radar applications and case studies
- Earth sciences
- Civil engineering
- Environmental engineering
- Archaeology and cultural heritage
- Management of water resources
- Humanitarian mine clearance
- Vital signs detection of trapped people in natural and man-made disasters
- Planetary exploration

4. Contributions on the combined use of Ground Penetrating Radar and other geoscience instrumentation, in all applications fields

5. Communication and education initiatives and methods

Additional information
This session is organized by Members of TU1208 GPR Association (www.gpradar.eu/tu1208); the association is a follow-up initiative of COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) Action TU1208 “Civil engineering applications of Ground Penetrating Radar”.

The new scenario related to the global urbanization process and its impact on environmental sustainability and resilience to natural disasters, especially the ones related to the Climate Change, strongly call holistic multidisciplinary and multi-sectorial approaches for the management of urban areas and Cultural heritages.
These approach aim at providing solutions based on the integration of technologies, methodologies and best practices (remote and local monitoring, simulating and forecasting, characterizing, maintaining, restoring, etc.), with the purpose to increase the resilience of the assets, also thanks to the exploitation of dedicated ICT architectures and innovative eco-solutions and also by accounting the social and economic value of the investigated areas, especially in CH frame.
In this context, attention is also focused on the high-resolution geophysical imaging is assuming a great relevance to manage the underground and to adopt new strategies for the mitigation of geological risks.
This session represents a good forum to present, technologies best practices and share different experiences in the field of the urban areas and CH management and protection, against the multi-risk scenarios and for the different situations at European and worldwide level. Finally, great attention will be devoted to the success cases, with a specific focus on recent international projects on smart cities and Cultural heritage in Europe and other countries.

Progressively stricter requirements in geophysical prospecting, in urban and inter-urban monitoring make it important to look continuously for innovative solutions to new and old complex problems. In particular, investigation and monitoring of pollution, hydrological resources, energy efficiency, cultural heritage, cities and transportation infrastructures nowadays require technological and methodological innovations of geophysical and sensing techniques in order to properly understand the limits of the current state of art and to identify where possible the most convenient strategies to overcome limitations of current approaches. This goal can be achieved either with more advanced solutions in a general sense or with dedicated solutions, particularly suitable for the specific problem at hand.
Integrated prospecting, refined data processing, new models, hardware innovations, new ICT information and telecommunications systems can and should cooperate with each other in this sense. It is important that the scientific community finds a moment for considering the connection between adjacent aspects of the same problem, e.g. to achieve improved geophysical data, safe and reliable environmental and structural monitoring, improved processing as much as possible.
The session “ Innovative instrumentations, techniques, geophysical methods and models for near surface geophysics, cities and transportation infrastructures aims to propose one such moment, where multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary competences can interact with each other, possibly finding possible new ways to cooperate and to exchange experiences reciprocally to reach sustainable solutions.

The IR (MWIR 3-5micron and LWIR 7-12micron) sensing technologies have reached a significant level of maturity and has become a powerful method of Earth surface sensing.
Thermal sensing is currently used for characterize land surface Temperature (LST) and Land Surface Emissivity (LSE) and many other environmental proxy variables, which part of them can have a further relevance when assimilated into hydrological and climatological models.
The usefulness of IR sensing has been experimented in many environmental applications and also in the spatio-temporal domain for spatial patterns identification.
The session welcomes communications based on the actual of next future IR imagery from broadband to multi/hyperspectral applied to proximal or remote sensing (ECOSTRESS, ASTER, Sentinel3, Landsat etc. and airborne sensors) in the following specific objectives:
- IR instruments solution
- Instrument radiometric calibration procedures
- Algorithms retrieval for Temperature and Emissivity
- Soil properties characterization
- Evapo-Transpiration, water plants stress and drought
- IR targets identification
- Archaeological prospection
- Urban areas and infrastructure investigation
- Geophysical phenomena characterization
- IR synergy with optical imagery

LINKED TO THIS SESSION IS A REMOTE SENSING JOURNAL SPECIAL ISSUE "Proximal and Remote Sensing in the MWIR and LWIR Spectral Range" WITH DEADLINE DECEMBER 2019.

https://www.mdpi.com/journal/remotesensing/special_issues/EGU_TIR

SUBMISSIONS TO THIS SESSION AND TO THE RS JOURNAL SPECIAL ISSUE ARE WELCOME

Soil moisture is a crucial variable in many scientific areas, including hydrology, environmental studies, agriculture, climate research and other fields of geoscience. Electromagnetic devices enable fast, non-destructive and easy-to-automate soil water content determination. We invite presentations concerning in situ measurements and monitoring of soil moisture by the use of electromagnetic sensors, including TDR, FDR, GPR, capacitance, impedance inductance and resistance devices.
The subject of the session will include:
 progress in measurement methods and devices,
 calibration and verification studies,
 practical applications of soil moisture measurements in agriculture, environmental studies, hydrology, civil engineering, etc.,
 electromagnetic determination of physical properties of materials in the context of soil moisture measurements,
 standardization of soil moisture measuring methods and equipment,
 computational methods of electromagnetic wave propagation in dispersive and lossy dielectrics including theory and applications of electromagnetic mixing rules and formulas,
 integrated techniques using RF and/or microwave dielectric measurements with other methods such as impedance spectroscopy, THz spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, NMR, etc.

Construction materials (natural stone, aggregates, bricks, cement, lime, clay, etc.) form a wide and heterogeneous group (both from the genetic and technological point of view), which deserves attention from the scientific community due to their long-term use, importance for the society and sensitivity to the environment. Most of the geomaterials have been also used in important monuments of the World Cultural Heritage. However, our knowledge of many aspects of these materials is still rather limited. This session would like to focus on thorough discussions of the following topics:
• characterisation of traditional raw materials and their products, such as natural stone, crushed stone, sands and gravels, clay, inorganic binders (lime, natural cements, hydraulic lime, and gypsum), earth and adobe;
• recovery of traditional and historic knowledge of their processing and use;
• assessment of stability (durability) problems associated to long-term exposure of these materials to the anthroposphere;
• optimization of traditional construction materials (surface treatments, use of organic or inorganic additives, etc.);
• study of interactions and compatibility between traditional construction materials and modern restoration products
• availability of traditional materials in modern society, including comparative studies between small-scale production of materials (e.g. natural cement) and large-scale industrial processing;
• use of local materials as a part of cultural and technological heritage;
• technological properties and their testing (including relevance of individual tests, limits of methodologies, development of new methods);
• on site and laboratory standardized (ASTM, EN, etc.) and non-standardized testing techniques and their limitations for material characterization;
• monitoring and characterization of weathering features;
• monitoring of temperatures, moisture and salts, particularly under the viewpoint of climate change;
• geological evaluation of geomaterials deposits, i.e. different prospecting and exploration approaches applied to specific features of these materials in different geoenvironments, such as geostatistical evaluation, relevance of reserves and resources classification schemes;
• compositional (mineralogical, chemical, etc.) and genetic aspects that influence processing and final use of geomaterials and their quality;
• alternative use for waste materials from the exploitation and processing of geomaterials;
• durability of geomaterials once being placed in buildings or other structures.

Topographic data are fundamental to landscape characterization across the geosciences, for monitoring change and supporting process modelling. Over the last decade, the dominance of laser-based instruments for high resolution data collection has been challenged by advances in digital photogrammetry and computer vision, particularly in ‘structure from motion’ (SfM) algorithms, which offer a new paradigm to geoscientists.

High resolution topographic (HiRT) data are now obtained over spatial scales from millimetres to kilometres, and over durations of single events to lasting time series (e.g. from sub-second to decadal-duration time-lapse), allowing evaluation of dependencies between event magnitudes and frequencies. Such 4D-reconstruction capabilities enable new insight in diverse fields such as soil erosion, micro-topography reconstruction, volcanology, glaciology, landslide monitoring, and coastal and fluvial geomorphology. Furthermore, broad data integration from multiple sensors offers increasingly exciting opportunities.

This session will evaluate the advances in techniques to model topography and to study patterns of topographic change at multiple temporal and spatial scales. We invite contributions covering all aspects of HiRT reconstruction in the geosciences, and particularly those which transfer traditional expertise or demonstrate a significant advance enabled by novel datasets. We encourage contributions describing workflows that optimize data acquisition and post-processing to guarantee acceptable accuracies and to automate data application (e.g. geomorphic feature detection and tracking), and field-based experimental studies using novel multi-instrument and multi-scale methodologies. A major goal is to provide a cross-disciplinary exchange of experiences with modern technologies and data processing tools, to highlight their potentials, limitations and challenges in different environments.

Solicited speaker: Kuo-Jen Chang (National Taipei University of Technology) - UAS LiDAR data processing, quality assessment and geosciences prospects

Weathering, tectonics, gravitational and volcanic processes can transform the regular sediment delivery from unstable slopes in catastrophic landslides. Mass spreading and mass wasting processes can potentially evolve in rapid landslides are among the most dangerous natural hazards that threaten people and infrastructures, directly or through secondary events like tsunamis.

Documentation and monitoring of these phenomena requires the adoption of a variety of methods. The difficulties in detecting their initiation and propagation have progressively prompted research into a wide variety of monitoring technologies. Nowadays, the combination of distributed sensor networks and remote sensing techniques represents a unique opportunity to gather direct observations. A growing number of scientists with diverse backgrounds are dealing with the monitoring of processes ranging from volcano flak deformations to large debris flows and lahars. However, there is a need of improving quality and quantity of both documentation procedures and instrumental observations that would provide knowledge for more accurate hazard assessment, land-use planning and design of mitigation measures, including early warning systems. Successful strategies for hazard assessment and risk reduction would imply integrated methodology for instability detection, modeling and forecasting. Nevertheless, only few studies exist to date in which numerical modelling integrate geological, geophysical, geodetic studies with the aim of understanding and managing of terrestrial and subaqueous volcano slope instability.

Scientists working in the fields of hazard mapping, modelling, monitoring and early warning are invited to present their recent advancements in research and feedback from practitioners and decision makers. We encourage multidisciplinary contributions that integrate field-based on-shore and submarine studies (geological, geochemical), geomorphological mapping and account collection, with advanced techniques, as remote sensing data analysis, geophysical investigations, ground-based monitoring systems, and numerical and analogical modelling of volcano spreading, slope stability and debris flows.

Seismic techniques are becoming widely used to detect and quantitatively characterise a wide variety of natural processes occurring at the Earth’s surface. These processes include mass movements such as landslides, rock falls, debris flows and lahars; glacial phenomena such as icequakes, glacier calving/serac falls, glacier melt and supra- to sub-glacial hydrology; snow avalanches; water storage and water dynamics phenomena such as water table changes, river flow turbulence and fluvial sediment transport. Where other methods often provide limited spatial and temporal coverage, seismic observations allow recovering sequences of events with high temporal resolution and over large areas. These observational capabilities allow establishing connections with meteorological drivers, and give unprecedented insights on the underlying physics of the various Earth’s surface processes as well as on their interactions (chains of events). These capabilities are also of first interest for real time hazards monitoring and early warning purposes. In particular, seismic monitoring techniques can provide relevant information on the dynamics of flows and unstable slopes, and thus allow for the identification of precursory patterns of hazardous events and timely warning.

This session aims at bringing together scientists who use seismic methods to study Earth surface dynamics. We invite contributions from the field of geomorphology, cryospheric sciences, seismology, natural hazards, volcanology, soil system sciences and hydrology. Theoretical, field based and experimental approaches are highly welcome.

The number and quality of seismic stations and networks in Europe continually improves, nevertheless there is always scope to optimize their performance. In this session we welcome contributions from all aspects of seismic network installation, operation and management. This includes site selection; equipment testing and installation; planning and implementing communication paths; policies for redundancy in data acquisition, processing and archiving; and integration of different datasets including GPS and OBS.

Ecosystems, their abiotic and biotic compartments as well as their internal processes and interactions can be interpreted as the result of numerous evolutionary steps during system development. Understanding ecosystem development can be regarded, therefore, as crucial for understanding ecosystem functioning. This session will highlight research in this field within two parts.

The first part of this session is dedicated to experimental approaches to disentangle these complex processes and interactions of the Critical Zone. Well-known flagship sites in this sense are, e.g., Biosphere2 in the USA or Hydrohill in China. In addition, post-mining landscapes worldwide offer multiple opportunities for establishing artificial experimental sites for various purposes. Many experimental sites are based on hydrological catchments as integrative landscape units. Other large-scale experiments focus on selected parts of ecosystems which were modified or transplanted. This part of the session tries to create a global overview on large-scale landscape experiments on ecohydrological, pedological, biogeochemical or ecological processes within the Critical Zone.

The second part is related to the co-evolution of spatial patterns of vegetation, soils and landforms. These patterns are recognized as sources of valuable information that can be used to infer the state and function of ecosystems. Complex interactions and feedbacks between climate, soils and biotic factors are involved in the development of landform-soil-vegetation patterns, and play an important role on the stability of landscapes. In addition, large shifts in the organization of vegetation and soils are associated with land degradation, frequently involving large changes in the functioning of landscapes. This part of the session will focus on ecogeomorphological and ecohydrological aspects of landscapes, conservation of soil resources, and the restoration of ecosystem functions.

Invited talks will be given by Dr. Abad Chabbi (Director of Research at the French National Institute for Agricultural Research, INRA) on “Challenges, insights and perspectives associated with combining observation and experimentation research infrastructure“. Part two of the session is proud to announce the invited talk of Prof. Praveen Kumar (Lovell Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois, USA, Director of the US NSF Critical Zone Observatory for Intensively Managed Landscapes) on "Co-evolution of landscape and carbon profile through depth: understanding the interplay between transport and biochemical dynamics".

This session aims to bridge the existing gap between the process-focused fields (hydrology, geomorphology, soil sciences, natural hazards, planetary science, geo-biology, archaeology) and the technical domain (engineering, computer vision, machine learning, and statistics) where terrain analysis approaches are developed.
The rapid growth of survey technologies and computing advances and the increase of data acquisition from various sources (platforms and sensors) has led to a vast data swamp with unprecedented spatio-temporal range, density, and resolution (from submeter to global scale data), which requires efficient data processing to extract suitable information. The challenge is now the interpretation of surface morphology for a better understanding of processes at a variety of scales, from micro, to local, to global.

We aim to foster inter-disciplinarity with a focus on new techniques in digital terrain analysis and production from any discipline which touches on geomorphometry, including but not exclusive to geomorphology (e.g., tectonic/volcanic/climatic/glacial), planetary science, archaeology, geo-biology, natural hazards, computer vision, remote sensing, image processing.
We invite submissions related to the successful application of geomorphometric methods, innovative geomorphometric variables as well as their physical, mathematical and geographical meanings. Submissions related to new techniques in high-resolution terrain or global scale data production and analysis, independent of the subject, as well as studies focused on the associated error and uncertainty analyses, are also welcome. We actively encourage contributors to present work “in development”, as well as established techniques being used in a novel way. We strongly encourage young scientists to contribute and help drive innovation in our community, presenting their work to this session.

We want to foster collaboration and the sharing of ideas across subject-boundaries, between technique developers and users, enabling us as a community to fully exploit the wealth of knowledge inherent in our digital landscape. Just remember, the driver for new ideas and applications often comes from another speciality, discipline or subject: Your solution may already be out there waiting for you!

In recent years, debris flows are becoming more frequent and larger in magnitude due to global climate change, resulting in the loss of human life and substantial damage to infrastructure. In light of such trends, there is increasing national interest for the development of proactive technologies to prevent and mitigate debris flow disasters. Although many disaster prevention facilities are being built, there are still questions regarding the accuracy and reliability of the methodologies and techniques being utilized for the design of these structures. Therefore, in order to improve existing disaster prevention measures and effectively reduce damage, it is necessary to make scientific and technological strides at each stage of the design process of disaster prevention facilities. This session mainly focuses on methods for the prevention and mitigation of debris flow disasters, including the following topics:
(1) Advanced data collection methods for the collection of site properties such as the utilization of UAV-based LiDAR, spectroscopic techniques, etc.
(2) Prediction techniques that provide quantitative information of debris flow through big data analysis, machine learning models, and numerical modeling
(3) Performance analysis of various types of disaster prevention facilities based on small-scale & large-scaled experiments and numerical simulations
(4) Optimum design of disaster prevention facilities through sensitivity analysis and parametric studies
We also welcome submissions that focus on new techniques and design methodologies related to the 4th industrial revolution.

