Participation of our group in funded research projects
CASCADE project: Catastrophic shifts in drylands: how can we prevent ecosystem degradation?
Funded under: FPT-ENV-2011
Start Year: 2012
Total Budget (euros): 5, 890, 000
CONSORTIUM: STICHTING DIENST LANDBOUWKUNDIG ONDERZOEK, TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF CRETE, UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DELLA BASILICATA, CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE, UNIVERSIDAD DE ALICANTE, UNIVERSITY OF AVEIRO, FONDAZIONE PER LO SVILUPPO SOSTENIBLE DEL MEDITERRANEO, UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS, UNIVERSITÄT BERN, UNIVERSITEIT UTRECHT, JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE, CYPRUS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, WAGENINGEN UNIVERSITY, FUNDACION CENTRO DE ESTUDIOS AMBIENTALES DEL MEDITERRANEO
Summary: The aims and objectives of CASCADE are to obtain a better understanding of sudden shifts in dry-lands that may lead to major losses in biodiversity and concomitant ecosystem services. By focusing on vulnerable dry-lands as our target ecosystems, we build further on existing knowledge regarding shifts in these ecosystems. CASCADE will improve our understanding of the biogeochemical mechanisms underlying sudden and catastrophic shifts, and of the key biotic and abiotic factors influencing these processes. Based on these analyses, CASCADE will develop ways to predict the proximity of the CASCADE‘s dry-land ecosystems to thresholds in such a way that these predictions can be used by policymakers and land users for more sustainable management of dry-lands worldwide.
LIDAR project: Integrated use of remote sensing and lidar techniques for the study of air pollution and the optical properties of the atmosphere in Cyprus
Funded by: ΠΕΝΕΚ/0311, Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation
Start Year: 2012
Total Budget (euros): 87, 480
CONSORTIUM: CYPRUS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY (Coordinator: D.G.Hadjimitsis), NATIONAL AND KAPODISRTIAN UNIVERSITY OF ATHENS, NATIONAL OBSERVATORY OF ATHENS, NATIONAL TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF ATHENS, CYPRUS METEOROLOGICAL SERVICΕ
Summary: Atmospheric aerosols consist one of the major source of uncertainty in climate change modelling, responsible for direct, by scattering and absorbing the solar and terrestrial radiation, and indirect radiative forcing, by acting as cloud condensation nuclei. The main objective of this proposal is the development of a new integrated algorithm/tool for continuously monitoring the levels of particulate air pollution and for the retrieval of various atmospheric parameters. These parameters will be used for the atmospheric correction of satellite imagery, but also can be used for operational purposes (e.g. monitoring of the movement of large aerosol loads affecting aviation, human health, climate, monitoring the Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) height to estimate the accumulation of air pollution, etc.).
HydroGIS project: Upgrade of the hydraulics laboratory for the modeling of water supply networks & design and operation optimization study
Funded by the ΑΝΑΒΑΘΜΙΣΗ/0609/34, Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation,
Start Year: 2012
Budget (euros): 406, 000
CONSORTIUM: CYPRUS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, WATER DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT LTD, NATIONAL TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY OF ATHENS, ISOTHERM LTD, PAPHOS MUNICIPALITY
Summary: In the context of this proposal for upgrading existing laboratory/technological equipment, the Cyprus University of Technology together with a strong Research Consortium propose the development of a State of the Art Laboratory for Hydrodynamics/Hydraulics Applications which is a prerequisite for the execution of the proposed Research Project on the optimization study for the design and operation - through computational and experimental simulation - of water supply networks. The Project aims to satisfy the dire need for authorities to solve the extremely serious problem of water supply as a result of continued water shortage. The grave and chronic problems of water losses in the water supply network pipes, the uncontrolled and non-optimum operation of pumping stations, the often wrong design of the networks because of various interventions (e.g. town planning, wrong mapping of existing networks), are some of the most important problems which need to be tackled in order to optimize the performance of the networks and, consequently, save on this precious resource, as well as, on the energy consumed.
