BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Memento EPFL// BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:CLIMACT Seminar Series - Special seminar with 4 recipients of the 2021 CLIMACT Starting Grants! DTSTART:20230130T120000 DTEND:20230130T131500 DTSTAMP:20261001T014348Z UID:b28536a15d74a065223c70e74f30af9b9abe3afb2345600c17dd3496 CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars DESCRIPTION:The CLIMACT seminar series “A Climate of Transformation” i s an interactive online event. It takes place twice a month\, every second Monday during your lunch break\, with two new speakers.\nEach episode aim s to strengthen the dialogue and collaboration between key UNIL and EPFL s cientists\, swiss politicians\, entrepreneurs and various actors from the civil society\, through collective reflection.\nA wide range of climate ch ange-related topics will be discussed\, integrating perspectives from all sectors and academic disciplines in order to generate new leads and initia tives towards systemic solutions.\nYour expertise\, ideas\, critical think ing and vision for the future is essential. \nJoin CLIMACT in the discuss ion!\n\nInvestigation of permafrost instability based on a thermo-mechanic al numerical model\nPresented by Dr Grégoire Bobillier I  Research scien tist at WSL-SLF\n\n\nThe rise in global mean temperatures induced by clima te change causes accelerated permafrost degradation. In high mountain rock slopes\, rock falls in permafrost areas are triggered by decreasing restr aining forces such as friction loss in joints or fatigue of rock bridges. Although our knowledge of the thermal influence on permafrost degradation has improved over the last decades\, its mechanical effect on rock slope d estabilization remains rather poorly understood.\nIn this presentation\, J ohan Gaume and his team modeled the Mont fort geological structure (Verbie r\, CH) using the 3D Distinct Elements Numerical Method (3DEC software) to simulate and analyze rock failure processes. Their developed thermo-mecha nical joint model simulates the main permafrost rock destabilization proce sses\, i.e. joint strength temperature dependency. The results show that t emperature changes affect the rock stability deeper than the active layer. \nThe study advances the understanding of thermo-mechanical failure proces ses in permafrost rock slopes\, with several potential applications in str uctural engineering and natural hazards.\n\n\n\nEnhanced weathering for ca rbon sequestration: A case study for Swiss agricultural soils\nPresented b y Dr Nicolas Escoffier I  First assistant LAKES Research group I UNIL\n\n \n\nIn the context of current climate change trajectory\, carbon dioxide r emoval technologies are receiving increasing interest. Among existing appr oaches\, enhanced weathering (EW) represents a promising methodology relyi ng on soil amendment with powdered silicate rocks to accelerate natural ch emical weathering and associated atmospheric CO2 uptake. However\, EW is s till in early stages of evaluation with efficiency estimates often based o n simplified representations of soil biogeochemical and hydrological trans port processes\, either from small-scale experiments or global-scale model s.\nHere\, the project team developed a synthetic model linking expected C O2 capture with natural and technology-related CO2 emissions to assess the relevance of EW in Swiss croplands. Combining available techno-economic a nd specific carbon sequestration data with usually unaccounted geochemical processes\, they show that the timescales to achieve net CO2 sequestratio n are highly variable and generally not satisfying current mitigation targ ets. These results provide a critical assessment of EW implementation and identify major blind spots underlying its effectiveness.\n\nDid you say st arting (grant)? Towards a data base and methodology to study Swiss urban s oils environmental functions\nPresented by Dr Antoine Vialle I Project Lea der CCD I UNIL\n\n\n\nIn this presentation\, Antoine Vialle will briefly s ummarize the goal and developed approached of my Climact-granted research project on carbon sequestration in urban soils within urban requalificatio n projects. In particular\, he will highlight how he took advantage of the so called “starting” grant as a seed money at an early stage of his r esearcher career by commenting the significant deviations from his initial proposal in terms of main scientific and societal outputs\, but also crit ical challenges.\n\nStone pine colonisation in the Alps: ups and downs thr ough a valley and the project\nPresented by Dr Jan Skaloud I  Senior scie ntist at the Geodetic Engineering lab I EPFL\n\n\n\nThe project team combi nes modern aircraft-based sensors with deep-learning data analysis and in- situ observations to generate spatially explicit inventories of species in the treeline ecotone within one Alpine valley. When validated\, the app roach is intended to be extended over broad regions where in-situ measurem ents are not feasible and satellite imagery does not provide a sufficient level of detail. This information should enhance the forecasting capacity of species distribution models designed to predict the evolution of veget ation as a result of climate warming.\nJan Skaloud presents the methodolo gy to achieve this goal after the envisaged approach had to be redesigned during the project\, as the data collected by the world’s finest imaging spectrometer for the study did not meet the localization accuracy require d. This highlights the importance of having the ability to implement and c ontrol all stages of the processing chain in-house and to present data ope nly in their raw form. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n LOCATION:https://epfl.zoom.us/j/63821341998 STATUS:CONFIRMED END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR