Supported projects
The KPA can support projects with its own financial resources. In April 2023, the first projects (KPA 001 - KPA 006) have been selected for this. Since the end of 2023, KPA 007 to KPA 012 have also been supported. For 2025, some projects will be extended (interim reports are available) and some new projects will be supported.
KPA 001 (completed)
Prof. Dr. Andreas Vogelsang - Informatik - Software and System Engineering
Evaluating Software Quality of Research Software
IDEA
Software becomes more and more important to research. (…) We are interested in inspecting which software development best practices are applied and which relevance code quality has in research software. The results will give insight into current code quality and provide possibilities for improvement of the quality and correctness of the programs used. More specifically, we want to answer the following research questions:
- RQ1: Which role does code quality currently play in research software?
- RQ2: How “good” is research software in comparison to other open-source (and commercial) software?
- RQ3: How can we improve productivity and code quality in research software?
By answering these three research question, we will be able to identify further topics that will investigate further as part of KPA initiatives or offer as training for researchers.
RESULT
Interviews were conducted, analysed and the results documented in detail in a publication together with the future challenges and visions for research software.
Bajraktari, M. Binder, A. Vogelsang: "Requirements Engineering for Research Software: A Vision“, In: 32nd IEEE International Requirements Engineering (RE) 2024 conference, https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.07781
In this publication, it becomes clear that there is a need for action to avoid errors in software and possible wrong conclusions in research. The vision is to bridge education and research gaps, promote software engineering in research and empower researchers to develop excellent software.
KPA 002 (started and extended)
Prof. Dr. Christina Bogner – Geography - Ecosystem research
Establishing a modelling framework for agent-based models
with Marijn van der Meij, Tim Reichenau, Andreas Bolten, Tony Reimann, Georg Bareth, and Karl Schneider
IDEA
Agent-based models (ABMs) are known as a tool to model interactions between human agents in economics (Farmer and Foley, 2009) or social sciences (Bankes, 2002) or human-environment interactions (An, 2012). It is one of the methods to approach complex systems. Some even call them “a bridge between disciplines”‘ (Axelrod, 2006). ABMs are related to game theory; however, they can encompass more complex behaviour. Given their power to approach complex systems, we feel that ABMs should be part of the KPA’s repertoire of models to help answering pertinent questions relating to human-environment interactions within the Earth System Sciences. Eventually, ABMs could even be a link between the KPAs “Social and Economic Behavior” and “Intelligent Methods for Earth System Sciences”. ABMs require a thorough implementation to run at a reasonable speed. The (relatively) new language for data analysis, Julia (https://julialang.org/), promises such a framework for a successful implementation (https://github.com/juliadynamics/Agents.jl/). Thus, we suggest trying Julia’s capacity to provide a framework to implement ABMs. As a case study, we will use the research questions arising in the project A05 “Future roads” in the CRC 228 related to land-use change and development of a road network.
INTERIM REPORT
Karl Kemper developed a complex model that simulates the spread of the invasive species Prosopis in Kenya. The model is driven by intricate interactions between landscape variables, meteorological factors, human-made infrastructure, and the ecological niche and dispersal strategies of Prosopis.
KPA 003 (started)
Prof. Dr. Christina Bogner – Geography - Ecosystem research
Establishing and testing a digital lab notebook
with Stephan Opitz
Electronic lab notebooks (ELN) are an important tool to ensure data safety and reproducibility of experimental results in a lab. It is part of a thorough research data management (https://fdm.uni-koeln.de/serviceangebot/servicekatalog-1). At the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, we have the opportunity to test the software eLABJOURNAL. In this proposal, we suggest to test eLABJOURNAL in the Laboratory of the Institute of Geography within the working group Ecosystem Research and to report whether this software can be used more broadly within the KPA to e.g., exchange protocols between different working groups and coordinate our technical infrastructure (Großgeräte) more efficiently.
KPA 004 (started and extended)
Prof. Dr. Christina Bogner – Geography - Ecosystem research
Establishing a framework for development of Shiny Apps for teaching
with Andreas Bolten
IDEA
Shiny apps written in R (https://shiny.rstudio.com/) are interactive web apps. They can be used to teach e.g., statistics (https://stattlc.com/2021/08/17/ooh-shiny-r-shiny-apps-as-a-teaching-tool/) to beginners or for serious applications like reporting about systematic literature search according to PRISMA (https://estech.shinyapps.io/prisma_flowdiagram/.) We suggest (i) developing shiny apps for teaching within the KPA and (ii) creating teaching material that can serve to teach students to program such apps themselves. In order to deploy Shiny apps, a Shiny server is needed. To setup it, we kindly request the assistance of the KPA and in particular from Dr. Katja Sperveslage.
INTERIM REPORT
So far, an app for data visualization in the programming language R has been designed. This supports students in understanding different plot types and gives them a first introduction to R as a data visualization tool. This app has been ported to the Shiny server at imfesshub.uni-koeln.de and is accessible.
KPA 005 (started and extended)
Prof. Dr. Tatiana von Landesberger – Computer Sciences – Visualisation and Visual Analytics
Dashboard Visualization for Atmospheric Rivers
The visualization of meteorological data requires effective and efficient interaction possibilities. Meteorological data have specific characteristics to be taken into account. Especially multiple aspects of data measurements on arctic atmospheric rivers. The use of visualization for publication purposes – in papers or online – requires a high amount of data accessibility and readability provided through a high number of filters and display options.