Keywords
Debris flow, Disaster prevention facilities, Optimum design, Experimental and numerical studies, Big data, Machine learning techniques

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Landslides are one of the most widespread and destructive natural hazards in the world. However, it is possible to reduce hazards caused by the landslides by monitoring and/or early warning systems. Today, lots of systems are available for the purpose and new systems have been developing continuously. The aim of this session is to gain a complete knowledge about the landslide monitoring and early warning systems by introducing different systems used, learning new technologies about the topic, investigating their properties, comparing the techniques and devices.

Keywords: Landslide monitoring systems, early warning systems

Remarkable technological progress in remote sensing and geophysical surveying, together with the recent development of innovative data treatment techniques are providing new scientific opportunities to investigate landslide processes and hazards all over the world. Remote sensing and geophysics, as complementary techniques for the characterization and monitoring of landslides, offer the possibility to effectively infer and correlate an improved information of the shallow -or even deep- geological layers for the development of conceptual and numerical models of slope instabilities. Their ability to provide integrated information about geometry, rheological properties, water content, rate of deformation and time-varying changes of these parameters is ultimately controlling our capability to detect, model and predict landslide processes at different scales (from site specific to regional studies) and over multiple dimensions (2D, 3D and 4D).

This session welcomes innovative contributions and lessons learned from significant case studies using a myriad of remote sensing and geophysical techniques and algorithms, including optical and radar sensors, new satellite constellations (including the emergence of the Sentinel-1A and 1B), Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) / Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) / drones, high spatial resolution airborne LiDAR missions, terrestrial LIDAR, Structure-from-Motion (SfM) photogrammetry, time-lapse cameras, multi-temporal Synthetic Aperture Radar differential interferometry (DInSAR), GPS surveying, Seismic Reflection, Surface Waves Analysis, Geophysical Tomography (seismic and electrical), Seismic Ambient Vibrations, Acoustic Emissions, Electro-Magnetic surveys, low-cost (/cost-efficient) sensors, commercial use of small satellites, Multi-Spectral images, Real time monitoring, in-situ sensing, etc.

The session will provide an overview of the progress and new scientific approaches of Earth Observation (EO) applications, as well as of surface- and borehole-based geophysical surveying for investigating landslides. A special emphasis is expected not only on the collection but also on the interpretation and use of high spatiotemporal resolution data to characterize the main components of slope stability and dynamics, including the type of material, geometrical and mechanical properties, depth of water table, saturation conditions and ground deformation over time. The discussion of recent experiences and the use of advanced processing methods and innovative algorithms that integrate data from remote sensing and geophysics with other survey types are highly encouraged, especially with regard to their use on (rapid) mapping, characterizing, monitoring and modelling of landslide behaviour, as well as their integration on real-time Early Warning Systems and other prevention and protection initiatives. Other pioneering applications using big data treatment techniques, data-driven approaches and/or open code initiatives for investigating mass movements using the above described techniques will also be considered on this session.

We invited prof. Denis Jongmans (Isterre, Université Grenoble Alpes, France), as guest speaker for the session.

This year marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859), the intrepid explorer of the Andes and other regions in the world, and the most famous scientist of his time. Alexander von Humboldt is perhaps best known for his radical new vision of nature as a complex and interconnected global force, thereby becoming the founder of the field of biogeography and laying the ground for modern Earth-System Science approaches. It seems fitting to pay tribute to Alexander von Humboldt’s legacy by reviewing the state of the art in studies of the coupled lithosphere – atmosphere – hydrosphere – biosphere system with a focus on the Andean mountain belt. The Andes have become one of the main natural laboratories in the world to explore these questions and many recent studies have addressed its tectonic and geodynamic evolution, but also the two-way couplings between surface uplift, climatic evolution and biodiversity in the Andes and its foreland. This Union Session will bring together world-leading specialists on these questions with the aim to shed light on both suspected and unexpected couplings in the system.

Over the whole Earth history, the climate has encountered tipping points, shifting from one regulated system to the other. This tilting motion affects both climate and the carbon cycle and has played a major role in the evolution of the Earth climate, at all timescales. Earth History has been ponctuated by large climate changes and carbon cycle reorganizations, from large climate variations occurring in deep times (snowball events, terrestrialisation, Mesozoic and early Cenozoic warm episodes, quaternary glacial cycles…) to past and on-going abrupt events. Many potential triggers of those climate and carbon cycle shifts have been proposed and tested through modeling studies, and against field data, such as those directly or indirectly linked with tectonics (plate motion, orogenesis, opening/closing of seaways, weathering…) and orbital forcing. Given that the Earth climate is currently experiencing an unprecedented transition under anthropogenic pressure, understanding the mechanisms behind the scene is crucial.

