Session programme

The 2021-2022 Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai eruption in Tonga was among the largest of recent decades. The event was notable for its high intensity, generating a convective column that rapidly ascended well into the stratosphere; for the atmospheric pressure wave generated by the explosion, which was detected globally; and for generating a tsunami that was observable across Pacific Ocean shorelines. Following a series of preceding seismic and explosive events since December 2021, the sustained phase of the eruption on 15th January was relatively short lived, but the associated pressure wave and tsunami impacts were the most far-reaching since the eruption of Krakatau volcano in 1883. Tsunamis were recorded both locally and in the far-field, but their mechanism(s) remains uncertain; in the near field being from either (or both of) the collapsing eruption column or a phreatomagmatic explosion as the erupting mass mixed with sea water. In the far-field the tsunamis are possibly best explained by the massive atmospheric pressure wave, that is the first instrumentally recorded eruption-generated event of its type, which affected the entire global atmosphere and ionosphere, causing the observed infrasound waves and unusual long-period seismic resonances.
This interdisciplinary late-breaking session welcomes contributions from all disciplines involved in local and global observations of this eruption and its effects, including remote sensing observations and modeling as well as hazard assessment and estimation of damage and long-term consequences.

Heat extremes are already one of the deadliest meteorological events and they are projected to increase in intensity and frequency due to rising CO2 emissions. The hazard these events pose to society may therefore increase dramatically, and society will need to adapt if the worst impacts are to be avoided. This session therefore welcomes a broad range of new research addressing the challenge of extreme heat. Suitable contributions may: (i) assess the drivers and underlying processes of extreme heat in observations and/or models; (ii) explore the diverse socio-economic impacts of extreme heat events (for example, on aspects relating to human health or economic productivity); (iii) address forecasting of extreme heat at seasonal to sub-seasonal time scales; (iv) focus on societal adaptation to extreme heat, including the implementation of Heat-Health Early Warning Systems for disaster risk reduction.

Worldwide, the frequency and magnitude of extreme floods are steadily increasing, causing large scale flooding, accompanied by great economic/human losses, in inundation-prone areas of the world. It hampers well-being and economic growth in many countries, so that flood forecasting and flood risk assessment & management have become of upmost importance. New and rapidly developing techniques are becoming widespread, such as UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle), ML(Machine Learning) or satellite-based systems (e.g., SAR, Altimeter, SCATSAT-1, etc.). Combined with fit-for-purpose hydrodynamic/hydrological models, these techniques pave the way for breakthroughs in flood assessment and flood risk management. This provides a unique platform for the scientific community to explore the driving mechanisms of flood risk and to build up efficient strategies for flood mitigation and enhancing flood resilience. Emerging advances in computing technologies, coupled with big-data mining, have boosted data-driven applications, among which ML technology bearing flexibility and scalability in pattern extraction has modernised not only scientific thinking but also predictive applications.
This session invites presentations on research based on high-resolution aerial, satellite and ML techniques for flood monitoring and modelling, including mapping of inundation extent, flow depths, velocity fields, flood-induced morphodynamics, and debris transport. It also invites the presentation of innovative modelling techniques of flood hydrodynamics, flood hazard, damage and risk assessment, as well as flood relief prioritization, dam and dike (levees) break floods, and flood mitigation strategies. Studies dealing with the modelling uncertainties and modern techniques for model calibration and validation are particularly welcome. Furthermore, real-time flood inundation mapping is a critical aspect for the evacuation of people from low-lying areas and to reduce casualties. Acquisition of real-time data gained through UAV-based flood inundation mapping, ML and modelling techniques, as well as assessment of uncertainties in real-time aerial surveying are welcome in this session.

With global climate change affecting the frequency and severity of extreme meteorological and hydrological events, it is particularly necessary to develop models and methodologies for a better understanding and forecasting of present-day weather induced hazards. Future changes in the event characteristics as well as changes in vulnerability and exposure are among the further factors for determining risks for infrastructure and society, and for the development of suitable adaptation measures. This session considers extreme events that lead to disastrous hazards induced by severe weather and climate change. These can, e.g., be tropical or extratropical rain- and wind-storms, hail, tornadoes or lightning events, but also (toxic) floods, long-lasting periods of drought, periods of extremely high or of extremely low temperatures, etc. Papers are sought which contribute to the understanding of their occurrence (conditions and meteorological development), to assessment of their risk (economic losses, infrastructural damages, human fatalities, pollution), and their future changes, to the ability of models to reproduce them and methods to forecast them or produce early warnings, to proactive planning focusing on damage prevention and damage reduction. In order to understand fundamental processes, papers are also encouraged that look at complex extreme events produced by combinations or sequences of factors that are not extreme by themselves. The session serves as a forum for the interdisciplinary exchange of research approaches and results, involving meteorology, hydrology, environmental effects, hazard management and applications like insurance issues.

Lightning is the energetic manifestation of electrical breakdown in the atmosphere, occurring as a result of charge separation processes operating on micro and macro-scales, leading to strong electric fields within thunderstorms. Lightning is associated with tropical storms and severe weather, torrential rains and flash floods. It has significant effects on various atmospheric layers and drives the fair-weather electric field. It is a strong indicator of convective processes on regional and global scales, potentially associated with climate change. Thunderstorms and lightning are also associated with the production of energetic radiation up to tens of MeV on time scales from sub-millisecond (Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes) to tens of seconds (gamma-ray glows).

This session seeks contributions from research in atmospheric electricity with emphasis on:

Atmospheric electricity in fair weather and the global electrical circuit
Effects of dust and volcanic ash on atmospheric electricity
Thunderstorm dynamics and microphysics
Middle atmospheric Transient Luminous Events
Energetic radiation from thunderstorms and lightning
Experimental investigations of lightning discharge physics processes
Remote sensing of lightning and related phenomena by space-based sensors
Thunderstorms, flash floods, tropical storms and severe weather
Modeling of thunderstorms and lightning
Now-casting and forecasting of thunderstorms using machine learning and AI
Regional and global lightning detection networks
Lightning Safety and its Societal Effects

Climate-induced geohazards are known to increase with climate change causing more intense rainfall and more frequent extreme weather events. Use of vegetation on potentially unstable slopes and along stream banks is an example of Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) that can mitigate climate induced geohazards due their role at the soil-atmosphere interface. Vegetating slopes or stream banks are also key for ecological restoration and rewilding, providing several additional co-benefits. However, researchers in different fields of science or practitioners do not easily communicate, even though they are addressing aspects of the same problem.
Interdisciplinary research and bilateral communication are needed to document the effects of vegetation in hazard-prone areas in a measurable and applicable manner. These NBS must have an ecological approach, where in the long-term perspective, a multiple approach for biodiversity and ecosystem services will give mutual synergies.

This session aims to stimulate interdisciplinary communication, knowledge exchange and dissemination on plant-soil-atmosphere interaction, with focus on vegetation mitigating climate-induced geohazards, particularly shallow landslides and erosion.
Contributions documenting how vegetation and roots can be beneficial also in land use planning, restoration ecology, climate change adaptation are welcome within the fields of geotechnical engineering, plant ecology, biodiversity, alpine timberline, hydrogeology and agronomy.
Interaction between research and industry, with involvement of NBS entrepreneurs, are particularly welcome.

Topics of interested are listed, including, but not limited to:
• Experimental, either laboratory or field, or numerical investigation of plant-soil-atmosphere interaction and its relation to slope or bank stability
• How to implement morpho-mechanical parameters of plants in engineering design?
• Measuring and quantifying the effects of vegetation as NBS to mitigate climate-induced geohazards
• Tools, approaches, and frameworks demonstrating how vegetation can be used to mitigate climate-induced geohazards, while providing additional co-benefits
• Investigation on upscaling potential from laboratory to slope and catchment scale
• Case studies of restoration or stabilisation works, especially on design principles and performance assessment
• Ensuring interdisciplinary interaction and mutual synergies for studies containing vegetation as NBS among different disciplines

In many parts of the world, weather represents one of the major uncertainties affecting performance and management of agricultural systems. Due to global climate changes the climatic variability and the occurrence of extreme weather events is likely to increase leading to substantial increase in agricultural risk and destabilisation of farm incomes. This issue is not only important for farm managers but also for policy makers, since income stabilisation in agriculture is frequently considered as a governmental task.

The aim of this session is to discuss the state of the art research in the area of analysis and management of weather-related risks in agriculture. Both structural and non-structural measures can be used to reduce the impact of climate variability including extreme weather on crop production. While the structural measures include strategies such as irrigation, water harvesting, windbreaks etc., the non-structural measures include the use of the medium-range weather forecast and crop insurance.

The topic is at the borderline of different disciplines, in particular agricultural and financial economics, meteorology, modelling and agronomy. Thus, the session offers a platform to exchange ideas and views on weather-related risks across these disciplines with the focus on quantifying the impact of extreme weather on agricultural production including impacts of climate change, analysis of financial instruments that allow reducing or sharing weather-related risks, evaluation of risk management strategies on the farm level, development of the theory of risk management and to exchange practical experiences with the different types of weather insurance.

This session has been promoted by:
• Natural hazard Early career scientists Team (NhET, https://blogs.egu.eu/divisions/nh/tag/early-career-scientists/)
• Research Center for the Management of Agriculutral and Environmental Risks (CEIGRAM, http://www.ceigram.upm.es/ingles/)

Flash floods triggered by heavy precipitation in small- to medium-sized catchments often cause catastrophic damages, which are largely explained by the very short response times and high specific peak discharge. Often, they are also associated with geomorphic processes such as erosion, sediment transport, debris flows and shallow landslides. The anticipation of such events is crucial for efficient crisis management. However, their predictability is still affected by large uncertainties, due to the fast evolution of triggering rainfall events, the lack of appropriate observations, the high variability and non-linearity in the physical processes, the high variability of societal exposure, and the complexity of societal vulnerability.
This session aims to illustrate current advances in monitoring, modeling, and short-range forecasting of flash floods and associated geomorphic processes, including their societal impacts.
Contributions related to the floods that occured in July 2021 in Germany and Western Europe, and in October 2020 in France and Italy (Alex storm) are particularly encouraged this year.
Contributions on the following scientific themes are specifically expected:
- Monitoring and nowcasting of heavy precipitation events based on radar and remote sensing (satellite, lightning, etc.) to complement rain gauge networks;
- Short-range (0-6h) heavy precipitation forecasting based on NWP models, with a focus on seamless forecasting strategies and ensemble strategies for the representation of uncertainties;
- Understanding and modeling of flash floods and associated geomorphic processes at appropriate space-time scales;
- Development of integrated hydro-meteorological forecasting chains and new modeling approaches for predicting flash floods and/or rainfall-induced geomorphic hazards in gauged and ungauged basins;
- New direct and indirect (proxy data) observation techniques and strategies for the observation or monitoring of hydrological reactions and geomorphic processes, and the validation of forecasting approaches;
- Development of impact-based modeling and forecasting approaches, including inundation mapping and/or specific impacts modeling approaches for the representation of societal vulnerability.

Urban hydrological processes are characterized by high spatial variability and short response times resulting from a high degree of imperviousness. Therefore, urban catchments are especially sensitive to space-time variability of precipitation at small scales. High-resolution precipitation measurements in cities are crucial to properly describe and analyses urban hydrological responses. At the same time, urban landscapes pose specific challenges to obtaining representative precipitation and hydrological observations.

This session focuses on high-resolution precipitation and hydrological measurements in cities and on approaches to improve modeling of urban hydrological response, including:
- Novel techniques for high-resolution precipitation measurement in cities and for multi-sensor data merging to improve the representation of urban precipitation fields.
- Novel approaches to hydrological field measurements in cities, including data obtained from citizen observatories.
- Precipitation modeling for urban applications, including convective permitting models and stochastic rainfall generators.
- Novel approaches to modeling urban catchment properties and hydrological response, from physics-based, conceptual and data-driven models to stochastic and statistical conceptualization.
- Applications of measured precipitation fields to urban hydrological models to improve hydrological prediction at different time horizons to ultimately enable improved management of urban drainage systems (including catchment strategy development, flood forecasting and management, real-time control, and proactive protection strategies aimed at preventing flooding and pollution).
- Strategies to deal with upcoming challenges, including climate change and rapid urbanization.

Extreme hydro-meteorological events drive many hydrologic and geomorphic hazards, such as floods, landslides and debris flows, which pose a significant threat to modern societies on a global scale. The continuous increase of population and urban settlements in hazard-prone areas in combination with evidence of changes in extreme weather events lead to a continuous increase in the risk associated with weather-induced hazards. To improve resilience and to design more effective mitigation strategies, we need to better understand the aspects of vulnerability, risk, and triggers that are associated with these hazards.
This session aims at gathering contributions dealing with various hydro-meteorological hazards that address the aspects of vulnerability analysis, risk estimation, impact assessment, mitigation policies and communication strategies. Specifically, we aim to collect contributions from academia, the industry (e.g. insurance) and government agencies (e.g. civil protection) that will help identify the latest developments and ways forward for increasing the resilience of communities at local, regional and national scales, and proposals for improving the interaction between different entities and sciences.
Contributions focusing on, but not limited to, novel developments and findings on the following topics are particularly encouraged:
- Physical and social vulnerability analysis and impact assessment of hydro-meteorological hazards
- Advances in the estimation of socioeconomic risk from hydro-meteorological hazards
- Characteristics of weather and precipitation patterns leading to high-impact events
- Relationship between weather and precipitation patterns and socio-economic impacts
- Hazard mitigation procedures
- Strategies for increasing public awareness, preparedness, and self-protective response
- Impact-based forecast, warning systems, and rapid damage assessment.
- Insurance and reinsurance applications

The assessment of precipitation variability and uncertainty is crucial in a variety of applications, such as flood risk forecasting, water resource assessments, evaluation of the hydrological impacts of climate change, determination of design floods, and hydrological modelling in general. This session aims to gather contributions on research, advanced applications, and future needs in the understanding and modelling of precipitation variability, and its sources of uncertainty.
Contributions focusing on one or more of the following issues are particularly welcome:
- Novel studies aimed at the assessment and representation of different sources of uncertainty versus natural variability of precipitation.
- Methods to account for accuracy in precipitation time series due to, e.g., change and improvement of observation networks.
- Uncertainty and variability in spatially and temporally heterogeneous multi-source precipitation products.
- Estimation of precipitation variability and uncertainty at ungauged sites.
- Precipitation data assimilation.
- Process conceptualization and approaches to modelling of precipitation at different spatial and temporal scales, including model parameter identification and calibration, and sensitivity analyses to parameterization and scales of process representation.
- Modelling approaches based on ensemble simulations and methods for synthetic representation of precipitation variability and uncertainty.
- Scaling and scale invariance properties of precipitation fields in space and/or in time.
- Physically and statistically based approaches to downscale information from meteorological and climate models to spatial and temporal scales useful for hydrological modelling and applications.

Hydro-meteorological extremes such as floods, droughts, storms, or heatwaves often affect large regions therefore causing large damages and costs. Hazard and risk assessments, aiming at reducing the negative consequences of such extreme events, are often performed with a focus on one location despite the spatially compounding nature of extreme events. While spatial extremes receive a lot of attention by the media, little is known about their driving factors and it remains challenging to assess their risk by modelling approaches. Key challenges in advancing our understanding of spatial extremes and in developing new modeling approaches include the definition of multivariate events, the quantification of spatial dependence, the dealing with large dimensions, the introduction of flexible dependence structures, the estimation of their probability of occurrence, the identification of potential drivers for spatial dependence, and linking different spatial scales. This session invites contributions which help to better understand processes governing spatial extremes and/or propose new ways of describing and modeling spatially compounding events at different spatial scales.

This session brings together scientists, forecasters, practitioners and stakeholders interested in exploring the use of ensemble hydro-meteorological forecast techniques in hydrological applications: e.g., flood control and warning, reservoir operation for hydropower and water supply, transportation, and agricultural management. It will address the understanding of sources of predictability and quantification and reduction of predictive uncertainty of hydrological extremes in deterministic and ensemble hydrological forecasting. Uncertainty estimation in operational forecasting systems is becoming a more common practice. However, a significant research challenge and central interest of this session is to understand the sources of predictability and development of approaches, methods and techniques to enhance predictability (e.g. accuracy, reliability etc.) and quantify and reduce predictive uncertainty in general. Ensemble data assimilation, NWP preprocessing, multi-model approaches or hydrological postprocessing can provide important ways of improving the quality (e.g. accuracy, reliability) and increasing the value (e.g. impact, usability) of deterministic and ensemble hydrological forecasts. The models involved with the methods for predictive uncertainty, data assimilation, post-processing and decision-making may include machine learning models, ANNs, catchment models, runoff routing models, groundwater models, coupled meteorological-hydrological models as well as combinations (multimodel) of these. Demonstrations of the sources of predictability and subsequent quantification and reduction in predictive uncertainty at different scales through improved representation of model process (physics, parameterization, numerical solution, data support and calibration) and error, forcing and initial state are of special interest to the session.