MEDNET project: Mediterranean Network for Custom Procedures and Simplification of Clearance in Ports
Funded by the MED PROGRAMME, 2S-MED11-14
Start Year: 2012
Total Budget (euros): 6, 454, 850
CONSORTIUM: (RETE AUTOSTRADE MEDITERRANEE, NATIONAL TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF ATHENS, IGOUMENITSA PORT AUTHORITY S.A., PATRAS PORT AUTHORITY S.A., ANCONA PORT AUTHORITY S.A., TARANTO PORT AUTHORITY, CENTER FOR INNOVATION IN TRANSPORT (SPAIN), VALENCIAPORT FOUNDATION, JONCTION, CYPRUS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY (Partner, PI: D.G.Hadjimitsis), MARITIME INSTITUTE OF EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN, CHAMBER OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY OF MARSEILLE PROVENCE, INSTITUTE OF TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORT LJUBLJANA L.L.C., CONSULTORES EM TRANSPORTES INOVAÇÃO E SISTEMAS, INTERMODAL TRANSPORT CLUSTER, ALBANIAN INSTITUTE OF TRANSPORT, PORT OF RIJEKA AUTHORITY, ZADAR PORT AUTHORITY)
Summary: The proposed project aims to establish and operate a network of port authorities and transport experts in the Mediterranean region, focusing on the exchange of knowledge and expertise with regard to port and custom procedures and simplification of clearance for vessels and cargoes. This is expected to enhance the common understanding and promote the introduction of information systems to ports operation and potentially to other intermodal modes. The MEDNET project intends to make a significant contribution towards customs procedures and simplification of clearance for vessels and cargoes in Mediterranean area through a series of activities. Initially, a state of the art analysis will record the past and current customs practices and related legislation and create a “Port Operations Observatory in the Mediterranean”, whose purpose is the transparent sharing of best practice solutions with all stakeholders, extending, thus, the knowledge dissemination among European countries and along the port community. Subsequently, the bottlenecks that hinder the efficient flow of information will be identified and current administrative, regulatory and technical barriers will be analyzed. In addition, the project will identify windows of opportunity in view of simplifying and speeding up procedures.
EUREKA project: Web and 3G mobile phone based air quality management: particulates, public health, co-benefits.
Start Year: 2011
Total Budget (euros): 800, 000
Partners: Cyprus University of Technology (Leaders), Oikon Ltd-Croatia, ESS - Environmental Software & Services GMBH-Austria, Air Quality Control Company (AQCC)-Iran
Summary: WEBAIR-2 will follow-up on WEBAIR for urban and industrial air quality management, by extending the application scope and IT technologies employed to: (1) Particulates (PM10/2.5) emission modelling and public health, with emphasis on the political controversial concepts of local traffic reductions by various regulatory and economic instruments; (2) CO2/GHG emissions, energy efficiency and the co-benefits between Kyoto targets (and the emerging follow-up commitments from Copenhagen) and "classical" air pollution, as regulated, for example, in 2008/50/EC, based on a distributed, bottom-up approach to emission control using the directly measurable air pollutants as a direct validation instrument, and (3) Use of 3G mobile phone technology for personalized health related information, warnings and exposure reports e.g., for Asthma patients. A key objective of the proposal is to add elements of sustainable development and explicit environmental criteria to the overall objectives of the Lisbon Strategy. Actions and means involved:
PM3 project: air pollution using earth observation
Funded by LIFE+
Start Year: 2011
Total Budget (euros): 1, 294, 871
CONSORTIUM: DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR INSPECTION, MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND SOCIAL INSURANCE, ATLANTIS CONSULTING CYPRUS LTD, CYPRUS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, ARISTOTELEIO PANEPISTIMIO THESSALONIKIS, ENVIRONMENTAL SOFTWARE AND SERVICES GMBH (AUSTRIA)
Summary: PM3 is the result of a joint effort of the Department of Labour Inspection, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, ESS Austria, Cyprus University of Technology and the Atlantis Consulting Cyprus Ltd and aims to improve the air quality and on a long term basis the quality of life and health of all Cyprus’s citizens. The project is funded by LIFE+ Environment Policy & Governance. Its total budget is 1 294 871€ and the EC contribution is 629 935€. The project started in January 2011 and has three year duration. The major technical objective of the project is to extend and improve the monitoring capabilities using remote sensing methods & additional measurement units and to distribute the particulate emissions by source, to develop and implement a methodology to identify sources of pollution and emissions division between local and trans-boundary sources and to upgrade the ability to anticipate and forecast. Besides, to the extension of actions to inform stakeholders through the application of technologies of 3G mobile technology, in the preparation of a dust management plan which will be based on environmental criteria of the Lisbon Strategy and on socioeconomic criteria and to highlight best management practices tailored to the weather in the eastern Mediterranean.
