Aquaterra Time frame
According to plan, between months 49 and 60 (June 2008 to May 2009), the research of the AquaTerra team was focused on evaluation, integration and synthesis of work, within the AquaTerra river basins and AquaTerra-wide. Major objectives in this last AquaTerra research period were
• to summarise and synthetise data and results that have been achieved in the AquaTerra basins in diverse subprojects with contributions of all scientific disciplines both from a regional (basin-specific) perspective and from the viewpoint of the individual disciplines.
• to ensure and maintain existing data bases and information available for the use of the entire consortium, and to adapt and improve the presentation of results with special consideration of end-user demands.
• to increase the visibility of the project through the organisation of a further workshop and the final conference, further appearances of AquaTerra researchers at all types of meetings and events, as well as by publishing selected results in peer reviewed literature but also in newspapers and magazines.
• to continue link to other projects and initiatives in the field of soils, sediments, groundwater, and surface water investigations as well as to policy making.
Modelling activities played an important role in integrating knowledge. Results have been presented and discussed, also with leading researchers from outside AquaTerra, in the AquaTerra General Assembly held in Tübingen from 25 to 27 of March 2009.
Further activities were dissemination on conferences and scientific meetings. AquaTerra results were presented worldwide, e.g. at the 236th ACS National Meeting (Philadelphia, August 2008), at the EUROSOIL Conference (Vienna, August 2008), at the 3rd Thematic Workshop of the EU Coordination Action RISKBASE (Barcelona, May 2009), the SETAC European meeting (Goteborg, June 2009), and many others more. After the success of the first special issue in the journal “Environmental Pollution”, a second special issue was published in the Journal of Hydrology (title: “Transfer of pollutants in soils, sediments and water systems: From small to large scale (AquaTerra)”). Additionally, numerous further scientific papers, articles in newspapers, TV and radio publications were produced in in the fifth year of AquaTerra.
In addition, a final report was prepared to summarise the main achievements of five years research in AquaTerra.
In the fifth year, 70 new deliverables were produced within AquaTerra, thus leading to a total of 518 deliverables with new environmental information. This corresponds to an estimated 15000 pages of text with latest environmental information. These reports are made available to the European Commission and in part also to the public if the authors agree. In many cases these deliverables serve as the basis for further publications and are archived on the project intranet.
Moreover, the international publication activity of AquaTerra partners has continued to be excellent. This is documented by about 60 peer-reviewed articles that could be published in internationally high ranking journals during year 5 of AquaTerra. Dissemination of results during the final year of AquaTerra include also further books and book chapters, numerous newspaper and public press appearances including TV, Radio and about 70 conference presentations.
The work in the fifth and final year of AquaTerra again shows smooth progress of the project. Many partners benefitted from facilitated interaction provided by the AquaTerra project framework. Data and methods as well as researchers have been exchanged between the partners. The AquaTerra team of environmental research experts is unique in the world in terms of its size, scientific diversity and expertise. Five years of intensive and successful research have shown that the AquaTerra project was very well prepared, administrated, and organized in all respects. In addition to the multitude of scientific results, many recommendations could be given to policy makers and river basin managers on how improvements of the environment can be achieved. Key questions and tasks that need to be addressed in order to improve river basin management could be identified. The work of AquaTerra and its outcomes in terms of data, methods, new and in-depth understanding, as well as policy recommendations do address and are applicable to diverse scales and contexts: from a local/regional (basin-wide) scale to a national or European context, and in several instances also globally.