Drought and water scarcity are important issues in many regions of the Earth. While the projected increase in the severity and frequency of droughts can lead to water scarcity situations, particularly in regions that are already water-stressed, overexploitation of available water resources can exacerbate the consequences of droughts. In the worst case, this can lead to long-term environmental and socio-economic impacts. Drought Monitoring and Forecasting are recognized as one of three pillars of effective drought management, and it is, therefore, necessary to improve both monitoring and sub-seasonal to seasonal forecasting for droughts and water availability and to develop innovative indicators and methodologies that translate the information provided into effective drought early warning and risk management. This session addresses statistical, remote sensing and physically-based techniques, aimed at monitoring, modelling and forecasting hydro-meteorological variables relevant to drought and/or water scarcity. These include, but are not limited to, precipitation, snow cover, soil moisture, streamflow, groundwater levels, and extreme temperatures. The development and implementation of drought indicators meaningful to decision-making processes, and ways of presenting and integrating these with the needs and knowledge of water managers, policymakers and other stakeholders, are further issues that are addressed. The session aims to bring together scientists, practitioners and stakeholders in the fields of hydrology and meteorology, as well as in the field of water resources and/or drought risk management, also including drought and water scarcity interrelationship, hydrological impacts, and feedbacks with society. Particularly welcome are applications and real-world case studies in regions subject to significant water stress, where the importance of drought warning, supported through state-of-the-art monitoring and forecasting of water resources availability, is likely to become more important in the future.

With recent extreme events reaching far beyond existing records, such as the Pacific Northwest heat wave and severe flooding in Western Europe, eastern US and across China, the discussion to what extent we are prepared for unprecedented extremes and whether existing methods and models are able to capture them has flared up. It is becoming increasingly essential to understand and quantify plausible rare, high-impact events for risk management and adaptation.
Methods to understand and evaluate low-likelihood extreme events have seen substantial advancements over the recent years. Event attribution studies are now providing rapid analyses of unprecedented extreme events; physical climate storylines are developed to evaluate plausible rather than likely events; causal inference is used to understand drivers of very rare events; near-miss events and potential analogues in space, historical and paleo archives are evaluated; spatial extreme value analysis and machine learning methods are applied, large ensembles representing various outcomes are generated, such as Single Model Initial-condition Large Ensembles (SMILEs); and weather prediction systems are increasingly being employed, such as the through the UNprecedented Simulated Extremes using ENsembles (UNSEEN) approach.
This session aims to bring together communities from weather prediction, climate projection, hydrology to impact and risk management, and to learn from the variety of methods to understand and quantify low-likelihood extreme events in the present and future climate. The session welcomes contributions at all temporal and spatial scales, and all types of extremes and invites novel methods – including downward counterfactuals and causal inference – as well as new results on unforeseen climate risks – including those from compound events and low-likelihood high-warming outcomes.

This interactive session aims to bridge the gap between science and practice in operational forecasting for different climate and water-related natural hazards including their dynamics and interdependencies. Operational (early) warning systems are the result of progress and innovations in the science of forecasting. New opportunities have risen in physically based modelling, coupling meteorological and hydrological forecasts, ensemble forecasting, impact-based forecasting and real time control. Often, the sharing of knowledge and experience about developments are limited to the particular field (e.g. flood forecasting or landslide warnings) for which the operational system is used. Increasingly, humanitarian, disaster risk management and climate adaptation practitioners are using forecasts and warning information to enable anticipatory/ early action that saves lives and livelihoods. It is important to understand their needs, their decision-making process and facilitate their involvement in forecasting and warning design and implementation (co-development).

The focus of this session will be on bringing the expertise from different fields together as well as exploring differences, similarities, problems and solutions between forecasting systems for varying hazards including climate emergency. Real-world case studies of system implementations - configured at local, regional, national, continental and global scales - will be presented, including trans-boundary issues. An operational warning system can include, for example, monitoring of data, analysing data, making and visualizing forecasts, giving warning signals and suggesting early action and response measures.

Contributions are welcome from both scientists and practitioners who are involved in developing and using operational forecasting and/or management systems for climate and water-related hazards, such as flood, drought, tsunami, landslide, hurricane, hydropower, pollution etc. We also welcome contributions from early career practitioners and scientists.

Urban areas are at risk from multiple hazards, including urban flooding, droughts and water shortages, sea level rise, disease spread and issues with food security. Consequently, many urban areas are adapting their approach to hazard management and are applying Green Infrastructure (GI) solutions as part of wider integrated schemes.

This session aims to provide researchers with a platform to present and discuss the application, knowledge gaps and future research directions of urban GI and how sustainable green solutions can contribute towards an integrated and sustainable urban hazard management approach. We welcome original research contributions across a series of disciplines with a hydrological, climatic, soil sciences, ecological and geomorphological focus, and encourage the submission of abstracts which demonstrate the use of GI at a wide range of scales and geographical distributions. We invite contributions focusing on (but not restricted to):

· Monitored case studies of GI, Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) or Nature Based Solutions (NBS), which provide an evidence base for integration within a wider hazard management system;

· GIS and hazard mapping analyses to determine benefits, shortcomings and best management practices of urban GI implementation;

· Laboratory-, field- or GIS-based studies which examine the effectiveness or cost/benefit ratio of GI solutions in relation to their wider ecosystem potential;

· Methods for enhancing, optimising and maximising GI system potential;

· Innovative and integrated approaches or systems for issues including (but not limited to): bioretention/stormwater management; pollution control; carbon capture and storage; slope stability; urban heat exchange, and; urban food supply;

· Catchment-based approaches or city-scale studies demonstrating the opportunities of GI at multiple spatial scales;

· Rethinking urban design and sustainable and resilient recovery following crisis onset;

· Engagement and science communication of GI systems to enhance community resilience.

Forecasting the weather, in particular severe and extreme weather has always been the most important subject in meteorology. This session will focus on recent research and developments on forecasting techniques, in particular those designed for operations and impact oriented. Contributions related to nowcasting, meso-scale and convection permitting modelling, ensemble prediction techniques, and statistical post-processing are very welcome.
Topics may include:
 Nowcasting methods and systems, use of observations and weather analysis
 Mesoscale and convection permitting modelling
 Ensemble prediction techniques
 Ensemble-based products for severe/extreme weather forecasting
 Seamless deterministic and probabilistic forecast prediction
 Post-processing techniques, statistical methods in prediction
 Use of machine learning, data mining and other advanced analytical techniques
 Impact oriented weather forecasting
 Presentation of results from relevant international research projects of EU, WMO, and EUMETNET etc.

This session investigates mid-latitude cyclones and storms on both hemispheres. We invite studies considering cyclones in different stages of their life cycles from the initial development, to large- and synoptic-scale conditions influencing their growth to a severe storm, up to their dissipation and related socioeconomic impacts.
Papers are welcome, which focus also on the diagnostic of observed past and recent trends, as well as on future storm development under changed climate conditions. This will include storm predictability studies on different scales. Finally, the session will also invite studies investigating impacts related to storms: Papers are welcome dealing with vulnerability, diagnostics of sensitive social and infrastructural categories and affected areas of risk for property damages. Which risk transfer mechanisms are currently used, depending on insured and economic losses? Which mechanisms (e.g. new reinsurance products) are already implemented or will be developed in order to adapt to future loss expectations?

It becomes increasingly accepted that many regions all over the world are experiencing an increase in the frequency of extreme rainfall events and potentially in their properties. For predicting the impact of future climate change on the landscape, it is therefore vital to understand the dynamics of surface processes under extreme events. Furthermore, focusing on the conditions necessary for extreme events to occur can provide key insights into past changes in climate at different time scales. Extreme storms cause a multitude of hydrogeomorphic and natural hazards responses, including floods and respective fluvial responses, hillslope erosion and failures, and debris flows from slopes into fluvial systems. Measuring, evaluating, and predicting the impacts of extreme rainstorms, however, remains challenging due to the difficult-to-predict and complex nature of storms and rainfall-surface interactions.
This interdisciplinary session focuses on the causative chain which links the deterministic and mostly stochastic nature of the synoptic to meso/regional and watershed scales of extreme storms, to their respective transformation into watershed, slope, and stream hydrology, and to their geomorphic impact. We welcome studies from all the parts of this chain, from all climates, and at all temporal scales, that are focusing on the hydrological responses to extreme events and on their imprints on the landscape through erosion and sediment movement. We favor studies with emphasis on the final noticeable impact of extreme events on the landscape and/or on the integrated long-term consequences of extreme storm regime on landscape evolution. Especially, we encourage studies presenting new physical/stochastic modeling approaches that explicitly investigated the impact of extreme events on the landscape.

Low-lying coastal areas can be an early casualty to sea-level rise, especially where enhanced by land subsidence. An ever increasing number of studies indicates that land subsidence due to natural and anthropogenic causes has induced damage to wetland ecosystems in many countries worldwide, and has increased flooding hazard and risk. Coastal subsidence causes include excessive groundwater extraction from aquifers, peat oxidation due to surface water drainage through land reclamation, urbanization and agricultural use, as well as sediment starvation due to construction of dams and artificial levees. Contrary to the global processes behind sea-level rise, natural and anthropogenic coastal subsidence is primarily a local phenomenon, and its causes and severity may vary substantially from place to place.
The combination of geological and historical measurements with remote sensing data is required to understand all drivers of coastal vertical land motion and the contributions to past, present, and future subsidence.
Understanding coastal subsidence requires multidisciplinary expertise, models, and remote and in-situ observations from geology, geodesy, natural hazards, oceanography, hydrogeology, and geomechanics. In this session, we aim to bring together all the involved disciplines. We invite contributions on all aspects of coastal subsidence research and applications, including recent advances on: i) measurement through ground-based, aerial and satellite remote sensing techniques, ii) numerical models and future projections, iii) their applicability to distinguish between the different drivers contributing to land subsidence, and iv) quantification of coastal hazards associated with relative sea-level rise. In particular, efforts towards characterizing human intervention on coastal vertical land motion are welcomed.

Transport of sediments in geophysical flows occurs in mountainous, fluvial, estuarine, coastal, aeolian and other natural or man-made environments on Earth, while also shapes the surface of planets such as Mars, Titan, and Venus. Understanding the motion of sediments is still one of the most fundamental problems in hydrological and geophysical sciences. Such processes can vary across a wide range of scales - from the particle to the landscape - which can directly impact both the form (geomorphology) and, on Earth, the function (ecology and biology) of natural systems and the built infrastructure surrounding them. In particular, feedback between flow and sediment transport as well as interparticle interactions including size sorting are a key processes in surface dynamics, finding a range of important applications, from hydraulic engineering and natural hazard mitigation to landscape evolution and river ecology.

Specific topics of interest include (but are not restricted to):

A) particle-scale interactions and transport processes:
-mechanics of entrainment and disentrainment (for fluvial and aeolian flows)
-momentum (turbulent impulses) and energy transfer between turbulent flows and particles
-upscaling and averaging techniques for stochastic transport processes
-interaction among grain sizes in poorly sorted mixtures, including particle segregation

B) reach-scale sediment transport and geomorphic processes
-bedform generation, evolution and disintegration dynamics (e.g. for dunes and other formations)
-discrete element modelling of transport processes and upscaling into continuum frameworks
-derivation and solution of equations for multiphase flows (including fluvial and aeolian flows)
-shallow water hydro-sediment-morphodynamic processes

C) large-scale, highly unsteady and complex water-sediment flows:
-flash floods, debris flows and landslides due to extreme rainfall
-natural and build dam failures and compound disasters (due to landslides, debris flow intrusion and downstream flooding)
-reservoir operation schemes and corresponding fluvial processes
-design of hydraulic structures such as fish passages, dam spillways, also considering the impact of sediment
-dredging, maintenance and regulation for large rivers and navigational waterways

Sediment transport is a fundamental component of all geomorphic systems (including fluvial, aeolian, coastal, hillslopes and glacial), yet it is something that we still find surprisingly difficult both to monitor and to model. Robust data on where and how sediment transport occurs are needed to address outstanding research questions, including the spatial and temporal controls on critical shear stress, the influence of varying grain size distributions, and the impact of large magnitude events. Recent developments have provided a) new opportunities for measuring sediment transport in the field; and b) new ways to represent sediment transport in both physical laboratory models and in numerical models. These developments include (but are not limited to) the application of techniques such as seismic and acoustic monitoring, 3D imaging (e.g. CT and MRI scanning), deployment of sensors such as accelerometers, replication of field topography using 3D printing, use of luminescence as a sediment tracer, remote sensing of turbidity, discrete numerical modelling, and new statistical approaches.

In this session we welcome contributions from all areas of geomorphology that develop new methods for monitoring and modelling all types of sediment transport, or that showcase an application of such methods. Contributions from ECRs and underrepresented groups are particularly encouraged.

Volcanoes play an essential role in society through their impacts on human
life, infrastructure, and the environment. Those in marine settings pose
hazards, such as the awakening of submarine volcanoes, underwater
explosions, and sudden release of harmful gases from the volcano or
overlying water column, and tsunami inundation of neighboring coastlines
due to caldera collapse, submarine landslides, or entry of pyroclastic
flows into the sea. Specifically, volcanic degassing plays a dominant role
in forcing the timing and nature of volcanic unrest and eruptions in such
settings. On the other hand, quiescent passive degassing and
smaller-magnitude eruptions can impact the regional climate system. For
those reasons understanding the exsolution processes of gas species
dissolved in magma and measuring their emissions is crucial to
characterize the eruptive mechanism and evaluate the subsequent impacts on
the atmospheric composition, the environment, and the biosphere.
The session will be focused on multidisciplinary monitoring volcanic
environments, including in the vicinity of cities and highly touristic areas. Since
gas emissions are measured and monitored via in-situ and remote sensing
techniques, we invite contributions to studies that gain insights into the
subterranean-surface processes and quantify their impacts. In addition, we
encourage studies that focus on modelling the subsurface and
atmospheric/climatic processes and laboratory experiments that are
fundamental to the interpretation of field-based and satellite
observations. Finally, we will undoubtedly discuss the ability to
recognize the hazards and their impact on people, emergency management by
civil protection authorities, community education, case studies and risk
mitigation to reduce the effects of volcanism and its societal impact.

The session deals with the documentation and modelling of the tectonic, deformation and geodetic features of any type of volcanic area, on Earth and in the Solar System. The focus is on advancing our understanding on any type of deformation of active and non-active volcanoes, on the associated behaviours, and the implications for hazards. We welcome contributions based on results from fieldwork, remote-sensing studies, geodetic and geophysical measurements, analytical, analogue and numerical simulations, and laboratory studies of volcanic rocks.

Studies may be focused at the regional scale, investigating the tectonic setting responsible for and controlling volcanic activity, both along divergent and convergent plate boundaries, as well in intraplate settings. At a more local scale, all types of surface deformation in volcanic areas are of interest, such as elastic inflation and deflation, or anelastic processes, including caldera and flank collapses. Deeper, sub-volcanic deformation studies, concerning the emplacement of intrusions, as sills, dikes and laccoliths, are most welcome.

We also particularly welcome geophysical data aimed at understanding magmatic processes during volcano unrest. These include geodetic studies obtained mainly through GPS and InSAR, as well as at their modelling to imagine sources.



The session includes, but is not restricted to, the following topics:

volcanism and regional tectonics;
formation of magma chambers, laccoliths, and other intrusions;
dyke and sill propagation, emplacement, and arrest;
earthquakes and eruptions;
caldera collapse, resurgence, and unrest;
flank collapse;
volcano deformation monitoring;
volcano deformation and hazard mitigation;
volcano unrest;
mechanical properties of rocks in volcanic areas.

Developing physical-mathematical models able to describe the evolution of eruptive phenomena is a key point in volcanology. In the case of high-risk phenomena, such as lava flows or ash dispersal, predicting their spatial and temporal evolution and determining the potentially affected areas is fundamental in supporting every action directed at mitigating the risk as well as for environmental planning.
This session aims to address unresolved challenging questions related to complex geophysical flow modeling and simulation, gathering physical-mathematical models, numerical methods and field and satellite data analysis in order to: (i) expand knowledge of complex volcanic processes and their space-time dynamics; (ii) monitor and model volcanic phenomena; (iii) evaluate model robustness through validation against real case studies, analytical solutions and laboratory experiments; (iv) quantify the uncertainty propagation through both forward (sensitivity analyses) and inverse (optimization/calibration) modelling in all components of volcanic hazard modelling in response to eruptive crises.