Funded under: FPT-ENV-2011
Start Year: 2012
Total Budget (euros): 5, 890, 000
CONSORTIUM: STICHTING DIENST LANDBOUWKUNDIG ONDERZOEK, TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF CRETE, UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DELLA BASILICATA, CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE, UNIVERSIDAD DE ALICANTE, UNIVERSITY OF AVEIRO, FONDAZIONE PER LO SVILUPPO SOSTENIBLE DEL MEDITERRANEO, UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS, UNIVERSITÄT BERN, UNIVERSITEIT UTRECHT, JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE, CYPRUS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, WAGENINGEN UNIVERSITY, FUNDACION CENTRO DE ESTUDIOS AMBIENTALES DEL MEDITERRANEO
Summary: The aims and objectives of CASCADE are to obtain a better understanding of sudden shifts in dry-lands that may lead to major losses in biodiversity and concomitant ecosystem services. By focusing on vulnerable dry-lands as our target ecosystems, we build further on existing knowledge regarding shifts in these ecosystems. CASCADE will improve our understanding of the biogeochemical mechanisms underlying sudden and catastrophic shifts, and of the key biotic and abiotic factors influencing these processes. Based on these analyses, CASCADE will develop ways to predict the proximity of the CASCADE‘s dry-land ecosystems to thresholds in such a way that these predictions can be used by policymakers and land users for more sustainable management of dry-lands worldwide.
LIDAR project: Integrated use of remote sensing and lidar techniques for the study of air pollution and the optical properties of the atmosphere in Cyprus
Funded by: ΠΕΝΕΚ/0311, Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation
Start Year: 2012
Total Budget (euros): 87, 480
CONSORTIUM: CYPRUS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY (Coordinator: D.G.Hadjimitsis), NATIONAL AND KAPODISRTIAN UNIVERSITY OF ATHENS, NATIONAL OBSERVATORY OF ATHENS, NATIONAL TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF ATHENS, CYPRUS METEOROLOGICAL SERVICΕ
Summary: Atmospheric aerosols consist one of the major source of uncertainty in climate change modelling, responsible for direct, by scattering and absorbing the solar and terrestrial radiation, and indirect radiative forcing, by acting as cloud condensation nuclei. The main objective of this proposal is the development of a new integrated algorithm/tool for continuously monitoring the levels of particulate air pollution and for the retrieval of various atmospheric parameters. These parameters will be used for the atmospheric correction of satellite imagery, but also can be used for operational purposes (e.g. monitoring of the movement of large aerosol loads affecting aviation, human health, climate, monitoring the Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) height to estimate the accumulation of air pollution, etc.).
HydroGIS project: Upgrade of the hydraulics laboratory for the modeling of water supply networks & design and operation optimization study
Funded by the ΑΝΑΒΑΘΜΙΣΗ/0609/34, Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation,
Start Year: 2012
Budget (euros): 406, 000
CONSORTIUM: CYPRUS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, WATER DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT LTD, NATIONAL TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY OF ATHENS, ISOTHERM LTD, PAPHOS MUNICIPALITY
Summary: In the context of this proposal for upgrading existing laboratory/technological equipment, the Cyprus University of Technology together with a strong Research Consortium propose the development of a State of the Art Laboratory for Hydrodynamics/Hydraulics Applications which is a prerequisite for the execution of the proposed Research Project on the optimization study for the design and operation - through computational and experimental simulation - of water supply networks. The Project aims to satisfy the dire need for authorities to solve the extremely serious problem of water supply as a result of continued water shortage. The grave and chronic problems of water losses in the water supply network pipes, the uncontrolled and non-optimum operation of pumping stations, the often wrong design of the networks because of various interventions (e.g. town planning, wrong mapping of existing networks), are some of the most important problems which need to be tackled in order to optimize the performance of the networks and, consequently, save on this precious resource, as well as, on the energy consumed.
