This Key Profile Area “Intelligent Methods for Earth System Sciences” aims to advance Earth System Science by developing a new generation of methods utilizing novel observations, simulations, and computational analysis to understand the past, present, and future Earth System. In this way, we provide capabilities to thoroughly monitor and to predict environmental change for various applications and support political decision makers.

Our innovative interdisciplinary approach brings together Earth system sciences, related natural sciences (physics, chemistry, biology), and computer science and mathematics. Such an interdisciplinary approach makes it possible to achieve applications in, for example, astronomy, environmental sciences, and the energy industry.

Together with strong regional partners, i.e. the University of Bonn as well as the Research Center Jülich, the University of Cologne (UzK) has already established the Center for Earth System Observation and Computational analysis (CESOC), which links the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) with research in this interdisciplinary field. In addition, the further development of strong infrastructures, such as the worldwide unique platform for geochronology at the UzK, is planned. It is also planned to further strengthen the competence centers within the ABC/J Geoverbund, such as the Isotope GeoScience Centre (IGSC4i) and the Cloud and Precipitation Exploration Laboratory (CPEX-LAB).

The UoC's KPA funding is intended to expand interdisciplinary collaboration in research, develop innovative teaching concepts, support approaches to sustainability, and enable outreach activities.

Our Earth system provides essential functions without which we cannot survive on our planet (e.g., a stable climate, drinking water, and food). Despite its enormous complexity, the Earth system is vulnerable and is being pushed beyond its limits by human activities in key areas. This overloading of the Earth's system manifests itself, for example, in a more significant number of extreme weather events, a progressive loss of biodiversity, and other ecosystem services that are essential to us. Systematic research into the resulting effects and avoidance or adaptation strategies is the central challenge for Earth system science in the 21st century.

At the same time, a new generation of tools is available: novel approaches to observing the Earth system, high-resolution experimental data and simulations, and intelligent computational methods such as machine learning, efficient algorithms, or exascale computing. These offer unprecedented potential to better understand past, present, and especially future climate and the evolution of the complex coupled Earth system. The knowledge can then be used to make recommendations for policy and the energy industry, among others.

The successful collaborative projects in which the ideas of the KPA IMfESS play a role are to be followed by further large-scale projects, which are to be initiated and developed by the KPA IMfESS. To this end, we support small, pioneering projects and workshops.

In particular, interdisciplinary projects are to be initiated and corresponding professorships established. Mathematics and computer science are to be developed as interdisciplinary research for the earth sciences, with machine learning, artificial intelligence, efficient algorithms and visual analyses playing a role. 

In addition, the broad-based infrastructure is to be further strengthened: The globally unique platform for geochronology at the UoC, where various methods enable the dating of geological material and thus the reconstruction of past climates, as well as the competence centres within the Geoverbund ABC/J and further infrastructure for atmospheric research, in which observations of the current climate are the main focus.

Also a cooperation of energy industry and meteorology (see also ewi) shall be extended with seminar series, joint research work.

For teaching the new Master's program Computational Sciences will be promoted, and a new ‘Climate Sciences’ Master's program is to be established together with the University of Bologna and with the help of our partner CESOC. Cooperation with computer science and mathematics is promoted, among other things, by the fact that the Bachelor's degree programme in Earth and Climate Physics includes an introduction to computer science and, in turn, Earth and Climate Physics plays a role as a minor subject in the Bachelor's degree programme in Computer Science. Interdisciplinary Master's and doctoral theses are also supervised.

In addition, we will collaborate with the graduate school (GSGS) to add a strong computational education component to their offerings.

In the outreach, we will bring KPA topics to a broad public and also seek cooperation with schools.

The institutes/institutions initially involved belong to the University of Cologne, three institutes in the Department of Earth Sciences and two institutes in the Department of Mathematics / Computer Science. Guest scientists, in particular through the Global Faculty Programme, as well as partner institutions expand the circle of participating scientists.

The Center for Data and Simulation Science (CDS) and the Computing Center (ITCC) provide capacities for data analysis and simulations.

Data acquisition takes place in a wide variety of locations, e.g. in the Arctic within the AC3 project, in the Atacama Desert within the CRC1211 project, at the Cologne weather station on the university sports grounds, in Jülich with the measuring instruments from the ACTRIS and JOYCE project and in the laboratories of Geology & Mineraology and Geography, and the Cologne AMS. 

With the strong regional partners, i.e. the University of Bonn as well as the Research Center Jülich, the University of Cologne (UzK) has already established the Center for Earth System Observation and Computational analysis (CESOC), which links the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) with research. In addition, there are other infrastructures, such as the worldwide unique platform for geochronology at the UoC (e.g. with the CologneAMS), as well as the competence centers within the Geoverbundes ABC/J, such as the Isotope GeoScience Centre (IGSC4i) and the Cloud and Precipitation Exploration Laboratory (CPEX-LAB).

The ideas of the KPA already play a central role in ongoing projects (Collaborative projects) and are also reflected in the small projects and workshops directly funded by the KPA IMfESS.