Glaciers and volcanoes interact in a number of ways, including instances where volcanic/geothermal activity alters glacier dynamics or mass balance, via subglacial eruptions or the deposition of supraglacial tephra. Glaciers can also impact volcanism, for example by directly influencing mechanisms of individual eruptions resulting in the construction of distinct edifices. Glaciers may also influence patterns of eruptive activity when mass balance changes adjust the load on volcanic systems, the water resources and hydrothermal systems. However, because of the remoteness of many glacio-volcanic environments, these interactions remain poorly understood.
In these complex settings, hazards associated with glacier-volcano interaction can vary from lava flows to volcanic ash, lahars, landslides, pyroclastic flows or glacial outburst floods. These can happen consecutively or simultaneously and affect not only the earth, but also glaciers, rivers and the atmosphere. As accumulating, melting, ripping or drifting glaciers generate signals as well as degassing, inflating/ deflating or erupting volcanoes, the challenge is to study, understand and ultimately discriminate these potentially coexisting signals. We wish to fully include geophysical observations of current and recent events with geological observations and interpretations of deposits of past events. Glaciovolcanoes also often preserve a unique record of the glacial or non-glacial eruptive environment that is capable of significantly advancing our knowledge of how Earth's climate system evolves.
We invite contributions that deal with the mitigation of the hazards associated with ice-covered volcanoes in the Arctic, Antarctic or globally, that improve the understanding of signals generated by ice-covered volcanoes, or studies focused on volcanic impacts on glaciers and vice versa. Research on recent activity is especially welcomed. This includes geological observations e.g. of deposits in the field or remote-sensing data, together with experimental and modelling approaches. We also invite contributions from any part of the world on past activity, glaciovolcanic deposits and studies that address climate and environmental change through glaciovolcanic studies. We aim to bring together scientists from volcanology, glaciology, seismology, geodesy, hydrology, geomorphology and atmospheric science in order to enable a broad discussion and interaction.

The Fagradalsfjall eruption on the Reykjanes Peninsula of Iceland started on 19 March 2021. It provides a unique opportunity to study all aspects of a low-intensity effusive basaltic eruption in great detail using multidisciplinary approaches. The Fagradalsfjall eruption followed a several-week long period of intense seismicity and deformation associated with formation of the feeding dike. The eruption terminated on September 18, 2021, after producing a lava field covering about 4.5 km2. The eruption progressed through several phases, each characterized by different emission sources, eruptive style, intensities, and associated hazards. The eruption may be representative of the formation of a shield volcano, a process that the scientific community has had limited chances to observe in real time.

We welcome submissions on sustained low-intensity basaltic eruptions including (but not limited to) the 2021 Fagradalsfjall eruption; their plumbling systems, eruptive products, and impacts. We particularly encourage comparative studies across different regions that may help us to better understand the volcanic processes that are active in the Fagradalsfjall eruption.

Topics may include, for example: physical volcanology of eruptive products and eruptive behavior; lava flow modeling; acoustic studies; petrology; geochemistry and interaction with groundwater; studies of volcanic gases; crustal deformation; seismology; volcano monitoring; social effects; health effects; hazard mitigation; tectonic implications; volcano-tectonic interactions; atmosphere-climate interactions, etc.

Over the past few years, major technological advances significantly increased both the spatial coverage and frequency bandwidth of multi-disciplinary observations at active volcanoes. Networks of instruments, both ground- and satellite-based, now allow for the quantitative measurement of geophysical responses, geological features and geochemical emissions, permitting an unprecedented, multi-parameter vision of the surface manifestations of mass transport beneath volcanoes. Furthermore, new models and processing techniques have led to innovative paradigms for inverting observational data to image the structures and interpret the dynamics of volcanoes. In particular, machine learning, a type of AI in which computers learn from data, is gaining importance in volcanology, not only for monitoring purposes (i.e., in real-time) but also for later hazards analysis (e.g. modelling tools).

Within this context, this session aims to bring together a multidisciplinary audience to discuss the most recent innovations in volcano imaging and monitoring, and to present observations, methods and models that increase our understanding of volcanic processes.
We welcome contributions (1) related to methodological and instrumental advances in geophysical, geological and geochemical imaging of volcanoes, (2) to explore new knowledge provided by these studies on the internal structure and physical processes of volcanic systems, and (3) to investigate the potential of machine learning techniques to process multispectral satellite data for developing a better understanding of volcanic hazards.

We invite contributors from all geophysical, geological and geochemical disciplines: seismology, electromagnetics, geoelectrics, gravimetry, magnetics, muon tomography, volatile measurements and analysis. The session will include in-situ monitoring and high- resolution remote sensing studies that resolve volcanic systems ranging from near-surface hydrothermal activity to deep magma migration.

Volcanic islands are simultaneously some of the tallest and fastest-forming geological features on Earth and constitute the site of significant geohazards ranging from volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, landslides, and tsunamis. Ocean island volcanoes are also some of the most enigmatic features in our planet, as their genesis is still not satisfactorily explained by conventional plate tectonics. The scientific community faces several challenges in studying volcanic islands, particularly in what regards processes taking place at depth. There is still a need to densify seismic networks in volcanic islands, using both land- and seafloor-based stations, to record the signals associated with volcanic and tectonic processes and automatically or manually detect and classify those signals. 3D images from the shallow crust to the deep mantle are crucial to unravel the geodynamic processes behind the generation of volcanism. More accurate quantification of temporal changes in the volcanic systems will help in the forecasting of potential eruptions and the monitoring of existing ones. On top of that, the presence of geothermal systems and induced seismicity from industrial exploration are also critical challenges in volcanic islands due to the system's complexity.
Considering the enormous diversity of interactions in volcanic islands, we welcome contributions from a wide range of studies including: seismo-volcanic monitoring and tracking of magma movements; characterization and location of volcanic tremor; 3D and 4D seismic imaging, including attenuation tomography; seismic ambient noise monitoring; machine learning to detect and classify volcanic earthquakes; active source studies to characterize volcanic flanks and landslides; induced and triggered seismicity in geothermal systems; and seismic sources.

This session is devoted to the most recent eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano, which started on Sept. 19, 2021, on the island of La Palma after 50 years of repose. Volcanic unrest was recorded in Oct. 2017, when a seismic swarm was located at more than 20 km depths. Nine additional swarms followed, the last one was recorded in June 2021. Geochemical anomalies followed this increased seismicity indicating a magmatic recharge at depth. On Sept. 11, 2021, a new seismic swarm was observed at shallower depths (10-12 km), indicating a possible magmatic intrusion. This was confirmed when geodetic monitoring networks on the island started showing clear signs of inflation. The seismicity increased in frequency and intensity with many felt earthquakes. Seismic activity accelerated in the morning of Sept. 19 when a strong shallow earthquake was widely felt on the western part of the island. This was the precursor of the eruption, which started at about 14:10 UTC on the same day. A series of vents opened along a fissure close to Los Llanos on the western flank of Cumbre Vieja volcano. The eruption displayed vigorous lava fountaining and powerful Strombolian explosions while lava effusion produced a compound Aa flow field. The eruption has destroyed hundreds of buildings, plantations as well as cutting vital transport routes.
This session is open to contributions aimed at geological, geophysical, geochemical and volcanological studies of the eruption and its precursors and, more in general, to studies that can help better understanding the eruptive dynamics. We also welcome contributions focused on the management of scientific communication during this crisis and the management of the volcanic emergency.

Volcanoes are inherently complex and dynamic geological system, acting as the source of diverse sediment types and as a control on varied sediment transport processes within surrounding environments, both during and after their life. This can manifest as an accumulation of thick primary volcaniclastic sequences from pyroclastic (e.g. pyroclastic density currents, tephra falls), laharic and flank instability processes, secondary volcaniclastic sequences from the reworking/redeposition (or both) of primary deposits and their interaction with non-volcanic sedimentary processes, or deposits from the weathering of lava flows. The diversity of processes that may be involved in the generation of volcaniclastic sequences makes often difficult to describe and interpret them. As the comprehension of the generation, transportation and accumulation mechanisms of volcaniclastic sequences is of extreme importance for natural hazard and economic perspectives, to reduce uncertainties and move forward in the identification of volcano-sedimentary processes and potential effects, modern and ancient volcaniclastic sequences must be studied and interpreted hand in hand. Thus, the proposed session aims to bring together studies that explore the volcaniclastic record of modern and ancient environments. Contributions are welcomed in areas including, but not limited to, the identification of volcanic features in ancient sedimentary records, multidisciplinary (e.g., stratigraphic, petrographic, geophysical) approaches to the study of modern subaerial and submarine volcaniclastic sequences as analogue sites, and examples of the modification of sedimentary systems across syn- and inter-eruptive periods.

Debris flows are among the most dangerous natural hazards that threaten people and infrastructures in both mountainous and volcanic areas. The study of the initiation and dynamics of debris flows, along with the characterization of the associated erosion/deposition processes, is of paramount importance for hazard assessment, land-use planning and design of mitigation measures, including early warning systems. In addition, the impacts of climate change on debris-flow activity must be considered and carefully analysed, as the number of mountain areas prone to these events may increase in future.
A growing number of scientists with diverse backgrounds are studying debris flows and lahars. The difficulties in measuring parameters related to their initiation and propagation have progressively prompted research into a wide variety of laboratory experiments and monitoring studies. However, there is a need of improving the quality of instrumental observations that would provide knowledge for more accurate hazards maps and modeling. Nowadays, the combination of distributed sensor networks and remote sensing techniques represents a unique opportunity to gather direct observations of debris flows to better constrain their physical properties.
Scientists working in the field of debris flows are invited to present their recent advancements. In addition, contributions from practitioners and decision makers are also welcome. Topics of the session include: field studies and documentation, mechanics of debris-flow initiation and propagation, laboratory experiments, modeling, monitoring, impacts of climate change on debris-flow activity, hazard and risk assessment and mapping, early warning, and alarm systems.

Global warming is unequivocal: the frequency and intensity of heavy precipitation events increased since the mid-20th century in all regions in which observational data were sufficient for trend analysis. And heavy precipitations and related effects are projected to intensify and be more frequent in most regions.
In this framework, particular attention should be paid to all the ground events triggered by rainfall, among which landslides and soil erosion.
Changes in temperature also have been shown to affect the hydraulic and mechanical behavior of soils and rocks in multiple ways, suggesting the importance of monitoring and modelling thermal variables alongside the hydraulic ones.
The influence of climate variables on the triggering, frequency, and severity of slope failures and soil erosion can be different according to the area, the time horizon of interest, and the specific trends of weather variables. Similarly, land use/cover change can play a pivotal role in exacerbating or reducing such hazards.
Thus, the overall impacts depend on the region, spatial scale, time frame, and socio-economic context addressed. However, even the simple identification of the weather patterns regulating the occurrence of such phenomena represents a not trivial issue, also assuming steady conditions, due to the crucial role played by geomorphological details. To support hazards’ monitoring, predictions, and projections, last-generation and updated datasets with high spatio-temporal resolution and quality - as those from the Copernicus Services’ Portals - are useful to feed models, big-data analytics, and indicators’ frameworks enabling timely, robust, and efficient decision making.
The Session aims at presenting studies concerning ongoing to future analysis on the impact of climate change on landslide triggering and dynamics, and soil erosion hazard, across different geographical contexts and scales. Either investigations including analyses of historical records and related climate variables, or modeling approaches driven by future climate exploiting downscaled output of climate projections are welcome. Studies assessing variations in severity, frequency, and/or timing of events and consequent risks are valuable.
Moreover, a focus on all aspects of landslide thermo-hydro-mechanics, from experimental studies to field and remote-sensing monitoring, from microstructural analyses to geomechanical modelling at various spatial and temporal scales, is proposed.

Rockfalls, rockslides and rock avalanches are among the primary hazards and drivers of landscape evolution in steep terrain. The physics of rock slope degradation and dynamics of failure and transport mechanisms define the hazards and possible mitigation strategies and enable retrodictions and predictions of events and controls.

This session aims to bring together state-of-the-art methods for predicting, assessing, quantifying, and protecting against rock slope hazards across spatial and temporal scales. We seek innovative contributions from investigators dealing with all stages of rock slope hazards, from weathering and/or damage accumulation, through detachment, transport and deposition, and finally to the development of protection and mitigation measures. In particular, we seek studies presenting new theoretical, numerical or probabilistic modelling approaches, novel data sets derived from laboratory, in situ, or remote sensing applications, and state-of-the-art approaches to social, structural, or natural protection measures. We especially encourage contributions from geomechanics/rock physics, geodynamics, geomorphology and tectonics to better understand how rockfall, rockslides and rock avalanches act across scales.

Landslides are ubiquitous geomorphological phenomena with potentially catastrophic consequences. In several countries, landslide mortality can be higher than that of any other natural hazard. Predicting landslides is a difficult task that is of both scientific interest and societal relevance that may help save lives and protect individual properties and collective resources. The session focuses on innovative methods and techniques to predict landslide occurrence, including the location, time, size, destructiveness of individual and multiple slope failures. All landslide types are considered, from fast rockfalls to rapid debris flows, from slow slides to very rapid rock avalanches. All geographical scales are considered, from the local to the global scale. Of interest are contributions investigating theoretical aspects of natural hazard prediction, with emphasis on landslide forecasting, including conceptual, mathematical, physical, statistical, numerical and computational problems, and applied contributions demonstrating, with examples, the possibility or the lack of a possibility to predict individual or multiple landslides, or specific landslide characteristics. Of particular interest are contributions aimed at: the evaluation of the quality of landslide forecasts; the comparison of the performance of different forecasting models; the use of landslide forecasts in operational systems; and investigations of the potential for the exploitation of new or emerging technologies e.g., monitoring, computational, Earth observation technologies, in order to improve our ability to predict landslides. We anticipate that the most relevant contributions will be collected in the special issue of an international journal.

Among the many mitigation measures available for reducing the risk to life related to landslides, early warning systems certainly constitute a significant option available to the authorities in charge of risk management and governance. Landslide early warning systems (LEWS) are non-structural risk mitigation measures applicable at different scales of analysis: slope and regional.

Independently by the scale of analysis, the structure of LEWS can be schematized as an interrelation of four main modules: setting, modelling, warning, response. However, the definition of the elements of these modules and the aims of the warnings/alerts issued considerably vary as a function of the scale at which the system is employed.

The session focuses on landslide early warning systems (LEWSs) at both regional and local scales. The session wishes to highlight operational approaches, original achievements and developments useful to operate reliable (efficient and effective) local and territorial LEWS. Moreover, the different schemes describing the structure of a LEWS available in literature clearly highlight the importance of both social and technical aspects in the design and management of such systems.

For the above-mentioned reasons, contributions addressing the following topics are welcome:
• rainfall thresholds definition for warning purposes;
• monitoring systems for early warning purposes;
• warning models for warning levels issuing;
• performance analysis of landslide warning models;
• communication strategies;
• emergency phase management;

The global increase in damaging landslide events has attracted the attention of governments, practitioners, and scientists to develop functional, reliable and (when possible) low cost monitoring strategies. Numerous case studies have demonstrated how a well-planned monitoring system of landslides is of fundamental importance for long and short-term risk reduction.

Today, the temporal evolution of a landslide is addressed in several ways, encompassing classical and more complex in situ measurements or remotely sensed data acquired from satellite and aerial platforms. All these techniques are adopted for the same final scope: measure landslide motion over time, trying to forecast future evolution or minimally reconstruct its recent past. Real time, near-real time and deferred time strategies can be profitably used for landslide monitoring, depending on the type of phenomenon, the selected monitoring tool, and the acceptable level of risk.

This session follows the general objectives of the International Consortium on Landslides, namely: (i) promote landslide research for the benefit of society, (ii) integrate geosciences and technology within the cultural and social contexts to evaluate landslide risk, and (iii) combine and coordinate international expertise.

Considering these key conceptual drivers, this session aims to present successful monitoring experiences worldwide based on both in situ and/or remotely sensed data. The integration and synergic use of different techniques is welcomed, as well as newly developed tools or data analysis approaches, including big data management strategies. Specifically, a thematic focus will be on applications combining satellite, aerial or ground remote sensing with geophysical data such as electrical, seismic or electromagnetic surveys. The session is expected also to present case studies in which multi-temporal and multi-platform monitoring data are exploited for risk management and Civil Protection aims with positive effects in both social and economic terms.