MEDNET project: Mediterranean Network for Custom Procedures and Simplification of Clearance in Ports
Funded by the MED PROGRAMME, 2S-MED11-14
Start Year: 2012
Total Budget (euros): 6, 454, 850
CONSORTIUM: (RETE AUTOSTRADE MEDITERRANEE, NATIONAL TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF ATHENS, IGOUMENITSA PORT AUTHORITY S.A., PATRAS PORT AUTHORITY S.A., ANCONA PORT AUTHORITY S.A., TARANTO PORT AUTHORITY, CENTER FOR INNOVATION IN TRANSPORT (SPAIN), VALENCIAPORT FOUNDATION, JONCTION, CYPRUS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY (Partner, PI: D.G.Hadjimitsis), MARITIME INSTITUTE OF EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN, CHAMBER OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY OF MARSEILLE PROVENCE, INSTITUTE OF TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORT LJUBLJANA L.L.C., CONSULTORES EM TRANSPORTES INOVAÇÃO E SISTEMAS, INTERMODAL TRANSPORT CLUSTER, ALBANIAN INSTITUTE OF TRANSPORT, PORT OF RIJEKA AUTHORITY, ZADAR PORT AUTHORITY)
Summary: The proposed project aims to establish and operate a network of port authorities and transport experts in the Mediterranean region, focusing on the exchange of knowledge and expertise with regard to port and custom procedures and simplification of clearance for vessels and cargoes. This is expected to enhance the common understanding and promote the introduction of information systems to ports operation and potentially to other intermodal modes. The MEDNET project intends to make a significant contribution towards customs procedures and simplification of clearance for vessels and cargoes in Mediterranean area through a series of activities. Initially, a state of the art analysis will record the past and current customs practices and related legislation and create a “Port Operations Observatory in the Mediterranean”, whose purpose is the transparent sharing of best practice solutions with all stakeholders, extending, thus, the knowledge dissemination among European countries and along the port community. Subsequently, the bottlenecks that hinder the efficient flow of information will be identified and current administrative, regulatory and technical barriers will be analyzed. In addition, the project will identify windows of opportunity in view of simplifying and speeding up procedures.
EUREKA project: Web and 3G mobile phone based air quality management: particulates, public health, co-benefits.
Start Year: 2011
Total Budget (euros): 800, 000
Partners: Cyprus University of Technology (Leaders), Oikon Ltd-Croatia, ESS - Environmental Software & Services GMBH-Austria, Air Quality Control Company (AQCC)-Iran
Summary: WEBAIR-2 will follow-up on WEBAIR for urban and industrial air quality management, by extending the application scope and IT technologies employed to: (1) Particulates (PM10/2.5) emission modelling and public health, with emphasis on the political controversial concepts of local traffic reductions by various regulatory and economic instruments; (2) CO2/GHG emissions, energy efficiency and the co-benefits between Kyoto targets (and the emerging follow-up commitments from Copenhagen) and "classical" air pollution, as regulated, for example, in 2008/50/EC, based on a distributed, bottom-up approach to emission control using the directly measurable air pollutants as a direct validation instrument, and (3) Use of 3G mobile phone technology for personalized health related information, warnings and exposure reports e.g., for Asthma patients. A key objective of the proposal is to add elements of sustainable development and explicit environmental criteria to the overall objectives of the Lisbon Strategy. Actions and means involved:
- Determine local versus long range imports by combining monitoring data analysis supported by long-range transport modelling and remote sensing for large-scale synoptic observations;
- For national sources, determine the “natural” component, and non-combustion based contributions as well as industrial and traffic generated
- Identify a range of control measures based on this source apportionment;
- Forecasting including population exposure and estimated health effects, data assimilation and model validation tools and public information e.g., information and alert thresholds;
- Develop dissemination and communication strategies for the public and stakeholders.
PM3 project: air pollution using earth observation
Funded by LIFE+
Start Year: 2011
Total Budget (euros): 1, 294, 871
CONSORTIUM: DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR INSPECTION, MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND SOCIAL INSURANCE, ATLANTIS CONSULTING CYPRUS LTD, CYPRUS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, ARISTOTELEIO PANEPISTIMIO THESSALONIKIS, ENVIRONMENTAL SOFTWARE AND SERVICES GMBH (AUSTRIA)
Summary: PM3 is the result of a joint effort of the Department of Labour Inspection, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, ESS Austria, Cyprus University of Technology and the Atlantis Consulting Cyprus Ltd and aims to improve the air quality and on a long term basis the quality of life and health of all Cyprus’s citizens. The project is funded by LIFE+ Environment Policy & Governance. Its total budget is 1 294 871€ and the EC contribution is 629 935€. The project started in January 2011 and has three year duration. The major technical objective of the project is to extend and improve the monitoring capabilities using remote sensing methods & additional measurement units and to distribute the particulate emissions by source, to develop and implement a methodology to identify sources of pollution and emissions division between local and trans-boundary sources and to upgrade the ability to anticipate and forecast. Besides, to the extension of actions to inform stakeholders through the application of technologies of 3G mobile technology, in the preparation of a dust management plan which will be based on environmental criteria of the Lisbon Strategy and on socioeconomic criteria and to highlight best management practices tailored to the weather in the eastern Mediterranean.
