Presentation by Chris Bradley (University of Birmingham, United Kingdom), at the DANUBIUS Modelling Workshop, during Delft Software Days - Edition 2019. Friday, 8 November 2019, Delft.

1. DANUBIUS-RI: the Scientific Agenda.
1Chris Bradley, 2Jana Friedrich, 2Sina Bold & 3Andrew Tyler
1 2 3

2. US National Park Service

3. Environmental challenges (River Thames)
• High population density / population growth / increasing water demand
• Water stress / drought
• Flooding
• Groundwater polluted with nitrate from farming
• Algal blooms
• Invasive species

4. • Provide real / near real time observations of:
• Water Quality
• Emerging Pollutants
• Biogeochemical cycling
• Land cover
• Change detection (phenology)
• Validate EO data
• Coordinate fixed and mobile sensor deployment
• Coordinate biogeochemical sampling for satellite
and in-situ sensor validation
• Dealing with structured and unstructured data (Big
Data Issues)
Observation Capabilities

5. • Practicalities of standardizing approaches
across the freshwater & marine sciences;
• But:
• Enormous opportunities to harness recent
advances in in-situ sensors and earth
observation;
• What are the minimum no. of parameters
needed to characterize a particular
catchment;
• What is the ideal sampling / observation
frequency
• [Modelling challenges……?!]

6. Enhancing process and system understanding:
How are ‘River - Sea systems’ changing due to different
pressures? How are they interacting?
How are processes and changes on land affecting those
in rivers and seas and vice versa? How are processes
and changes in the headwaters affecting those further
along the River Sea continuum?
How are these changes affecting ecosystem functioning
and services?
How can we sustainably manage River Sea systems?

7. The Approach
7
River-Sea
(RS) System
Geosphere
Atmosphere
Ocean
River
Basin
Coastal,
Sea
Estuary,
Delta
water, sediment, dissolved and
particulate matter, organisms
Land

8. The Approach:
8
• mission-oriented and problem-solving to
address environmental and socio-economic
challenges related to RS systems
• considers change(s) and resilience of RS
systems
• advances an integrated approach for studies of
RS systems and regards RS systems as social-
ecological systems
• enables interdisciplinary research and
innovation
• promotes a participatory approach including
engaging various stakeholders and public(s)

9. Our Research Themes
9
1. Climate Change (e.g. sea level rise, change in
temperature and precipitation, extreme events)
2. Water Quality & Quantity (e.g. changes in
hydromorphology, eutrophication, pollution)
3. Sediment Quality & Quantity (e.g. erosion,
pollution, connectivity issues)
4. Ecosystem Health (ecosystem structure &
functioning; e.g. biodiversity, habitat change/loss,
invasive species, overfishing, pollution,)
5. Living with Change (climate change and other
human drivers; e.g. nature based solutions)

10. Achieving Healthy Inland, Transitional & Coastal Waters
Water Quantity: understand water stores and fluxes across the River – Sea continuum
1. How can we quantify water storage, flows and residence times (and their spatial
and temporal variability and connectivity)
2. How can we predict upstream – downstream impacts of man-made changes in
hydromorphology (on ecosystem functioning & biodiversity)
3. How can we manage competing demands for water resources (to sustain healthy
River – Sea systems)
Global Freshwater Use
0
2000
4000
6000
1600 1700 1800 1900 2000 2100
Withdrawals(km
3
)

11. Sediment balance: understand and quantify sediment dynamics from Source – to –
Sink (and manage sediments sustainably)
1. How do man-made changes in hydromorphology alter sediment regimes – and
what are their consequences?
2. How can we improve estimates of sediment budgets (for River – Sea systems) to
enable better management?
3. How can nature-based solutions support sustainable management of sediments?
4. How can we restore engineered rivers, transitional & coastal waters while
retaining key socio-economic functions
Achieving Healthy Inland, Transitional & Coastal Waters

12. Nutrients & Pollution: understand the effects of Nutrients & Pollution in water and
sediment
1. What are the sources, pathways, transformations & sinks of nutrients and
pollutants from current and legacy sources;
2. How does upstream eutrophication & hypoxia impact downstream ecosystems (in
estuaries / coastal seas)
3. What are the thresholds for single and multiple pollutant exposures upstream
4. How can we detect new and emerging pollutants and assess their impacts?
5. How can we integrate new economic strategies to mitigate, control & manage
pollution across River – Sea systems.
Achieving Healthy Inland, Transitional & Coastal Waters
Steffan et al. 2015

13. Biodiversity:
1. Assess & predict changes in
biodiversity and ecosystem
functioning
2. Risks of invasive species?
3. Causes of changes in
Ecosystem structure &
functioning
4. Importance of longitudinal &
lateral ecological connectivity
Achieving Healthy Inland, Transitional & Coastal Waters
Ecosystem Services:
1. Importance of biodiversity &
ecological processes in
sustaining ecosystem
services?
2. Consequences (for ecosystem
services) of multiple pressures
on River – Sea systems?
3. How can we avoid over-
exploitation of ecosystem
services?

14. Summary & Outlook
• provides access to long-term research infrastructure along several
RS systems enabling interdisciplinary research
• uses standardised methods and provides access to comparable data
• synthesizes existing knowledge on RS systems and enhances process
and system understanding
• informs and facilitates the joint implementation of European (WFD,
MSFD, FD etc.) as well as global (SDGs) water related policies
• Science & Innovation Agenda being published in Nov. 2019
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15. Coordinated by: Dr. Adrian Stanica
National Institute of Marine Geology and
Geoecology, Bucharest, Romania
+40 21 2522 594
astanica@geoecomar.ro
danubius.research@geoecomar.ro
www.danubius-pp.eu // @DANUBIUS_PP // www.danubius-ri.eu
Preparatory Phase for the pan-European Research
Infrastructure DANUBIUS-RI „The International Centre for
Advanced Studies on River-Sea Systems“