Rock deformation at different stress levels in the brittle regime and across the brittle-ductile transition is controlled by damage processes occurring on different spatial scales, from grain scale to fractured rock masse. These lead to a progressive increase of micro- and meso-crack intensity in the rock matrix and to the growth of inherited macro-fractures at rock mass scale. Coalescence of these fractures forms large-scale structures such as brittle fault zones and deep-seated rock slide shear zones. Diffuse or localized rock damage have a primary influence on rock properties (strength, elastic moduli, hydraulic and electric properties) and their evolution across multiple temporal scales spanning from geological times to highly dynamic phenomena as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and landslides. In subcritical stress conditions, damage accumulation results in brittle creep processes key to the long-term evolution of geophysical, geomorphological and geo-engineering systems.
Damage and progressive failure processes must be considered to understand the time-dependent hydro-mechanical behaviour of faults (e.g. stick-slip vs aseismic creep), volcanic systems and slopes (e.g. slow rock slope deformation vs catastrophic rock slides), as well as the response of rock masses to stress perturbations induced by artificial excavations (tunnels, mines) and static or dynamic loadings. At the same time, damage processes control the brittle behaviour of the upper crust and are strongly influenced by intrinsic rock properties (strength, fabric, porosity, anisotropy), geological structures and their inherited damage, as well as by the evolving pressure-temperature with increasing depth and by fluid pressure, transport properties and chemistry. However, many complex relationships between these factors and rock damage are yet to be understood.
In this session we will bring together researchers from different communities interested in a better understanding of rock damage processes and consequence. We welcome innovative contributions on experimental studies (both in the laboratory and in situ), continuum / micromechanical analytical and numerical modelling, and applications to fault zones, reservoirs, slope instability and landscape evolution, and engineering applications. Studies adopting novel approaches and combined methodologies are particularly welcome.

Denudational hillslope and fluvial processes, associated source-to-sink fluxes and sedimentary budgets are controlled by a range of environmental drivers and anthropogenic activities, exacerbated by the consequences of climate change. A better understanding of the drivers, mechanisms and rates of contemporary denudational hillslope and fluvial processes as well as of the sediment and hydrological connectivity across a range of different spatio-temporal scales and climatic zones has significant societal implications for water quality, hydraulic infrastructures, aquatic ecosystems, public safety, and biogeochemical cycles.

The session aims to bring together interdisciplinary researchers working across field, experimental, numerical modelling, remote sensing, and dating approaches who are advancing methods and providing new insights into: (i) slope mass movements (e.g., landslides, rockfalls, and debris flows) and related hazard cascades in mountainous environments; (ii) water, sediment and solute source-to-sink processes in different climate zones (e.g., cold climate, temperate, arid and tropical regions) from small headwaters to large river systems at event, seasonal, and multi-decadal scales; and (iii) the anthropogenic impacts and societal implications of changing hillslope and fluvial processes and possible solutions for future sustainable management.

We encourage the participation of early-career researchers and PhD students working in the fields of geomorphology, hydrology, hazard, glaciers, permafrost, and aquatic ecosystems, as we aim to expand and integrate the network of researchers addressing this complex subject across scientific disciplines.

This session is organized by the International Association of Geomorphologists (IAG) Working Group on Denudation and Environmental Changes in Different Morphoclimatic Zones (DENUCHANGE).

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.

Earthquake disaster mitigation involves different elements, ranging from analysis of hazards (e.g. physical description of ground shaking) to its impact on built and natural environment, from vulnerability and exposure to hazards to capacity building and resilience, from long-term preparedness to post-event response. The scientific base of this process involves various seismic hazard/risk models, developed at different time scales and by different methods, as well as the use of heterogeneous observations and multi-disciplinary information. Accordingly, we welcome contributions about different types of seismic hazards research and assessments, both methodological and practical, and their applications to disaster risk reduction in terms of physical and social vulnerability, capacity and resilience.
This session aims to tackle theoretical and implementation issues, as well as aspects of communication and science policy, which are all essential elements towards effective disasters mitigation, and include:
⇒ development of physical/statistical models for the different earthquake risk components (hazard, exposure, vulnerability), including novel methods for data collection and processing (e.g. statistical machine learning analysis)
⇒ earthquake hazard and risk estimation at different time and space scales, including their performance verification against observations (including unconventional seismological observations);
⇒ time-dependent seismic hazard and risk assessments (including contribution of aftershocks), and post-event information (early warning, alerts) for emergency management;
⇒ earthquake-induced cascading effects (e.g. landslides, tsunamis, etc) and multi-risk assessment (e.g. earthquake plus flooding).
The interdisciplinary session will provide an opportunity to share best practices and experience gained with different methods, providing opportunities to advance our understanding of disaster risk in "all its dimensions of vulnerability, capacity, exposure of persons and assets, hazard characteristics and the environment", while simultaneously highlighting existing gaps and future research directions.

New models based on seismicity patterns, considering their physical meaning and their statistical significance, shed light on the preparation process of large earthquakes and on the evolution in time and space of clustered seismicity.
Opportunities for improved model testing are being opened by the increasing amount of earthquake data available on local to global scales, together with accurate assessments of the catalogues’ reliability in terms of location precision, magnitude of completeness and coherence in magnitude determination.
Moreover, it is possible to reliably integrate the models with additional information, like geodetic deformation, active fault data, source parameters of previously recorded seismicity, fluid contents, tomographic information, or laboratory and numerical experiments of rock fracture and friction. Such integration allows a detailed description of the system and hopefully an improved forecasting of the future distribution of seismicity in space, time and magnitude.
In this session, we invite researchers to submit their latest results and insights on the physical and statistical models and machine learning approaches for the space, time and magnitude evolution of earthquake sequences. Particular emphasis will be placed on:

• physical and statistical models of earthquake occurrence;
• analysis of earthquake clustering;
• spatial, temporal and magnitude properties of earthquake statistics;
• quantitative testing of earthquake occurrence models;
• reliability of earthquake catalogues;
• time-dependent hazard assessment;
• methods for earthquake forecasting;
• data analyses and requirements for model testing;
• pattern recognition in seismology;
• machine learning applied to seismic data; and
• methods for quantifying uncertainty in pattern recognition and machine learning.

The main concern of the occurrence of an earthquake is the ground shaking, although past events worldwide demonstrated that damage and death toll depends on both the strong ground motion and the ground effects. The variability of earthquake ground motion is caused by local geological conditions beneath a given site, due to the stratigraphic or topographic setting that can give rise to amplification and resonances. Earthquake-induced ground effects are mainly landslides, soil liquefaction, and ground subsidence. They can affect an area with damages related to the full collapse or loss in functionality of facilities, roads, pipelines, and other lifelines. The purpose of this session is to provide a forum for discussion among researchers and other professionals who study seismic amplification of the ground motion and the related hazards and to encourage multidisciplinary research in these fields.
Topics of interest include the following:
- Subsoil investigation and characterization for Seismic Microzonation mapping;
- Evaluation of seismic site response (1D-2D-3D)
- Case histories of earthquake-triggered landslides analyzed at either local or regional scale
- Slope stability analyses and runout modeling of seismically/volcanically-induced landslides;
- Studies on Soil liquefaction and earthquake-induced subsidence

Numerical modeling of earthquakes provides new approaches to apprehend the physics of earthquake rupture and the seismic cycle, seismic wave propagation, fault zone evolution and seismic hazard assessment.
Recent advances in numerical algorithms and increasing computational power enable unforeseen precision and multi-physics components in physics-based earthquake simulation but also pose challenges in terms of fully exploiting modern supercomputing infrastructure, realistic parameterization of simulation ingredients and the analysis of large synthetic datasets while advances in laboratory experiments link earthquake source processes to rock mechanics.
This session aims to bring together modelers and data analysts interested in the physics and computational aspects of earthquake phenomena and earthquake engineering. We welcome studies focusing on all aspects of seismic hazard assessment and the physics of earthquakes - from slow slip events, fault mechanics and rupture dynamics, to wave propagation and ground motion analysis, to the seismic cycle and inter seismic deformation - and studies which further the state-of-the art in the related computational and numerical aspects.

Earthquake swarms are characterized by a complex temporal evolution and a delayed occurrence of the largest magnitude event. In addition, seismicity often manifests with intense foreshock activity or develops in more complex sequences where doublets or triplets of large comparable magnitude earthquakes occur. The difference between earthquake swarms and these complex sequences is subtle and usually flagged as such only a posteriori. This complexity derives from aseismic transient forcing acting on top of the long-term tectonic loading: pressurization of crustal fluids, slow-slip and creeping events, and at volcanoes, magmatic processes (i.e. dike and sill intrusions or magma degassing). From an observational standpoint, these complex sequences in volcanic and tectonic regions share many similarities: seismicity rate fluctuations, earthquakes migration, and activation of large seismogenic volume despite the usual small seismic moment released. The underlying mechanisms are local increases of the pore-pressure, loading/stressing rate due to aseismic processes (creeping, slow slip events), magma-induced stress changes, earthquake-earthquake interaction via static stress transfer or a combination of those. Yet, the physics behind such processes and the ultimate reasons for the occurrence of swarm-like rather than mainshock-aftershocks sequences, is still far beyond a full understanding.

This session aims at putting together studies of swarms and complex seismic sequences driven by aseismic transients in order to enhance our insights on the physics of such processes. Contributions focusing on the characterization of these sequences in terms of spatial and temporal evolution, scaling properties, and insight on the triggering physical processes are welcome. Multidisciplinary studies using observation complementary to seismological data, such as fluid geochemistry, deformation, and geology are also welcome, as well as laboratory and numerical modeling simulating the mechanical condition yielding to swarm-like and complex seismic sequences.

Regions of slow deformation and low strain, often located in continental interiors or intraplate settings, can present substantial, under-recognised seismic hazards. The styles, rates, and spatial patterns of strain distribution and seismicity in these areas are often dissimilar to plate-boundary regions, where most of our current understanding of deformation drivers was derived. Challenges in studying slowly deforming regions include: 1) poor surface exposure and/or preservation of Quaternary-active structures, 2) long earthquake recurrence intervals, and 3) complex fault geometries, mechanics, and deformation histories, often including reactivation of inherited structures.

Interdisciplinary studies combining a diverse range of geoscientific disciplines have helped us develop a better understanding of drivers of low strain deformation. In this session, we want to explore the roles, behaviours, and associated seismic hazards of short-to-long-term active deformation and key inherited tectonic structures in these regions. We seek studies from around the globe that illuminate our understanding of these complex zones using field-based analyses, geophysics, seismology, active tectonics, geomorphology, remote sensing, numerical and analogue modelling, sedimentology, and geochronology. We particularly encourage interdisciplinary presentations, thought-provoking studies that challenge conventional wisdoms, and submissions from early career researchers.

Since the beginning of the XXI Century, our society has witnessed a number of catastrophic offshore earthquakes with devastating consequences (e.g., Sumatra 2004, Japan 2010, Palu 2018 or Samos-Izmir 2020). Localizing the offshore active faults and understanding their earthquake history is key to improve modern probabilistic seismic hazard assessment (PSHA) and, thus, to be able to mitigate the consequences of future offshore events.

In the last few years, the development of new geological and geophysical instrumentation has made possible the acquisition of offshore data at various scales with unprecedented detail and resolution, as for example deep and shallow boreholes, wide-angle seismic profiles, tomography, 3D and 2D seismic reflection surveys, or ultra-high-resolution bathymetry. In addition, these instrumentation is also allowing to carry on long-term monitoring (i.e., seismology, seafloor geodesy or pore pressure) and repeat surveys (i.e., time-lapse bathymetry). These new data is leading to achieve major advances in the study of active faults in offshore areas and the characterization of their recent activity, seismogenic potential and related secondary effects (i.e., mass wasting).

The aim of this session is to compile studies that focus on the use of geological and geophysical data to identify offshore active structures, to quantify the deformation that they are producing in the seafloor, to evaluate their seismogenic and tsunamigenic potential, to characterize possibly related secondary effects such as submarine mass transport deposits, and to estimate the related hazards. Accordingly, we welcome studies and/or new perspectives and ideas in marine active tectonics, turbidite paleoseismology, offshore on-fault paleoseismology or tectonic geomorphology, and seismotectonics, from local to regional scale analysis. We also encourage the submission of studies that explore the application of new ideas to estimate coseismic seafloor deformation, to constrain earthquake timing, long-term offshore monitoring of active structures, as well as the application of fault geometrical and kinematic reconstruction to seismic and tsunami hazard analysis.

Imaging both fluid-filled fault networks and surrounding heterogeneous crust with geophysical methods is especially challenging. In these settings, fluids interact with deformation-induced seismic sources, influencing both nucleation and development of seismic sequences.

Imaging and characterizing both seismogenic structures and elastic and anelastic properties of the surrounding medium is key to understanding wider tectonic and small-scale deformation processes. Understanding the geometry and kinematics of crustal-scale faults from field observations is also critical for many green-energy applications (e.g., geothermal energy, CO2 storage, mining for minerals important for battery production). This session aims to provide an overview of techniques and applications aimed at characterizing both active and ancient seismogenic fault networks at local and regional scales.
In this session we aim to bring together passive and active-source seismologists to discuss new studies that image and characterize seismically active and ancient faults and fault networks. We welcome contributions from velocity tomography, attenuation tomography (coda, t* method, direct wave attenuation), source imaging and characterization (absolute and relative location techniques, focal mechanism and stress drop analysis, …), active-source seismic techniques (reflection, refraction, integrated drilling data, …), along with multidisciplinary studies. We particularly welcome contributions from early-career researchers and those using novel techniques (e.g., data mining and machine learning).

Transform faults are one of the three types of plate boundaries required for Earth-like plate tectonics to operate. In these locations, plates move laterally in relation to each other without significant creation or destruction of plate material. Transform plate boundaries played a fundamental role in the development of the theory of plate tectonics. The concept of transform fault was introduced by Tuzo Wilson as the final piece of a puzzle that allowed connecting ridges to convergent zones and close the circumference of lithospheric plates. Wilson recognized that transform faults were different from the already known continental transcurrent faults (or nonlithospheric strike-slip faults). The term transform plate boundary is since then been used to define a lithospheric strike-slip fault zone that constitutes a plate boundary. The term is also used more loosely to define strike-slip boundaries of diffuse tectonic blocks or microplates. At smaller orders, strike-slip faults exist in all kinds of environments and at all scales, accommodating the lateral movement of tectonic blocks and linking other kinds of faults. Transform plate boundaries can exist in both continental or oceanic lithosphere, leading to markedly different strain distribution patterns and seismic activity. This is particularly true for the case of oceanic transform faults, which result from the own growth of the plates. Due to their remote locations, the rheological structure and behavior of oceanic transform faults are still largely unknown. The fact that they exist in oceanic environments suggests that they are prone to constant fluid circulation and alteration, potentiated by the chemical reactions between rocks and circulating fluids. Transform faults have also traditionally been perceived as places of low to moderate magnitude seismicity, but recent events have shown that these structures can generate very high magnitude hazardous events. Examples include the 2010 Haiti earthquake and the 1941 M 8.4 earthquake along the Gloria Fault. In this session, we aim to discuss the evolution of oceanic and continental transform and strike-slip faults. We welcome studies on structural geology, marine geology, geochemistry, petrology, remote sensing, tectonics, seismology and hazards, as well as modelling studies, using both analogue and numerical approaches. Associated processes such as shear localization, serpentinisation, biogenic activity, fluid migration and extrusion are also very welcome.

Tsunamis can produce catastrophic damage on vulnerable coastlines, essentially following major earthquakes, landslides, extreme volcanic activity or atmospheric disturbances. After the disastrous tsunamis in 2004 and 2011, tsunami science has been continuously growing and expanding its scope to new fields of research in various domains, and also to regions where the tsunami hazard was previously underestimated.

The spectrum of topics addressed by tsunami science nowadays ranges from the “classical” themes, such as analytical and numerical modelling of different generation mechanisms (ranging from large subduction earthquakes to local earthquakes generated in tectonically complex environments, from subaerial/submarine landslides to volcanic eruptions and atmospheric disturbances), propagation and run-up, hazard-vulnerability-risk assessment, especially with probabilistic approaches able to quantify uncertainties, early warning and monitoring, to more “applied” themes such as the societal and economic impact of moderate-to-large events on coastal local and nation-wide communities, as well as the present and future challenges connected to the global climate change.

This session, co-organized with OS4, SM4, GMPV9, GM and AS, welcomes multidisciplinary as well as focused contributions covering any of the aspects mentioned above, encompassing field data, geophysical models, regional and local hazard-vulnerability-risk studies, observation databases, numerical and experimental modeling, real time networks, operational tools and procedures towards a most efficient warning, with the general scope of improving our understanding of the tsunami phenomenon, per se and in the context of the global change, and our capacity to build safer and more resilient communities.

The scope of this session includes different aspects of large-amplitude wave phenomena in the ocean such as freak or rogue waves, surface and internal waves, as well as waves trapped by currents and bathymetry. The session is focused on the understanding of the physical mechanisms which cause extreme events, the derivation of appropriate mathematical models for their description and advanced methods for their analysis. An essential part of such studies is the validation of new models and techniques versus laboratory and in-situ data. Special attention is paid to the description of wave breaking processes, and the interaction of large-amplitude waves with marine structures in offshore and coastal areas

Tsunamis and storm surges pose significant hazards to coastal communities around the world. Geological investigations, including both field studies and modelling approaches, significantly enhance our understanding of these events. Past extreme wave events may be reconstructed based on sedimentary and geomorphological evidence from low and high energy environments, from low and high latitude regions and from coastal and offshore areas. The development of novel approaches to identifying, characterising and dating evidence for these events supplements a range of established methods. Nevertheless, the differentiation between evidence for tsunamis and storms still remains a significant question for the community. Numerical and experimental modelling studies complement and enhance field observations and are crucial to improving deterministic and probabilistic approaches to hazard assessment. This session welcomes contributions on all aspects of paleo-tsunami and paleo-storm surge research, including studies that use established methods or recent interdisciplinary advances to reconstruct records of past events, or forecast the probability of future events.