Our aim is to point out the most recent results concerning how a complex system as the climate of the Earth has undergone many tipping points and what is the specificity of the future climate changes. Therefore, within this session, we would like to encourage talks discussing advances in our record and modeling of the forces triggering and amplifying the changes of Earth climate and carbon cycle across spatial and temporal scales.

In today’s changing world we need to tap the potential of every talented mind to develop solutions for a sustainable future. The existence of under-representation of different groups (cultural, national and gender) remains a reality across the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM fields) around the world, including the geosciences. This Union Symposium will focus on remaining obstacles that contribute to these imbalances, with the goal of identifying best practices and innovative ideas to overcome obstacles.

EGU is welcoming six high-level speakers from the funding agencies and research centres on both sides of the Atlantic related to geosciences to present efforts and discuss initiatives to tackle both implicit and explicit biases. Speakers are:

Jill Karsten, AGU Diversity and Inclusion Task Force (confirmed)
Erika Marín-Spiotta, University of Wisconsin - Madison (confirmed)
Daniel Conley, Lund University (confirmed)
Giulio di Toro, University of Padua (confirmed)
Liviu Matenco, Utrecht University (confirmed)
Barbara Romanowicz, European Research Council (confirmed)

Atmospheric composition matters to climate, weather forecasting, human health, terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, agricultural productivity, aeronautical operations, renewable energy production, and more. Hence research in atmospheric composition is becoming increasingly cross-cutting and linked to many disciplines including climate, biogeosciences, hydrology, natural hazards, computer and data sciences, socio-economic studies and many others. There is a growing need for atmospheric composition information and an improved understanding of the processes that drive changes in the composition and resulting impacts. While atmospheric composition research is advancing rapidly, there is a need to pay more attention to the translation of this research to support societal needs. Although translational research is a major focus of the health sciences and meteorology, it is in a relatively early stage in atmospheric composition. In this Union Symposium, we plan to highlight the need for, and to illustrate exciting advances in the translation of atmospheric composition research to support services. We will build upon work within the World Meteorological Organization and other communities related to the closer linkages of weather, atmospheric composition, and climate research and related services. We will also articulate the needs for advances in observing systems, models and a better understanding of fundamental processes. This session will also serve as a celebration of the 30 year anniversary of the WMO Global Atmosphere Watch programme and an opportunity for the broader community to envision partnerships needed to facilitate the effective translation of atmospheric composition research.

In October 2018, the IPCC published its special report on impacts of global warming of 1.5 deg C. Another recent, highly publicised study suggests that the planet could pass an irreversible threshold into a so called “Hothouse Earth” state for a temperature increase of as low as 2 degrees C above pre-industrial temperatures, while other studies and commentaries have emphasised the urgency on climate action, arguing that 2020 must be a turning point for global fossil fuel emissions, to increase the chance of maintaining a safe operating space for the humans on the planet. In 2018, the IPCC celebrated its 30th anniversary. The importance of taking action on human-induced climate change has been emphasised with governments around the world since the 1990s yet CO2 concentrations continue to rise and international initiatives have, to date, had limited and insufficient impact to avert some of the most serious consequences of climate change.
How close are we to one or more critical thresholds (cliff edge)? Is there time to avert passing one or more of these thresholds? What can the geoscience community do to reduce the risks? How important is bottom up versus top down action to ensuring the least worst outcome? These are some of the questions we will debate with world experts in their field and authors of the thought papers on these topics.

The geosciences are currently used by policymakers in a wide variety of areas to help guide the decision-making process and ensure that the best possible outcome is achieved. While the importance of scientific advice and the use of evidence in the policymaking process is generally acknowledged by both policymakers and scientists, how scientific advice is integrated and who is responsible is still unclear.

EU Policymakers frequently highlight institutionalised processes for integrating scientific advice into policy such as European Commission's Group of Chief Scientific Advisors (SAM) and the EU Commission’s Register of Expert Groups. But how efficient and accessible are these mechanisms really?

