Together with partners from the DFKI Niedersachsen and the Jade Hochschule this project accelerates natural science research through targeted identification and exploitation of capability resulting from digital technologies. The goal is the part automatisation of execution of experimentation by AI powered Change Event based Sensor Sampling (ChESS). ChESS’s purpose is to detect concept changes that may be relevant to investigate the health of ecosystems. E.g., in intertidal marine ecosystems sudden flooding may cause dramatic changes to biodiversity, and it may also be of scientific interest to take more frequent sensor samples during the time leading up to such events. An AI will be developed to detect early indications of environment change and trigger more frequent sampling or even missions to prevent an ecosystem observation site from serious damage. Thus, the goal is to develop an AI system integrated into a mobile Mission Control System, enabling early concept change detection in the field. Such AI techniques will need to process multi-modal data streams. ChESS will need to combine and analyse diverse kinds of data in real-time. The case study is placed within the SCO, where different data are used for the development of the AI system. Finally, it will be integrated in the operational sensor system for the evaluation on a real natural science application.

Lower Saxony ministry for science and culture, Volkswagen Stiftung

What is a "Gute Küste" (good coast), where we can live and manage responsibly and sustainably, safe from natural hazards, in harmony with nature, embedded in the evolved cultural landscape? In the field of tension between steadily growing coastal settlement centers and the coast shaped by wind and weather, coastal protection measures are aimed at flood protection. In doing so, functions of equal or higher value for the overall system, such as habitats for animals and plants or tourist uses, are disregarded. Within "Gute Küste Niedersachen", real-world-laboratories are being created on the North Sea coast to achieve collaborative work between the project partners and local actors and citizens. In ongoing cooperation, the project investigates how maritime landscapes can be integrated into common concepts for ecosystem-strengthening coastal protection. On Spiekeroog, the project uses the existing infrastructure of the SCO. Especially the Time-Series Station in the Otzumer Balje and the sensors in the salt marsh serve a targeted observation and provide valuable data to create a comprehensive status picture of the coastal protection measures.

www.gute-kueste.de

The interdisciplinary research group DynaDeep investigates a subterranean estuary (STE) at the North Beach on Spiekeroog to a depth of approx. 25 m below surface and thus ties in with the BIME project. In the BIME project, the system was investigated to a depth of 2 m below surface. However the influence of the estuary extends deeper. Subsurface estuaries play an important role in the transport of groundwater from the land to the sea and thus also in the transport of nutrients. The goal of the research group is to study these processes in more detail and to expand the knowledge already gained about the estuary. Groundwater wells will be installed between the dune base and the low water line, and will be equipped with sensors for environmental monitoring (e.g. temperature). This will establish a measuring network that can observe the groundwater in detail over a long period of time. In addition, sediment and water samples will be taken from the ecosystem using a direct-push drilling crawler.

uol.de/icbm/verbundprojekte/dynadeep

Islands have fascinated ecologists for a long time as they represent natural laboratories to study the interaction between local processeslikecompetitionor predation and regional processes, e.g.immigration, dispersalandextinction. 50 years after MacArthur and Wilson published their seminal “Theory of Island Biogeography”, DynaCom aims to add a new chapter to our understanding of how biodiversity on islands is assembled and maintained by not only predicting how many species are there, but also whichand whatthey are doing.We will be investigating how biodiversity on islands is created and shaped by geography, colonization and localenvironmental conditions. We will especially focus on how the characteristics of marine and terrestrial organismsliving in an area influence ecosystem processes from local to regional scales. In 2014, twelve experimental island were built within the back-barrier tidal flat of Spiekeroog as well as experimental saltmarsh enclosed plots. This infrastructure helps for reaching the goals of the research group DynaCom.

uol.de/dynacom

The Carbostore project (Carbon Storage in German Coastal Seas - Stability, Vulnerability and Perspectives for Manageability) ICBM researchers are investigating whether linking sulfur-containing substances with organic compounds in the ocean could contribute to carbon storage and what role physical processes play in CO₂ exchange between the atmosphere and the ocean. A subproject of Carbostore is PROCARBON. The aim of PROCARBON is to investigate how the various carbon reservoirs in the North and Baltic Seas respond to climate change and other human-induced environmental changes. For this purpose, continuous long-term CO₂ data is derived from the Time-Series Station. Mathematical models are used to estimate how carbon storage will develop in the future. The aim is to investigate whether the carbon storage capacity of the North and Baltic Seas will increase or decrease in the future. These findings should help develop management strategies and support political decision-making.