Coastal areas are vulnerable to erosion, flooding and salinization driven by hydrodynamic hydro-sedimentary and biological processes and human interventions. This vulnerability is likely to be exacerbated in future with, for example, sea-level rise, changing intensity of tropical cyclones, increased subsidence due to groundwater extraction, tectonics, as well as increasing socio-economic development in the coastal zone. This calls for a better understanding of the underlying physical processes and their interaction with the coast. Numerical models therefore play a crucial role in characterizing coastal hazards and assigning risks to them. Drawing firm conclusions about current and future changes in this environment is challenging because uncertainties are often large, such as coastal impacts of likely and unlikely (also called high-end) sea-level changes for the 21st century. Furthermore, studies addressing coastal impacts beyond this century pose new questions regarding the timescale of impacts and adaptation activity. This session invites submissions focusing on assessments and case studies at global, regional and local scales of potential physical impacts of tsunamis, storm surge, sea-level rise, waves, and currents on coasts. We also welcome submissions on near-shore ocean dynamics and also on the socio-economic impact of these hazards along the coast.

We invite presentations on ocean surface waves, and wind-generated waves in particular, their dynamics, modelling and applications. This is a large topic of the physical oceanography in its own right, but it is also becoming clear that many large-scale geophysical processes are essentially coupled with the surface waves, and those include climate, weather, tropical cyclones, Marginal Ice Zone and other phenomena in the atmosphere and many issues of the upper-ocean mixing below the interface. This is a rapidly developing area of research and geophysical applications, and contributions on wave-coupled effects in the lower atmosphere and upper ocean are strongly encouraged.

Since its inception, data assimilation has proven to be enormously useful in the most varied fields throughout the Earth Sciences. It is certainly essential in meteorology, where the short-range forecasts would otherwise be almost impossible. In oceanography, its development has been slower, partly due to the smaller number of continuous and stable observations, and partly due to the fewer studies that show the importance of ocean forecasts for societal benefit. However, recently, these techniques are used more and more widely, both in operational oceanography and to produce climate reconstructions. Although the techniques are similar to those used in the atmospheric field, they have to deal with particularities due to the different environment, where the boundary conditions, open and closed, have greater importance, and the sparsity of observations poses unique challenges.
In this session, we welcome contributions describing data assimilation techniques, both methodological and case studies, in the oceanographic field. We welcome presentations of new techniques or new types of observations that cover every aspect of data assimilation, including varied applications of data assimilation, both in coastal seas and the open ocean.

Tides underlie many processes in the ocean, atmosphere and solid Earth, and influence ocean biogeochemistry and ecosystems. They drive ocean mixing, contribute to coastal erosion and sediment transport, and may provide a renewable energy source. Tides influence coastal infrastructure and safe port operations. The severity of storm surge events and coastal flooding is modulated by tides. The relationship between tides and sea ice is also important, not only for sea ice dynamics, but also for transport and mixing processes in the Arctic and Antarctic regions. Interannual variability in the tides may arise from variations in ice extent, changes in ocean stratification or regional climate processes.

Precise knowledge of tides is also necessary for earth observation where the tides are not the main target of study. They play a significant role in determining high-resolution temporal gravity fields from satellite gravimetry as well as sea-level rise estimations from satellite altimetry. Therefore, understanding the evolution of tides from both models and in-situ observations is necessary to understand the implications of tides in current and future climate estimations.

Observations and models of coastal and internal tides continue to develop, as well as their relationships to wind-driven processes and mixing processes. We welcome submissions on observations and models of surface or internal tides in the context of long-term changes in tides, tidal variability, tidal dynamics and the impacts of tides. Submissions are encouraged both from regional and global-scale studies on all aspects of tides.

Scientific drilling through the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) and the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) continues to provide unique opportunities to investigate the workings of the interior of our planet, Earth’s cycles, natural hazards and the distribution of subsurface microbial life. The past and current scientific drilling programs have brought major advances in many multidisciplinary fields of socio-economic relevance, such as climate and ecosystem evolution, palaeoceanography, the deep biosphere, deep crustal and tectonic processes, geodynamics and geohazards. This session invites contributions that present and/or review recent scientific results from deep Earth sampling and monitoring through ocean and continental drilling projects. Furthermore, we encourage contributions that outline perspectives and visions for future drilling projects, in particular projects using a multi-platform approach.

Remote sensing techniques, such as radar (e.g., synthetic aperture radar - SAR), optical, Lidar and hyperspectral imagery, together with hydroclimatic, geological, and geophysical data, as well as in-situ observations, have been widely employed for monitoring, and responding to natural and anthropogenic hazards and assessing environmental resources. Especially with the unprecedented spatio-temporal resolution and the rapid accumulation of remote sensing data collections from various spaceborne and airborne missions, we have much more opportunities to exploit hazard- and environmental- related signals, to classify the associated spatio-temporal surface changes such as deformations and landform alterations, and to interpret the primary and secondary driving mechanisms. Yet, when archiving, processing, and analyzing abundant remote sensing data, the ad hoc artificial intelligence (AI), like machine/deep learning and computer vision, is urgently required.
In this session, we welcome contributions that focus on new AI-based algorithms to retrieve remote sensing products related to environmental resources and hazards in an accurate, automated, and efficient framework. We particularly welcome contributions for applications in (1) mining, oil/gas production, fluid injection/extraction, civil infrastructure, sinkholes, land degradation, peatlands, glaciers, permafrost, and coastal subsidence; (2) emergency response based on remote sensing data to landslides, floods, winter storms, wildfires, pandemics, earthquakes, and volcanoes; and (3) mathematical and physical modeling of the remote sensing products for a better understanding on the surface and subsurface processes.

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, and increasingly complex social interactions. The advent of new, more powerful sensors and more finely tuned detection algorithms provide the opportunity to assess and quantify natural hazards, their consequences, and vulnerable regions, more comprehensively than ever before.
Several agencies have now inserted permanently into their program the applications of EO data to risk management. During the preparedness and prevention phase, EO revealed, 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, and then providing the assessment and analysis of natural hazards, from small to large regions around the globe. In this framework, Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (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 focused on the demonstration of the benefit of the use of EO for natural hazards and risk management.
The research presented might focus on:
- Addressed value of EO data in hazard/risk forecasting models
- Innovative applications of EO data for rapid hazard, vulnerability and risk mapping, the post-disaster recovery phase, and in support of disaster risk reduction strategies
- Development of tools 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) is highly recommended, with an evaluation of their respective pros and cons focusing also on future opportunities (e.g. new sensors, new algorithms).
Early-stage researchers are strongly encouraged to present their research. Moreover, contributions from international cooperation, such as CEOS and GEO initiatives, are welcome.

The increase of climate-related hazards has been driven by climate change, increasing human activities and infrastructure development, particularly in vulnerable areas. More efforts should be directed towards effective disaster risk management to reduce damages and losses, focusing on hazard, vulnerability, and risk mapping. Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are powerful tools in mapping change and rate of change concerning natural hazards, particularly in data-scarce environments, thanks to the great advantage of sensing extended areas at low cost and with regular revisit capability. Furthermore, satellite RS offers the opportunity to gain fresh insights into biophysical environments through satellite systems' spatial, temporal, spectral, and radiometric resolutions. The advantages of RS are further supported by the analytical and geospatial data integration capabilities of GIS.
On the other hand, proximal RS offers a unique opportunity to observe processes characterized by fast dynamics and complex geometries and provides data at ultra-high temporal and spatial resolution. The number of proximal RS solutions currently adopted to study and monitor natural hazards has progressively increased in the last decades. Nowadays, UAV, terrestrial radar interferometry, and digital photogrammetry are among the most diffuse proximal systems adopted to identify precursor elements for detailed hazard assessment and support decision-makers during emergencies. In particular, the use of these systems helps create high-resolution 3D models of the study area and monitor natural hazards. The adoption of multi-scale and multi-sensor approaches can be beneficial for studying the same phenomenon from different points of view and can support a detailed description of the studied process and the most critical parameters that can be adopted for its characterization. The availability of many technical solutions represents an additional value, but the lack of defined methodologies can limit these systems' standardized use, particularly during emergencies. This session aims to explore the use of satellite and proximal RS techniques and GIS analysis in different scenarios related to natural hazards and impact analysis and mitigation, including the preliminary characterization of potential dangerous processes, the evaluation of the elements at risk, the management of the emergency phase and the support of recovery and post-emergency reconstruction.

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) remote sensing is an established tool for natural and anthropogenic hazards mapping and monitoring. The new generation of radar satellite constellations along with a consistent repository of historical observations is fostering comprehensive multi-sensor hazard analyses. New constellations’ capabilities rely on innovative techniques based on high-resolution/wide-swath and short-temporal Interferometric SAR (InSAR). While acknowledging the benefits brought by these recent developments, the scientific community is now defining a new paradigm of techniques capable of: extracting relevant information from SAR imagery, designing proper methodologies for specific hazards, managing large SAR datasets (e.g. National ground motion services, Copernicus EGMS), and integrating radar data with multispectral satellite observations.

The socio-economic impacts associated with floods are increasing. Floods represent the most frequent and most impacting, in terms of the number of people affected, among the weather-related disasters: nearly 0.8 billion people were affected by inundations in the last decade, while the overall economic damage is estimated to be more than $300 billion. Despite this evidence, our knowledge and accurate prediction of flood dynamics remain poor, mainly related to the lack of measurements and ancillary data at the global level.

In this context, remote sensing represents a value source of data and observations that may alleviate the decline in field surveys and gauging stations, especially in remote areas and developing countries. The implementation of remotely-sensed variables (such as digital elevation model, river width, flood extent, water level, land cover, etc.) in hydraulic modelling promises to considerably improve our process understanding and prediction. During the last decades, an increasing amount of research has been undertaken to better exploit the potential of current and future satellite observations, from both government-funded and commercial missions, as well as many datasets from airborne sensors carried on airplanes and drones. In particular, in recent years, the scientific community has shown how remotely sensed variables have the potential to play a key role in the calibration and validation of hydraulic models, as well as provide a breakthrough in real-time flood monitoring applications. With the proliferation of open data and more Earth observation data than ever before, this progress is expected to increase.

We encourage presentations related to flood monitoring and mapping through remotely sensed data including:

- Remote sensing data for flood hazard and risk mapping, including commercial satellite missions as well as airborne sensors (aircraft and drones);

- Remote sensing techniques to monitor flood dynamics;

- The use of remotely sensed data for the calibration, or validation, of hydrological or hydraulic models;

- Data assimilation of remotely sensed data into hydrological and hydraulic models;

- Improvement of river discretization and monitoring based on Earth observations;

- River flow estimation from remote sensing;

- River and flood dynamics estimation from satellite (especially time lag, flow velocity, etc.)

Remote sensing measurements, acquired using different platforms - ground, UAV, aircraft and satellite - have increasingly become rapidly developing technologies to study and monitor Earth surface, to perform comprehensive analysis and modeling, with the final goal of supporting decision systems for ecosystem management. The spectral, spatial and temporal resolutions of remote sensors have been continuously improving, making environmental remote sensing more accurate and comprehensive than ever before. Such progress enables understanding of multiscale aspects of high-risk natural phenomena and development of multi-platform and inter-disciplinary surveillance monitoring tools. The session welcomes contributions focusing on present and future perspectives in environmental remote sensing, from multispectral/hyperspectral optical and thermal sensors. Applications are encouraged to cover, but not limited to, the monitoring and characterization of environmental changes and natural hazards from volcanic and seismic processes, landslides, and soil science. Specifically, we are looking for novel solutions and approaches including the topics as follows: (i) state-of-the-art techniques focusing on novel quantitative methods; (ii) new applications for state-of-the-art sensors, including UAVs and other close-range systems; (iii) techniques for multiplatform data fusion.

The never-ending growth of the ground penetrating radar applications reserves continuously small and less small discoveries, and deserves a space for discussion and reciprocal listening also at the EGU conference.
The pandemic has meaningfully hindered many activities but to our knowledge not too much the interest in the GPR instrumentation and technique at an applicative level, even if exchanges of experiences at international conferences have been of course necessarily reduced. So, we hope that this session can meet the interest of many researchers, professionals, PhD students as well skilled GPR users as geologists, engineers, geophysicists and possibly archaeologists and architects.
Contributions are welcome with regard to all the aspects of the GPR technique, ranging from the hardware of the systems to the data processing and any theoretical aspect, including innovative applications or procedures as well as results of particular relevance, possibly achieved within an integrated measurement campaign including also different data.
Hope to see you in Vienna.

Continues monitoring of infrastructure systems are essential to ensure a reliable movement of people and goods, which involves in the economy growth and human interaction. The wide variety of instruments available allows diverse applications to increase data availability for a better understanding of geotechnical surroundings which are directly linked to the safe operation of infrastructures to prevent catastrophise such as soil erosion, settlements, liquefaction, landslides, seismic activities, flooding and even wildfires close to the highways. Understanding mentioned events are vital to provide a safe infrastructure in extreme climate conditions. This session focus on the application of geosciences and geophysical instrumentation including sensors on the infrastructures monitoring and data analysis from critical infrastructures (e.g., roadways, railway system, bridges, tunnels, water supply, underground utilities, electrical grids, and other embedded facilities in cities). The session aims to increase knowledge on geo-infrastructure management to overcome future challenges associated with the societal and human interaction, present advance knowledge research and novel approaches from various disciplines with a vibrant interaction to economy and human-interaction studies to provide an efficient infrastructure management system. The session is considered inter-and transdisciplinary (ITS) session. The applications and topics include but are not limited to: (1) Advance knowledge of the destructive and non-destructive geoscience and geophysical techniques including contactless and non-contactless techniques such as sensors. (2) Intelligent data analysis approaches to analyse accurate and precise interpretation of big data sets driven from various technologies (e.g., computer vision and image, and signal processing). (3) Influence of the surrounding areas on infrastructure management systems linked to natural events such as soil erosion, settlements, liquefaction, landslides, seismic activities, flooding, wildfires and extreme weather condition. (4) Continuous real-time monitoring to provide smart tools such as an integration of geosciences data with BIM models, Internet of Things, digital twins, robotic monitoring, artificial intelligence, automation systems based on machine learning and computational modelling for better decision-making for infrastructure owner/operators. (5) Human-interaction computer-based aided to generate reliable infrastructures.

Environmental systems often span spatial and temporal scales covering different orders of magnitude. The session is oriented toward collecting studies relevant to understand multiscale aspects of these systems and in proposing adequate multi-platform and inter-disciplinary surveillance networks monitoring tools systems. It is especially aimed to emphasize the interaction between environmental processes occurring at different scales. In particular, special attention is devoted to the studies focused on the development of new techniques and integrated instrumentation for multiscale monitoring of high natural risk areas, such as volcanic, seismic, energy exploitation, slope instability, floods, coastal instability, climate changes, and another environmental context.
We expect contributions derived from several disciplines, such as applied geophysics, geology, seismology, geodesy, geochemistry, remote and proximal sensing, volcanology, geotechnical, soil science, marine geology, oceanography, climatology, and meteorology. In this context, the contributions in analytical and numerical modeling of geological and environmental processes are also expected.
Finally, we stress that the inter-disciplinary studies that highlight the multiscale properties of natural processes analyzed and monitored by using several methodologies are welcome.

Geomorphometry and landform mapping are important tools used for understanding landscape processes and dynamics on Earth and other planetary bodies. The recent rapid advances in technology and data collection methods have made available vast quantities of geospatial data offering unprecedented spatio-temporal range, density, and resolution, but it also created new challenges in terms of data processing and analysis.

This inter-disciplinary session on geomorphometry and landform mapping aims to bridge the gap between process-focused research fields and the technical domain where geospatial products and analytical methods are developed. The increasing availability of a wide range of geospatial datasets requires the continued development of new tools and analytical approaches as well as landform/landscape classifications. However, a potential lack of communication across disciplines results in efforts to be mainly focused on problems within individual fields. We aim 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 geospatial data that is now available.