Some emphasise the need for scientists to have their own policy networks in place so that they can share their research outcomes with policymakers who can then use it directly or pass it on to those responsible for relevant legislation. But from funding applications to teaching and even outreach activities – scientists are often already overloaded with additional tasks on top of their own research. Can they really be held responsible for keeping up with the latest policy news and maintaining a constantly changing network of policymakers as well?

This debate will feature a mixed panel of policymakers and geoscientists who have previously given scientific advice. Some key questions that the panel will debate include:
• How can the accessibility of current EU science-advisory mechanisms be improved?
• Are scientists doing enough to share their research?
• And who is responsible for ensuring that quality scientific evidence is used in policymaking?

Speakers will be encouraged to explain any science advisory mechanism that they highlight (e.g. SAM) to ensure that the debate is understood by all those in attendance.

While the panel and subsequent debate will have an EU focus, it is likely that many of the issues discussed will be applicable to countries around the world.

The ever more challenging work environments and increasing pressures on Early Career Scientists e.g. publish or perish, securing grant proposals, developing transferable skills and many more – and all while having a lack of job security. This puts a big strain on Early Career Scientists and this can lead to neglected mental well-being which in turn increases the risk of developing anxiety, depression or other mental health issues. The graduate survey from 2017 (https://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v550/n7677/full/nj7677-549a.html) shows that 12% of respondents had sought help or advice for anxiety or depression during their PhD.

In this debate we want to discuss: Is there a problem? How ECS can take control of their mental wellbeing and prioritise this in the current research environment? And what support would ECS like to see from organisations like EGU or their employers?

"What counts may not be countable and what is countable may not count". Assessments of scientists and their institutions tend to focus on easy-to-measure metrics related to research outputs such as publications, citations, and grants. However, society is increasingly dependent on Earth science research and data for immediate decisions and long-term planning. There is a growing need for scientists to communicate, engage, and work directly with the public and policy makers, and practice open scholarship, especially regarding data and software. Improving the reward and recognition structure to encourage broader participation of scientists in these activities must involve societies, institutions, and funders. EGU, AGU, and JPGU have all taken steps to improve this recognition, from developing new awards to starting journals around the topic of engaging the public to implementing FAIR data practices in the Earth, environmental, and space sciences, but far more is needed for a broad cultural change. How can we fairly value and credit harder-to-measure, these less tangible contributions, compared to the favoured metrics? And how can we shift the emphasis away from the "audit culture" towards measuring performance and excellence? This session will present a distinguished panel of stakeholders discussing how to implement and institutionalize these changes.

Wed, 10 Apr, 12:45-14:00 / Room E1

Plastic pollution is recognized as one of the most serious and urgent problems facing our planet. Rates of manufacture, use and ultimately disposal of plastics continue to soar, posing an enormous threat to the planet’s oceans and rivers and the flora and fauna they support. There is an urgent need for global action, backed by sound scientific understanding, to tackle this problem.

This Union Symposium will address the problems posed to our planet by plastic pollution, and examine options for dealing with the threat.

The Games Night is a space to gather, socialise, and play some games. The catch is that all the games are based on Geoscience! Bring along your own games or try one of the others in the session and meet the people who created them. This will also be your chance to try games featured in the Games for Geoscience session.

Join us to help put some of the world's most vulnerable places on the map. A mapathon is a mapping marathon, where we get together to contribute to OpenStreetMap - the world's free map.
No experience is necessary - just bring your laptop and we will provide the training. Learn more about crowdsourcing, open data and humanitarian response - we will also provide some tips for how to host a mapathon at your home institution.

Plastic Oceans UK have been experts on plastic pollution for nearly a decade - solving the plastic crisis through their science, sustainability and education programmes. This all began with the award-winning documentary A Plastic Ocean, now available for streaming on Netflix.

Through changing attitudes, behaviours and practices on the use and value of plastics, we can stop plastic pollution reaching the ocean within a generation.

Come along to the screening of A Plastic Ocean to understand the impacts of plastic pollution around the world, what action we can take to stop plastics entering our natural world and pose your questions to the film's producer, Jo Ruxton, at the end of film.

http://plasticoceans.uk/