We welcome perspectives on geomorphometry and landform mapping from ANY discipline (e.g. geomorphology, planetary science, natural hazard assessment, computer science, remote sensing). This session aims to showcase both technical and applied studies, and we welcome contributions that present (a) new techniques for collecting or deriving geospatial data products, (b) novel tools for analysing geospatial data and extracting innovative geomorphometric variables, (c) mapping and/or morphometric analysis of specific landforms as well as whole landscapes, and (d) mapping and/or morphometric analysis of newly available geospatial datasets. Contributions that demonstrate multi-method or inter-disciplinary approaches are particularly encouraged. We also actively encourage contributors to present tools/methods that are “in development”.

We aim herein to focus and illustrate all UAS/drone classical and new techniques and processing in order to study all Geological & Geomorphological objects in terms of 3D geometry (description and localisation, characterisation, quantification, modelisation...) in order to better constrained Earth Sciences processes.
Consequently, dealing with the technical point of view, it takes into account not only classical photogrammetric data processing through aerial photographs but also new techniques such as UAS-Lidar acquisition, and/or new UAS-interferometric acquisitions.
Many resulting dataset should be provided and discussed as key examples such as Very High Resolution Digital Terrain Model and/or Digital Surface Model (VHR DTM/DSM) less than 10cm ground resolution pixels that lead to acquire much more precise geometries, to up-date geological and geomorphological mapping and up-date structural scheme of geological targets. Many case examples could be listed herein such as analogs of sandstones or limestones reservoirs, active sedimentological processes in shoreline areas, or Natural Hazards processes such as landslides, etc...
For instance, in the active tectonic areas the HR UAS DTM may be combined with classical geodetic measurements such as levelings, numerous GPS and RTK surveys... and/or spatial PSInSAR, Smallbase line interferometric analyses in order to decipher and precise the active faults and folds structures and evenmore participate to determine the seismic cycles of major active faults.
We aim in this session to share our UAS/drone experiences on the various geological and geomorphological objects outcropping wherever the place of the Earth.

Geomorphometry, a science of quantitative land surface analysis, gathers various mathematical, statistical and image processing techniques to quantify morphological, hydrological, ecological and other aspects of a land surface. The typical input to geomorphometric analysis is a square-grid representation of the land surface: a digital elevation model (DEM) or one of its derivatives. DEMs provide the backbone for many studies in Geo sciences, hydrology, land use planning and management, Earth observation and natural hazards.
One topic of active research concerns compromises between the use of global DEMs at 1-3 arc second, ~30-90 m grid spacing, and local LiDAR/structure from motion (SFM) elevation models at 1 m or finer grid spacing. Point clouds from LiDAR, either ground-based or from airborne vehicles, are a generally accepted reference tool to assess the accuracy of other DEMs. SFM data have a resolution comparable to LiDAR point clouds, but can cost significantly less to acquire for smaller areas. Globally available DEMS include the recently published Copernicus GLO-90 and GLO-30. This session provides an exciting forum to show the potential applications of this new DEM and its improvements over SRTM. We would like to investigate the tradeoff between the employment of the two kinds of data, and applications which can benefit from data at both (local and global) scales.
The improvements in the global DEMs, as well as the increasing availability of much finer resolution LiDAR and SFM DEMs, call for new analytical methods and advanced geo-computation techniques, necessary to cope with diverse application contexts. We aim at investigating new methods of analysis and advanced geo-computation techniques, including high-performance and parallel computing implementations of specific approaches.
Commercial applications of DEM data and of geomorphometric techniques can benefit important business sectors. Besides a proliferation of applications that can tolerate low accuracy geographical data and simple GIS applications, a large base of professionals use high-resolution, high-accuracy elevation data and high-performance GIS processing. We would like to survey and investigate professional, commercial and industrial applications, including software packages, from small enterprises to large companies, to ascertain how academic researchers and industry can work together.

Recent advances in image collection, e.g. using unoccupied aerial vehicles (UAVs), and topographic measurements, e.g. using terrestrial or airborne LiDAR, are providing an unprecedented insight into landscape and process characterization in geosciences. In parallel, historical data including terrestrial, aerial, and satellite photos as well as historical digital elevation models (DEMs), can extend high-resolution time series and offer exciting potential to distinguish anthropogenic from natural causes of environmental change and to reconstruct the long-term evolution of the surface from local to regional scale.
For both historic and contemporary scenarios, the rise of techniques with ‘structure from motion’ (SfM) processing has democratized data processing and offers a new measurement paradigm to geoscientists. Photogrammetric and remote sensing data are now available on 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 the evaluation of event magnitude and frequency interrelationships.
The session welcomes contributions from a broad range of geoscience disciplines such as geomorphology, cryosphere, volcanology, hydrology, bio-geosciences, and geology, addressing methodological and applied studies. Our goal is to create a diversified and interdisciplinary session to explore the potential, limitations, and challenges of topographic and orthoimage datasets for the reconstruction and interpretation of past and present 2D and 3D changes in different environments and processes. We further encourage contributions describing workflows that optimize data acquisition and 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. This session invites contributions on the state of the art and the latest developments in i) modern photogrammetric and topographic measurements, ii) remote sensing techniques as well as applications, iii) time-series processing and analysis, and iv) modelling and data processing tools, for instance, using machine learning approaches.

Wildfires represent a hazardous and harmful phenomenon to people and the environment, especially in populated areas where the primary cause of ignition is related to human activities. This has motivated governments to develop spatio-temporal datasets and to produce risk and prognostic maps. A key tool in this respect is to investigate the spatial and temporal distribution of wildfires and to understand its relationships with the surrounding environmental, climatological and socio-economic factors.
Innovative algorithms and methodologies have been developed in recent years to analyze spatially distributed natural hazards and ongoing phenomena such as wildfires. Considering the fast growing availability of high quality digital geo-referenced databases, it is important to promote methods and new tools for their study, especially for large-scale analysis. A new exciting challenge is to convert available datasets into meaningful and valuable information.
This session will bring together wildfire hazard scientists and researchers of various geo-environmental disciplines, economists, managers and people responsible for territorial and urban defense and planning policies. The main goal is to improve the understanding of the fire regime and to discuss new strategies to mitigate the disastrous effects of wildfires. We will examine empirical studies, new and innovative technologies, theories, models and strategies for wildfire research, seeking especially to identify and characterize spatial and temporal variability patterns of wildfires.

Research topics include, but are not limited, to the following:
• development of methodologies based on expert knowledge or data driven approaches, for the recognition, modelling and prediction of structured patterns in wildfires;
• pre- and post-fire assessment: fire incidence mapping and variability, fire severity and damage, including fire-planning and risk management;
• long-term trend patterns: relation between wildfires and global changes such as climate and land use/land cover changes;
• fire impacts on the environment, in particular on the atmosphere, human health and natural/anthropogenic environment;
• fire spread models, ranging from case studies to long-term climatological assessments;
• post-fire vegetation recovery and vegetation phenology.

Fire is an essential feature of terrestrial ecosystems and an important component of the Earth system. Climate, vegetation, and human activity regulate fire occurrence and spread, but fires also feedback to them in multiple ways. This session welcomes contributions that explore the role of fire in the Earth system at any temporal and spatial scale using modeling, field and laboratory observations, proxy-records, and/or remote sensing. We encourage all abstracts that advance our understanding on interactions between fire and (1) weather, climate, as well as atmospheric chemistry and circulation, (2) biogeochemical, energy, and water cycles, (3) vegetation composition and structure, (4) pyrogenic carbon, including effects on soil functioning and soil organic matter dynamics, (5) cryosphere (e.g. permafrost, sea ice), and (6) humans (e.g., impact of fire on air and water quality, freshwater resources, human health, land use and land cover change, fire management). We also welcome contributions focusing on fire characterization, including (7) fire behavior and emissions (e.g. fire duration, emission factors, emission height, smoke transport), (8) spatial and temporal changes of fire regimes in the past, present, and future, (9) fire products and models, and their validation, error/bias assessment and correction, and (10) analytical tools designed to enhance situational awareness among fire practitioners and early warning systems.

Wildfires are a worldwide phenomenon with many environmental, social, and economic implications, which are expected to escalate as a consequence of climate change and land abandonment, management, and planning, further promoting land degradation and decreasing ecosystem services supply.
The current situation demands from the scientific community the study of wildfire effects on the ecosystems and the development of integrated tools for pre- and post-fire land management practices that reduce the vulnerability to wildfires and their impacts. However, this research urges the attention not only from researchers, but also from stakeholders and policy-makers all over the world, since basic resources such as raw materials, water, and soils as well as habitats are at stake.
This session aims at gathering researchers on the effects of wildfires on ecosystems, from wildfire prevention to post-fire mitigation. We kindly invite laboratory, field, and/or modelling studies involving the following topics:
i. prescribed and/or experimental fires;
ii. fire severity and burn severity;
iii. fire effects on vegetation, soil and water;
iv. post-fire hydrological and erosive response;
v. post-fire management and mitigation;
vi. socio-economic studies on pre- and post-fire land management;
vii. fire risk assessment and modelling.

Perhaps the most dramatic demonstration of the impact of global environmental change has been the rapid change in fire regimes, from the Amazon to suburban Athens. However, the observed disruption in global wildfire regimes has not yet been directly attributed to climate – but only to weather patterns that make wildfires more likely.

At the heart of this issue is a lack of understanding of the diverse socio-ecological feedbacks that are driving Anthropocene wildfires. For example, in response to damaging fire events, common policy responses such as increased suppression and fire use bans may ultimately exacerbate fire risk by leading to large build-ups of flammable and connected fuels. Meanwhile a combination of global-scale trade conflict, national-scale political change and regional drought have all contributed to a surge in wildfires in the Amazon basin. These examples highlight the urgent need for new transdisciplinary approaches to wildfire research that account for feedbacks between land use and wider environmental change.

In this session we welcome a broad range of contributions that explore the interactions between socio-economic and biophysical drivers of wildfires, encompassing disciplines including: anthropology, earth observation, ecology, economics, land surface and climate modelling, and political science. Example topics might include how agricultural intensification, land degradation and CO2 fertilisation effects combine to alter fire regimes in grassland ecosystems, through to how rural and urban populations’ contrasting perceptions of risk can influence land management policies.

We particularly encourage contributions that demonstrate how methods from different disciplines may inform each other. Holistic advances in our understanding can lead to better adaptation policies and strategies, and will be vital to improved wildfire modelling and attribution of fire regime changes to climate change.

Exposure to mineral dust is an important, global cause of respiratory diseases, mainly in occupational settings. Though the incidence of occupational lung disease has decreased in many countries, exposure to silica, asbestos, and other mineral dusts are responsible for 25% of all occupational lung diseases (WHO study, 2017). Re-emergence of lung diseases associated with unexpected sources, and non-conventional exposure scenarios require an up-to-date risk assessment, monitoring, and mitigation strategies. A new frontier of the research in mineral dust is to design an integrated occupational and environmental strategy (exposome) for health hazard control and for increased awareness of social and environmental impact.

To tackle these challenges, this session welcomes contributions and case studies on the following aspects:
- particle and fibre mineralogical definition, including regulatory aspects;
- particle and fibre risk assessment, migration, transport, and fate in natural environments including air, water, and soil/rock, and in occupational settings;
- physico-chemical assessment of particle and fibre characteristics relevant to interactions with biological milieu, and mechanisms of toxicity;
- development of novel approaches for the determination of inorganic particle and fibre occurrences, risk management, air sampling procedures for outdoor/indoor environments, protection strategies for workers, environment, and population at large;
- all other studies on environmental, occupational, and non-conventional exposures to inorganic dust, including asbestos, silica, silicates, volcanic ashes, celestial dusts, dusts from construction sites, and more in general composite dust.
This session’s contributions aim to invite an interdisciplinary audience, encompassing mineralogy, geology, environmental chemistry, epidemiology, and medicine.

The virus is still with us, with more potent variants. It remains the most immediate challenge for geosciences and health, including its impacts on geoscience development (data collection, training, dissemination) and the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, in particular that urban systems should increase well-being and health.

Long-term visions based on transdisciplinary scientific advances are therefore essential. As a consequence, this session, like the ITS1.1 session in 2021, calls for contributions based on data-driven and theory-based approaches to health in the context of global change. This includes :
- main lessons from lockdowns?
- how to get the best scientific results during a corona pandemic?
- how to manage field works, geophysical monitoring and planetary missions?
- qualitative improvements in epidemic modelling, with nonlinear, stochastic, and complex system science approaches;
- eventual interactions between weather and/or climate factors and epidemic/health problems
- new surveillance capabilities (including contact tracing), data access, assimilation and multidimensional analysis techniques;
- a fundamental revision of our urban systems, their greening and their need for mobility;
- a special focus on urban biodiversity, especially to better manage virus vectors;
- urban resilience must include resilience to epidemics, and therefore requires revisions of urban governance.

The session gathers geoscientific aspects such as dynamics, reactions, and environmental/health consequences of radioactive materials that are massively released accidentally (e.g., Chernobyl and Fukushima 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 physical/chemical/biological 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 relations with human and non-human biota. The topic also involves hazard prediction and nowcast technology.

By combining 35 years (> halftime of Cesium 137) monitoring data after the Chernobyl Accident in 1986, 10 years 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.

Natural radioactivity is ubiquitous in the environment as a result of i) cosmic radiation from space and secondary radiation from the interaction of cosmic rays with the atmosphere, ii) terrestrial sources from soils and rocks and particularly Potassium, Uranium and Thorium and their decay products among which Radon gas stands out. Artificial radionuclides from nuclear and radiation accidents and incidents makes up an additional contribution to the environmental radioactivity.
Nuclear techniques enable the measurement of radioactivity in air, soils and water even at trace levels, making it a particularly appealing tool for tracing 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:

- geological and geomorphological surveys;
- mineral exploration;
- groundwater contamination;
- coastal and marine monitoring;
- soil erosion processes;
- Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORMs);
- geostatistical methods for radioactivity mapping;
- airborne and drones surveys;
- novel methods and instrumentations;
- atmospheric tracing, mixing and transport processes;
- public health including the EU BSS directive and Euratom-Drinking Water Directive

Hydroclimatic conditions and availability of water resources in space and time constitute important factors for maintaining adequate food supply, the quality of the environment, and the welfare of citizens and inhabitants, in the context of a post-pandemic sustainable growth and economic development. This session is designed to explore the impacts of hydroclimatic variability, climate change, and temporal and spatial availability of water resources on different factors, such as food production, population health, environment quality, and local ecosystem welfare.
We particularly welcome submissions on the following topics:
• Complex inter-linkages between hydroclimatic conditions, food production, and population health, including: extreme weather events, surface and subsurface water resources, surface temperatures, and their impacts on food security, livelihoods, and water- and food-borne illnesses in urban and rural environments.
• Quantitative assessment of surface-water and groundwater resources, and their contribution to agricultural system and ecosystem statuses.
• Spatiotemporal modeling of the availability of water resources, flooding, droughts, and climate change, in the context of water quality and usage for food production, agricultural irrigation, and health impacts over a wide range of spatiotemporal scales.
• Smart infrastructure for water usage, reduction of water losses, irrigation, environmental and ecological health monitoring, such as development of advanced sensors, remote sensing, data collection, and associated modeling approaches.
• Modelling tools for organizing integrated solutions for water supply, precision agriculture, ecosystem health monitoring, and characterization of environmental conditions.
• Water re-allocation and treatment for agricultural, environmental, and health related purposes.
• Impact assessment of water-related natural disasters, and anthropogenic forcing (e.g. inappropriate agricultural practices, and land usage) on the natural environment (e.g. health impacts from water and air, fragmentation of habitats, etc.)

The demand for raw materials and critical raw materials, to supply the needs of both society and industry, is continuously growing, imposing environmental, societal, and technological challenges.
These activities are inevitably accompanied by the production of large volumes of residues, through both exploitation and processing.
In the past, mining activity and extractive waste management were approached, mainly considering the environmental hazards and landscape degradation, but, nowadays, the development of innovative and technological processes, that allow us to reduce, reuse and recycle such industrial residues, as well as more sustainable exploitation practices, give us the opportunities to exploit the huge volumes of past mineral waste as an important source of raw materials.
Residues, such as waste rock, tailings, slags and fly ashes, often hold impressive residual mineral values, and have the potential to be converted to secondary raw materials and mineral resources, for these reasons further challenges are the geochemical, petrographic and mineralogical characterization and the modelization of waste deposits to realistically assess the prospects for sustainable exploitation. It must become the norm to maximize resource use, reduce the volume for final disposal, and also mitigate the risk of environmental damage, associated with the increasing global demand for raw materials and minerals resources.

The main topics to be discussed in this session address, but are not limited to:
- Characterization of geomaterials, their environmental interactions, and decay
- Characterization of industrial residue resources and their environmental assessment
- Secondary raw materials exploitation and valorisation

The purpose of this session is to: (1) showcase the current state-of-the-art in global and continental scale natural hazard risk science, assessment, and application; (2) foster broader exchange of knowledge, datasets, methods, models, and good practice between scientists and practitioners working on different natural hazards and across disciplines globally; and (3) collaboratively identify future research avenues.
Reducing natural hazard risk is high on the global political agenda. For example, it is at the heart of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the Paris Agreement. In response, the last decade has seen an explosion in the number of scientific datasets, methods, and models for assessing risk at the global and continental scale. More and more, these datasets, methods and models are being applied together with stakeholders in the decision decision-making process.
We invite contributions related to all aspects of natural hazard risk assessment at the continental to global scale, including contributions focusing on single hazards, multiple hazards, or a combination or cascade of hazards. We also encourage contributions examining the use of scientific methods in practice, and the appropriate use of continental to global risk assessment data in efforts to reduce risks. Furthermore, we encourage contributions focusing on globally applicable methods, such as novel methods for using globally available datasets and models to force more local models or inform more local risk assessment.

Increasing effects of climate change, urbanization, and increased interconnectedness between ecological, physical, human, and technological systems pose major challenges to disaster risk management in a globalised world. Economic losses from natural hazards and climate change are still increasing, and the recent series of catastrophic events across the world together with the COVID-19 crisis has manifested the urgent need to shift from single-hazard-based approaches to new and innovative ways of assessing and managing risk based on a multi-hazard and systemic risk lens. This calls for novel scientific approaches and new types of data collections to integrate the study of multiple natural processes and human influences triggering hazards, including studies of ecological, physical, socioeconomic, political, and technical factors that shape exposure and vulnerability of humans, sectors and systems across borders and scales.

Tackling the above challenges, this session aims to gather the latest research, empirical studies, and observation data that are useful for understanding and assessing the interplay between multiple natural hazards and social vulnerability to: (i) identify persistent gaps, (ii) propose potential ways forward, and (iii) inform resilience building strategies in the context of global change.

Disasters caused by natural hazards often lead to significant and long-lasting disruptions of economic, social and ecological systems. To improve both ex-ante disaster risk reduction and ex-post recovery, increasing attention is placed on strengthening the “disaster resilience” of communities, cities, regions and countries. However, a lack of empirical data and evidence, a high diversity in assessment and measurement approaches as well as various definitions of disaster resilience make it difficult to establish a solid understanding of what contributes to disaster resilience and how it can be measured. This hinders targeted resilience strengthening investments and actions across all levels, that are increasingly demanded in the context of climate change adaptation and sustainable development.

This session aims to discuss concepts and frameworks that improve the understanding of economic, social and ecological resilience to various natural hazards (e.g. floods, droughts, wildfires) including compound events as well as to review current frameworks and tools that aim to measure disaster resilience. We invite submissions addressing process- and outcome-based approaches to assess or measure disaster resilience, as well as studies using remote sensing, climate information or other innovative approaches such as predictive models aiming to quantify disaster resilience. We especially welcome presentations looking at cross-learnings and links between natural hazard resilience and public health as a result of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Studies could include operationalized and applied resilience assessment frameworks, case studies using new data sets to measure resilience as well new tools and approaches to engage with decision makers, practitioners and the general public. We also welcome submissions from governments at all levels, the development and humanitarian sector as well as practitioners that effectively work for the hazard affected communities both from the developed and developing world.

Assessing the costs of the overall economic impacts of natural hazards, costs of prevention and costs of responses to natural hazards supply crucial information for decision-making practices in the fields of disaster risk reduction, natural hazard and risk management and climate change adaptation planning. However, the lack of empirical impact data as well as the significant diversity in methods that are currently applied in costs assessments of different natural hazards and impacted sectors make it difficult to establish comprehensive, robust and reliable cost figures. This also hinders comparisons of associated costs across countries, hazards and impacted sectors. This session aims to review current methodological approaches for assessing individual cost types (such as direct damages to housing, indirect losses, as well as costs of risk reduction) and aims to show how these methods are used in the context of various natural hazards (e.g. floods, droughts, earthquakes).

We welcome submissions in the areas of assessing these various types of damage induced by any kind of natural hazard. Also, we are interested in contributions that focus on the cost-effectiveness or efficiency of risk reduction to natural hazards and adaptation to increasing weather risks that are due to climate change. Presentations are welcome for instance on model development, validation, uncertainty analysis, risk assessment frameworks as well as presentations about the application of damage models in case studies. Abstracts are sought from those involved in both the theoretical and practical aspects related to these topics.

Excellent submissions which are deemed important contributions to the session will be classified as “solicited talks”.

Critical infrastructures and other technological systems such as transportation systems, telecommunication networks, power lines, pipelines, and reservoirs are at risk of natural hazards (e.g., earthquakes, floods, landslides, wildfires) in many urban and rural areas worldwide. A key to safe and affordable operations of these types of infrastructure is an in-depth knowledge of their exposure and vulnerability to natural hazards and the impact of damage experienced either locally or across the network. Fundamental understanding of hazard and risk involves (a) systematic identification, monitoring, and mapping of potential infrastructure exposure; (b) integrated assessment of impact as result of damage, repair and/or mitigation; (c) indirect losses from infrastructure disruption and synergistic effects; (d) consideration of interactions between hazards and/or cascades of hazards. This session welcomes contributions with a focus on natural hazards risk assessment for critical infrastructures and technological systems, and compilation of databases to record impact and elements at risk. We also encourage abstracts addressing the development and application of tools for cost modeling. The session is dedicated to contributions with national, regional, and local perspective and intends to bring together experts from science and practice as well as young scientists. We encourage submissions for interactive presentations, which can be presented online in virtual discussion.

The adverse effects of droughts are felt all over the globe, especially in recent years. Droughts often lead to direct and indirect impacts on different sectors from local to global scales. The likelihood of such impacts, understood as drought risk, is caused by the combination of drought hazards, exposure and systems’ vulnerabilities. To support the identification and planning of drought risk reduction and adaptation options, information is needed on the root causes, patterns and dynamics of drought risk and its related impacts. Even though the effects of drought are widespread and well known, research focusing on the different drought risk dimensions lags behind other natural hazard research. Common standards for risk analysis and its components, as well as for impact assessment, are missing. Furthermore, there are no common criteria for assessing the impacts of past and potential future droughts. Whether this is due to the difficulty to grasp the hazard, the lack of standards for vulnerability, exposure and risk assessment, the myriad of different sectors involved, or the complex web of direct and indirect impacts remains unknown so far.
This session addresses drought research beyond the hazard. This includes techniques to collect drought impact information, methods to assess exposure, vulnerability and drought risk for different sectors (e.g. agriculture, forestry, energy production, public water supply, commercial shipping, tourism, wildfires, human health), at different spatial (local to global) and temporal (past trends, current patterns, future scenarios) scales. The session aims to gather examples from around the globe at different scales, discussing best practices, existing challenges and potential ways forward. We welcome the full variety of thematic foci (hazard, exposure, vulnerability, risk, and impact assessment) based on qualitative, quantitative and mixed-methods approaches. The session aims to bring together scientists and practitioners to evaluate the current state-of-the-art, foster drought risk research, establish a community of researchers and practitioners, and shape the future of drought vulnerability and risk research.
The session is closely linked to the NHESS special issue “Drought vulnerability, risk, and impact assessments: bridging the science-policy gap” https://nhess.copernicus.org/articles/special_issue1113.html of which we strongly encourage all session contributors to be part.

Hydrometeorological and geomorphological hazards account for 45% of the fatalities and 79% of global economic losses. Exacerbated by high seismic activity and rugged terrain, the Himalayan landscape is particularly susceptible to generating these events, which often transform into cascading hazards—an initial event causes a downstream hazard chain, e.g. glacial lake outburst floods to debris flows. These hazards interfere with increasing population pressure and expansion of settlements along rivers and new infrastructure developments such as roads and hydropower projects. Rising temperatures and changes in weather patterns in the wake of global warming likely elevate risks from hazards such as landslides, glacial lake outburst floods, riverine and flash floods. The complexity of these hazards and their underlying processes demand scientific efforts and approaches from multiple disciplines.

Multidisciplinary approaches and methodologies are important to holistically estimate and predict hazard events and interactions of multiple hazards, and to understand how vulnerable societies cope and respond to these hazards in the Himalayan region.
This session aims to bring together expertise on approaches, methods, and data to advance the understanding of the impacts and changes in the extremely high mountain landscapes, with a particular focus on the trends of hydro-geomorphological disasters on the Himalayas and their societal impacts.

We welcome contributions from research topics (but not restricted to):
-hydro-geophysical modeling (landslides, glacial lake outburst floods, riverine and flash floods)
-extreme event modeling
-remote-sensing-based observations
-risk/vulnerability assessment
-theories and models of reducing vulnerabilities and adaptation to natural hazards
-innovative data approaches to integrate natural and social science perspective
-recovery to natural hazards, in particular, usage of longitudinal data methods

The session is closely linked to the NHESS special issue “Estimating and Predicting Natural Hazards and Vulnerabilities in the Himalayan Region”. We encourage all session contributors to support this issue.

UN projects urban agglomeration to increase to 68% by 2050 from 55%. The majority of this positive trend is projected to happen in developing countries like those in the tropics (24S—24N). Especially in urban centres, the increasing population is motivated to consider alternative locations to settle. Hence, urban areas at the coast and mountainous terrains expand towards hillslopes and flood plains, increasing the exposure to natural hazards, especially landslides and floods. Heat extremes are increasing in frequency and severity in a warming climate, and the transformation of the land surface in urban centres (heat-absorbing materials, such as asphalt, steel, and brick) causes temperatures to rise further. Understanding the chance of heat extremes and their impacts is vital to allow society to adapt to future risks. Rapid agglomeration also fosters informal housing in those peri-urban areas. Those informal structures are not only structurally more vulnerable, but they also partly increase the impact of some natural hazards by, for instance, poorly regulated water management systems. The session is dedicated to contributions with national, regional, and local perspectives on urban interaction with natural hazards. The session aims to bring together experts from both science and practice to offer a platform to raise awareness and explore solutions. We seek to discuss the following topics, among others, during the session:
- Expected changes in exposure and vulnerability to natural hazards due to urbanization
- Whether informal housing alter natural hazard susceptibility
- Impacts of natural hazards as a result of increasing concentration of population in specific regions
- The role of climate change on natural hazards in urban spaces
- Impacts of heat extremes on human health and society

The current scientific consensus links climate change to devastating consequences for society including natural hazards, heatwaves, floods, droughts and hurricanes. Yet, potential solutions requiring collaboration between communities, local actors and scientists continue to face considerable structural, spatial, temporal and definitional challenges.
Structural challenges: Political and micro-political aspects and how they interact with structural inequalities are important to understand vulnerability and the disproportionate impacts of climate change induced extreme events.
Spatial challenges: At the local level, providing usable information for people is challenging particularly in the poorest regions of the world. While hazards can be explored with weather and climate data. overall risk can only be assessed by balancing location-specific information and data which is often inaccessible or under researched.
Temporal challenge: Often climate change impacts have not been monitored consistently or according to the best available science and data. Particularly in the global South and developing economies, these temporal challenges make effective adaptation challenging.
Definitional challenge: vulnerability across time-space is defined in diverse ways. Many approaches tend to use hazard, exposure and vulnerability interchangeably. Whereas the assessment of local vulnerability is only possible by combining natural and social sciences with stakeholder engagement, prevailing interventions miss one or the other resulting in limited possibility for project sustainability Furthermore, a universal conceptualization or approach to vulnerability is yet to be presented.
Local adaptation solutions to these challenges do exist and could be used as models to be transferred to other regions. For example, UNESCO-designated sites such as Biosphere Reserves and UNESCO Global Geoparks provide solutions for climate change mitigation and adaptation based on inclusive, transparent, and empowering governance processes, in line with sustainable development.
We welcome research on locally produced and scientifically robust solutions to these structural, spatial, temporal and definitional challenges. Particularly abstracts focusing on 1) the quantification of hazards, risks, and impacts that matter for the identified community, 2) conceptual frameworks and tools to assess vulnerability and exposure, 3) approaches to monitor impacts and 4) case studies that showcase local solutions.

Citizen science (the involvement of the public in scientific processes) is gaining momentum across multiple disciplines, increasing multi-scale data production on Earth Sciences that is extending the frontiers of knowledge. Successful participatory science enterprises and citizen observatories can potentially be scaled-up in order to contribute to larger policy strategies and actions (e.g. the European Earth Observation monitoring systems), for example to be integrated in GEOSS and Copernicus. Making credible contributions to science can empower citizens to actively participate as citizen stewards in decision making, helping to bridge scientific disciplines and promote vibrant, liveable and sustainable environments for inhabitants across rural and urban localities.
Often, citizen science is seen in the context of Open Science, which is a broad movement embracing Open Data, Open Technology, Open Access, Open Educational Resources, Open Source, Open Methodology, and Open Peer Review. Before 2003, the term Open Access was related only to free access to peer-reviewed literature (e.g., Budapest Open Access Initiative, 2002). In 2003 and during the “Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities”, the definition was considered to have a wider scope that includes raw research data, metadata, source materials, and scholarly multimedia material. Increasingly, access to research data has become a core issue in the advance of science. Both open science and citizen science pose great challenges for researchers to facilitate effective participatory science, yet they are of critical importance to modern research and decision-makers.

We want to ask and find answers to the following questions:
Which approaches and tools can be used in Earth and planetary observation?
What are the biggest challenges in bridging between scientific disciplines and how to overcome them?
What kind of participatory citizen scientist involvement (e.g. how are citizen scientists involved in research, which kind of groups are involved) and open science strategies exist?
How to ensure transparency in project results and analyses?
What kind of critical perspectives on the limitations, challenges, and ethical considerations exist?
How can citizen science and open science approaches and initiatives be supported on different levels (e.g. institutional, organizational, national)?

This session aims to share innovative approaches to developing multi-hazard risk assessments and their components (hazard, exposure, vulnerability and capacity), and to explore their applications to disaster risk reduction.

Effective disaster risk reduction practices and the planning of resilient communities requires the evaluation of multiple hazards and their interactions. This approach is endorsed by the UN Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. Multi-hazard risk and multi-hazard impact assessments look at interaction mechanisms among different natural hazards, and how spatial and temporal overlap of hazards influences the exposure and vulnerability of elements at risk. Moreover, the uncertainty associated with multi-hazard risk scenarios needs to be considered, particularly in the context of climate change and slow-onset hazards, such as Covid-19 and pandemics in general, characterized by dynamic changes in exposure and vulnerability that are challenging to quantify.

This session, therefore, aims to profile a diverse range of multi-hazard risk and impact approaches, including hazard interactions, multi-vulnerability studies, and multi-hazard exposure characterization. In covering the whole risk assessment chain, we propose that it will be easier to identify potential research gaps, synergies and opportunities for future collaborations.

We encourage abstracts which present innovative research, case study examples and commentary throughout the whole disaster risk cycle on (i) multi-hazard risk methodologies which address multi-vulnerability and multi-impact aspects; (ii) methodologies and tools for multi-hazard risk management and inclusive risk-informed decision making and planning; (iii) methodologies and tools for multi-hazard disaster scenario definition and management for (near) real-time applications; (iv) cross-sectoral approaches to multi-hazard risk, incorporating the physical, social, economic, and/or environmental dimensions; (v) uncertainty in multi-hazard risk and multi-hazard impact assessment; (vi) evaluation of multi-hazard risk under future climate and slow-onset hazards, including pandemics; (vii) implementation of disaster risk reduction measures within a multi-hazard perspective.

High-impact climate and weather events typically result from the interaction of multiple hazards across various spatial and temporal scales. These events, also known as Compound Events, often cause more severe socio-economic impacts than single-hazard events, rendering traditional univariate extreme event analyses and risk assessment techniques insufficient. It is therefore crucial to develop new methodologies that account for the possible interaction of multiple physical drivers when analysing high-impact events. Such an endeavour requires (i) a deeper understanding of the interplay of mechanisms causing Compound Events and (ii) an evaluation of the performance of climate/weather, statistical and impact models in representing Compound Events.

The European COST Action DAMOCLES coordinates these efforts by building a research network consisting of climate scientists, impact modellers, statisticians, and stakeholders. This session creates a platform for this network and acts as an introduction of the work related to DAMOCLES to the research community.

We invite papers studying all aspects of Compound Events, which might relate to (but are not limited to) the following topics:

Synthesis and Analysis: What are common features for different classes of Compound Events? Which climate variables need to be assessed jointly in order to address related impacts? How much is currently known about the dependence between these variables?
Stakeholders and science-user interface: Which events are most relevant for stakeholders? What are novel approaches to ensure continuous stakeholder engagement?
Impacts: What are the currently available sources of impact data? How can they be used to link observed impacts to climate and weather events?
Statistical approaches, model development and evaluation: What are possible novel statistical models that could be applied in the assessment of Compound Events?
Realistic model simulations of events: What are the physical mechanisms behind different types of Compound Events? What type of interactions result in the joint impact of the hazards that are involved in the event? How do these interactions influence risk assessment analyses?

This session aims to share the latest developments in critical infrastructure risk modelling with a focus on multi-hazard, multi-risk, cascading events, and compound risks.

Critical infrastructure, such as the energy, water and waste systems, transportation networks, telecommunication systems, education, and health infrastructures - play an essential role in societies’ day-to-day functioning. At the same time, occurrences of natural hazards highlight the importance of improving our understanding on how these infrastructures respond under stress: a disruption of a single critical infrastructure service can quickly result in a cascading effect to households, companies, or other infrastructure systems, thereby causing wide-spread impacts to the economy and society.

Compound events and connected extremes put pressure on infrastructure systems beyond their design specifications, making it crucial to understand and incorporate such effects into infrastructure planning and risk assessments. In this session, we therefore encourage abstracts aimed at:

1) Improving our understanding of exposure and vulnerability of critical infrastructure systems to (multiple) natural hazards.
2) Collecting and analyzing empirical data of past events/disruptions to inform, validate and improve risk modelling.
3) Impact (modelling) that is sensitive to the specificities of different hazards / sub-hazards / concurring multi-hazards (e.g. TC sub-hazards- flash floods bring very different impacts than strong winds, occur at different geographies, etc.).
4) Impact modelling that captures network character and interdependencies of critical infrastructures, and modelling that doesn’t end at infrastructure asset damages: e.g. differentiated social impacts, business & supply chain disruptions.
5) Dealing with the inherent uncertainty within infrastructure risk modelling and the applicability of these risk models for decision making and adaptation planning. More specifically, we welcome studies applying DMDU (Decision-Making under Deep Uncertainty) approaches to infrastructure risk modelling.
6) Progressing the achievement of global goals (e.g. SDGs) in the context of resilient infrastructure and the advancement of accessible infrastructure to the global population.

Extreme climate and weather events, associated disasters and emergent risks are becoming increasingly critical in the context of global environmental change and interact with other stressors. They are a potential major threat to reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and one of the most pressing challenges for future human well-being.
This session explores the linkages between extreme climate and weather events, associated disasters, societal dynamics and resilience. Emphasis is laid on 1) Which impacts are caused by extreme climate events (including risks emerging from compound events) and cascades of impacts on various aspects of ecosystems and societies? 2) Which feedbacks across ecosystems, infrastructures and societies exist? 3) What are key obstacles towards societal resilience and reaching the SDGs, while facing climate extremes? 4) What can we learn from past experiences? 5) What local to global governance arrangements best support equitable and sustainable risk reduction?
We welcome empirical, theoretical and modelling studies from local to global scale from the fields of natural sciences, social sciences, humanities and related disciplines.

Through a wealth of geospatial data, growing computational power, and demonstrated success of application across many fields, artificial intelligence (in particular, machine learning) promises to advance our understanding of natural hazards and our ability to predict and respond to natural disasters. The ITU/WMO/UNEP Focus Group AI for Natural Disaster Management (FG-AI4NDM) is building a community of experts and stakeholders to identify best practices in the use of AI for data processing, improved modeling across spatiotemporal scales, and providing effective communication. This multidisciplinary FG-AI4NDM-session invites contributions addressing challenges related to floods, landslides, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, among others, as well as multi-hazard. It also welcomes presentations on novel AI methods (including advances in automated annotation, explainability, etc.), which are hazard agnostic.

Abstracts are solicited related to the understanding and prediction of weather, climate and geophysical extremes, from both an applied sciences and theoretical viewpoint.

In this session we propose to group together the traditional geophysical sciences and more mathematical/statistical approaches to the study of extremes. We aim to highlight the complementary nature of these two viewpoints, with the aim of gaining a deeper understanding of extreme events.

Potential topics of interest include but are not limited to the following:

· How extremes have varied or are likely to vary under climate change;
· How well climate models capture extreme events;
· Attribution of extreme events;
· Emergent constraints on extremes;
· Linking dynamical systems extremes to geophysical extremes;
· Extremes in dynamical systems;
· Downscaling of weather and climate extremes.
· Linking the dynamics of climate extremes to their impacts

One of the big challenges in Earth system science consists in providing reliable climate predictions on sub-seasonal, seasonal, decadal and longer timescales. The resulting data have the potential to be translated into climate information leading to a better assessment of global and regional climate-related risks.
The latest developments and progress in climate forecasting on subseasonal-to-decadal and longer timescales will be discussed and evaluated. This will include presentations and discussions of predictions for the different time horizons from dynamical ensemble and statistical/empirical forecast systems, as well as the aspects required for their application: forecast quality assessment, multi-model combination, bias adjustment, downscaling, exploration of artificial-intelligence methods, etc.
Following the new WCRP strategic plan for 2019-2029, prediction enhancements are solicited from contributions embracing climate forecasting from an Earth system science perspective. This includes the study of coupled processes between atmosphere, land, ocean, and sea-ice components, as well as the impacts of coupling and feedbacks in physical, chemical, biological, and human dimensions. Contributions are also sought on initialization methods that optimally use observations from different Earth system components, on assessing and mitigating the impacts of model errors on skill, and on ensemble methods.
We also encourage contributions on the use of climate predictions for climate impact assessment, demonstrations of end-user value for climate risk applications and climate-change adaptation and the development of early warning systems.
A special focus will be put on the use of operational climate predictions (C3S, NMME, S2S), results from the CMIP5-CMIP6 decadal prediction experiments, and climate-prediction research and application projects.
An increasingly important aspect for climate forecast's applications is the use of most appropriate downscaling methods, based on dynamical or statistical approaches or their combination, that are needed to generate time series and fields with an appropriate spatial or temporal resolution. This is extensively considered in the session, which therefore brings together scientists from all geoscientific disciplines working on the prediction and application problems.

This session merges CL3.1.3 “Climate change and other drivers of environmental change: Developments, interlinkages and impacts in regional seas and coastal regions” focused on regional seas and coastal regions worldwide, and CL3.1.4 “Climate change in Mediterranean-type climate regions” focused on the Mediterranean-type climates, with a very similar scope: how climate change and other drivers affect these regions now and in the future.
Regional climate change interacts with many other man-made perturbations in both natural and anthropogenic coastal environments. Regional climate change is one of multiple drivers, which have a continuing impact on terrestrial, aquatic and socio-economic (resp. human) environments. These drivers interact with regional climate change in ways, which are not completely understood.
A Mediterranean-type climate is characterized by mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers as classified with the Koppen-Geiger approach that is well suited for identifying and analyzing the impacts of climate change on natural and anthropic ecosystems. Mediterranean climate regions (MCRs) are located in transitional midlatitude regions like the Mediterranean basin area, western coastal North America and small coastal areas of western South America, southern Africa and southern Australia. The transitional character with sharp spatial gradients makes them highly vulnerable to climate change. For all MCRs, the future holds high risks and uncertainty on issues like loss in biodiversity, increase in aridity, ecological change, requiring innovative approaches to climate adaptation and mitigation.
This session focuses on the connections and interrelations between climate change and other drivers of environmental change in MCRs, regional seas and coastal regions. It intends to strengthen the exchanges among the communities involved to better understand and share commonalities and differences and to provide an overview of the current state of knowledge of the complicated interplay of different factors affecting climate change. This exchange may help identify and prepare shared solutions and practices. Studies focused on physical (including extremes, teleconnections, hydrological cycle) and biogeochemical (including biodiversity) aspects of Mediterranean and other coastal climate regions, focusing on observed past changes, future climate projections, as well as related social aspects including indigenous knowledge in mitigating climate risks will be treated.

An increasing number of single model large ensemble simulations from Global Climate Models (GCM), Earth System Models (ESM), or Regional Climate Models (RCM) have been generated over recent years, to investigate internal variability and forced changes of the climate system — and to aid the interpretation of the observational record by providing a range of historical climate trajectories that could have been. The increased availability of large ensembles also enables new and inter-disciplinary applications beyond large-scale climate dynamics.

This session invites studies using large GCM, ESM, or RCM ensembles looking at the following topics: 1) Reinterpretation of the observed record in light of internal variability; 2) forced changes in internal variability; 3) development of new approaches to attribute and study observed events or trends; 4) impacts of natural climate variability; 5) assessment of extreme and compound event occurrence; 6) combining single model large ensembles with CMIP archives for robust decision making; 7) large ensembles as testbeds for method development.

We welcome research across all components of the Earth system. Examples include topics ranging from climate dynamics, hydrology and biogeochemistry to research on the role of internal variability in impact studies, focused for example on agriculture, air pollution or energy generation and consumption. We particularly invite studies that apply novel methods or cross-disciplinary approaches to leverage the potential of large ensembles.

Climate impact and adaptation research has made considerable progress in various fields in the recent years. However, the concrete implementation on the ground needs to be improved.
Local decision makers are facing several challenges with regard to climate adaptation. At the center of this process lies the coupling of climate, impact and risk (incl. vulnerability) models in order to identify future climate risk levels. Finding and correctly using the necessary data in climate impacts and risks assessments and planning for climate action is not without challenges for specialists from other fields.
While climate modelling and technical integration of diverse model data are crucial, social science as well as interdisciplinary perspectives are essential to assess local adaptation capacities, the costs and benefits of adaptive measures and to ensure the usability and transferability of the climate services. Similarly important is capacity building and trainings on properly using, interpreting and communicating climate and impact information.
This session touches upon innovative ways to address theses challenges. It also supports exchange on experiences in impact and adaptation studies, using all kinds of climate data. Former participants from the C3S ULS and IS-ENES3 training events are particularly encouraged to join.
This session discusses approaches and challenges towards the support of climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. Central to the discussion is the question how such services can be developed in a stringent co-design process that integrates different natural and social science disciplines as well as users and practitioners. We are therefore seeking for contributions that discuss:
• Actionable services for regional decision-making in regional climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction and challenges in the interaction between researchers and decision makers
• New scientific insights into regional climate and impact modelling (data interfaces and harmonization)
• Assessing local climate adaptation capacities and measures in an integrated way
• New insights into transdisciplinary processes in climate change adaptation
• Data availability for climate impact studies and methods for dealing with limited data availability as well as the opposite, a large number of seemingly similar datasets.
• Experiences with existing tools or newly developed tools for data processing

The International Monitoring System (IMS) of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) senses the solid Earth, the oceans and the atmosphere with a global network of seismic, infrasound, and hydroacoustic sensors as well as detectors for atmospheric radioactivity. The primary purpose of the IMS data is for nuclear explosion monitoring regarding all aspects of detecting, locating and characterizing nuclear explosions and their radioactivity releases. On-site verification technologies apply similar methods on smaller scales as well as geophysical methods such as ground penetrating radar and geomagnetic surveying with the goal of identifying evidence for a nuclear explosion close to ground zero. Papers in this session address advances in the sensor technologies, new and historic data, data collection, data processing and analysis methods and algorithms, uncertainty analysis, machine learning and data mining, experiments and simulations including atmospheric transport modelling. This session also welcomes papers on applications of the IMS and OSI instrumentation data. This covers the use of IMS data for disaster risk reduction such as tsunami early warning, earthquake hazard assessment, volcano ash plume warning, radiological emergencies and climate change related monitoring. The scientific applications of IMS data establish another large range of topics, including acoustic wave propagation in the Earth crust, stratospheric wind fields and gravity waves, global atmospheric circulation patterns, deep ocean temperature profiles and whale migration. The use of IMS data for such purposes returns a benefit with regard to calibration, data analysis methods and performance of the primary mission of monitoring for nuclear explosions.

Karst environments are characterized by distinctive landforms and unique hydrological behaviors. Karst systems are extremely complex, heterogeneous and very difficult to manage, because their formation and evolution are controlled by a wide range of geological, hydrological, geochemical and biological processes, and are extremely variable in time and space. Furthermore, karst systems are highly vulnerable to a variety of hazards, due to the direct connection between the surface and subsurface through the complex networks of conduits and caves.
In karst, any interference is likely to have irreversible impacts and disturb the natural balance of the elements and processes. The great variability and unique connectivity may result in serious engineering problems: on one hand, karst groundwater resources are easily contaminated by pollution because of the rapidity of transmission through conduit flow, and remediation action, when possible, could be very expensive and require a long time; on the other hand, the presence of karst conduits that weakens the strength of the rock mass may lead to serious natural and human-induced hazards. The design and development of engineering projects in karst environments thus should necessarily require: 1) an enhanced understanding of the natural processes governing the initiation and evolution of karst systems through both field and modelling approaches, and 2) specific interdisciplinary approaches aimed at mitigating the detrimental effects of hazardous processes and environmental problems.
This session calls for abstracts on research from karst areas worldwide related to geomorphology, hydrogeology, engineering geology, hazard mitigation in karst environments in the context of climate change and increasing human disturbance.

On 9 August 2021, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released the first volume of its 6th Assessment Report (AR6). The Working Group I contribution to the Report (Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis) synthesises over 14,000 publications and represents the most comprehensive and up-to-date assessment of the climate system and climate change. Crucially, the Report highlights the unprecedented and potentially irreversible influence of anthropogenic climate forcing, and for the first time, explicitly states that human influence on the climate system is unequivocal.

This short course will be a panel discussion where authors and contributors of Working Group I unpack how the IPCC 6th Assessment Report (AR6) is produced, provide personal behind-the-scenes insight on its development, and discuss its global impact, including how it is used to inform policy. Authors of the report will share their experiences of working on the report before and through the COVID pandemic. Panelists will also emphasise various ways in which scientists of all career stages can contribute to the IPCC process. Ample time will be allocated for open discussion for the audience to ask related questions to the panelists.

For more information about the AR6 please visit the IPCC website: https://www.ipcc.ch/.

Meet editors of internationally renowned journals in geo- and biogeoscience and gain exclusive insights into the publishing process. After a short introduction into some basics, we will start exploring various facets of academic publishing with short talks given by the editors on

- What are the duties and roles of editors, authors and reviewers?
- How to choose a suitable journal for your manuscript and what is important for early career authors?
- How can early career scientists get involved in successful peer-reviewing?
- What is important for appropriate peer-reviewing?
- What are ethical aspects and responsibilities of publishing?

Together with the audience and the editors, we will have an open discussion of the key steps and factors shaping the publication process of a manuscript. This short course aims to provide early career scientists across several EGU divisions (e.g. AS, BG, CL, GM, NH, SSP and SSS) the opportunity of using first hand answers of experienced editors of international journals to successfully publish their manuscripts and get aware of the potentials and pitfalls in academic publishing.

Metallurgical slags are generated as a by-product of smelting during ironmaking, steelmaking, and the production of ferroalloys and non-ferrous metals. The formation conditions result in complex (geo)chemical and mineralogical characteristics unique to slags alone. Historically slags have been discarded as a waste product and, through release of potentially toxic trace elements, represent a hazard to the environment and human health. However, increasingly we are realizing the resource potential of what was previously thought of as waste, thus reducing the environmental impact and taking a step closer to a circular economy.

The aim of this short course is to is to give an overview on the environmental geochemistry and resource potential of metallurgical slags by summarizing processes for the generation of slags, describing their chemical and mineralogical characteristics, outlining the fundamental geochemistry that propels slag weathering, and illustrating the utilization of slags and resource recovery of valuable metals from slags. This short course is a follow up of a book entitled “Metallurgical Slags: Environmental geochemistry and Resource Potential” published in 2021 by the Royal Society of Chemistry and gives an overview useful for the environmental geochemists, geologists, mining and civil engineers, waste and resource managers, and all those interested and inspired by a circular economy and minimizing our environmental footprint on planet Earth.

List of presentations:
1. Presentation of the book: Metallurgical Slags: Environmental Geochemistry and Resource Potential (Vojtěch Ettler and Nadine Piatak)
2. Metallurgical overview and production of slags (Elias Matinde, MINTEK, South Africa)
3. Geochemistry and mineralogy of slags (Nadine Piatak, USGS, USA)
4. Weathering of slags (Jakub Kierczak, University of Wroclaw, Poland)
5. Leaching properties and environmental fate of slags (Vojtech Ettler, Charles University, Czech Republic)
6. Environmental applications of slag (Helena Gomes, University of Nottingham, UK)
7. Metal recovery from slags (Anna Potysz, University of Wroclaw, Poland)
8. Discussion and course closure

Changes in temperature in landslide bodies can be the result of external forcing (climatic or geothermal) as well as the consequence of frictional heat dissipation. Understanding and quantifying the mechanical response of geomaterials under thermal forcing can be crucial for predicting the initiation and fate of landslides, and the associated risk. Depending on the scale of interest, different modelling strategies have been developed, spanning from physically-based fully-coupled models accounting for micro-scale behaviours to large-scale geostatistical approaches. This short course aims to offer an overview of these modelling strategies with particular attention to state-of-the-art advances. The session is organized in cooperation with NhET (Natural hazard Early career scientists Team).