Our goal is to develop, implement and evaluate a novel dashboard visualization on meteorological data as well as to improve the given dashboard on atmospheric rivers designed during the “Visual Analysis Lab”. The output of the project can be used by all researchers in KPA.
KPA 006 (completed)
Prof. Dr. Tony Reimann - Geography – Geochronology and Geomorphology
Design and implementation of a soil-sediment database system for complex geoscientific and spatial data
IDEA
Due to progress in experimental technology and computational processing, geoscientific research produces increasingly more and more complex data from an increasing number of various sources and methods.(…) In Geosciences, placing observations in their spatial context is very important. (…) A modular and scalable database system deployed on the organisational level of an institute-wide laboratory rather than a research project, may help overcome the aforementioned challenges. The proposed project seeks to develop an integrated database system for geoscientific research that integrates the data management in the course of the research process from fieldwork documentation to laboratory results. Moreover, collaboration between research groups of the Institute for Geography (mainly AG Bareth, AG Bogner, AG Mansfeldt, AG Schneider, AG Reimann) and participants of the Key Profile Area (KPA) (e.g. AG Dunai, AG Grunert, AG Melles and others) will be explored. The goals of database system development are to:
- provide long-term storage of research data and metadata beyond the organisational and temporal limits of individual projects,
- simplify fieldwork and laboratory documentation,
- allow simple and comprehensive query of data records across different projects, spatial and temporal scales, using programming interfaces,
- be modular and scalable and
- fulfil the requirements of the DFG
RESULT: Implementation of a database system that ....
KPA 007 (started)
Dr. Claudia Acquistapace - Meteorology - Extreme weather events
New ground-based dataset input for developing a new machine learning self-supervised classification approach to identify cloud regimes.
Cloud mesoscale organization is crucial in determining cloud response to climate change, especially in the tropical region. Self-supervised machine learning (MLSV) method applied to satellite data successfully classifies cloud regimes in the trades during the EUREC4A campaign (Chatterjee et al., 2023). However, it still does not exploit the information from different observing geometries, like ship-based profiling observations. Model studies show that the evaporation of precipitation can play a crucial role in cold pool development, altering cloud spatial patterns and organization. We suggest preparing precipitation's evaporation rate (ER) measured from ship-based observations (Acquistapace et al., 2021) as input for MLSV. We will calculate ER by applying the method described by Tridon et al., 2017. First, we will use the mean cloud ER to understand better cloud regimes obtained using only satellite data. Finally, we will test the feasibility of including such data as input for the MLSV algorithm, hopefully revealing a new potential extension of the MLSV method that could benefit various applications and diverse scientific goals in intelligent methods for earth sciences.
KPA 008 (started and extended)
Dr. Yannick Bussweiler - GeoMuseum
Digitization of the GeoMuseum's teaching collection
IDEA
The GeoMuseum of the Institute of Geology and Mineralogy at the University of Cologne is home to a large collection of rocks, minerals and fossils. Some of these pieces are exhibited in the museum room and are open to the public. However, most of the pieces are kept in the museum's storage rooms. This includes an extensive teaching collection of sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rocks, which have been used extensively for teaching in the past. Our aim is to increase the attention of our lecturers at the institute (and possibly beyond) to the teaching collection by digitizing it.
A photogrammetry laboratory is currently being set up on the premises of the GeoMuseum for digitization (with funds from the Albertus Magnus Teaching Prize 2023, among others). We expect to be able to start recording the teaching collection (around 350 items) in the new year. For this purpose, the pieces will first be weighed, then photographed (from several perspectives to create a 3D model) and described petrographically. The data and information will be entered into a digital database and then shared with all lecturers at the institute.
INTERIM REPORT
The digitization of the GeoMuseum's teaching collection began in March 2024. The original estimate of a total of 350 rocks was revised upwards by 53. So far, 200 rocks have been recorded, i.e. classified, weighed, photographed and 3D models created. The latter is possible in the photogrammetry laboratory on the premises of the GeoMuseum. With the help of the USB, an easyDB installation is available as a platform in which the collected data is already entered in a suitable data model.
KPA 009 (started)
Prof. Dr. Tibor Dunai - Geology
Tropical Change - Environmental change in the humid tropics during major climate transitions
KPA 010 (20th-24th May 2024)
Prof. Dr. Tibor Dunai - Geology
Workshop COSMO 2024 "Pushing the boundaries of cosmogenic nuclides"
We support the COSMO 2024 workshop in Cologne (20-24 May 2024). This workshop is part of a biannual series of workshops, which developed from the ‘Nordic workshop on cosmogenic nuclides’ (last held in Norway 2018, 4NWCN, Bergen University), into a Pan-European workshop. After a corona-related break, the last workshop COSMO 2022 was hosted jointly by the University of Edinburgh and the University of Glasgow, UK. The convenors for COSMO 2024 in Cologne are Steven Binnie (UoC), Tibor Dunai (UoC) and Hella Witmann-Oelze (GFZ-Potsdam).
The scope of the workshop is to present and discuss novel developments in cosmogenic nuclide methodologies and applications to earth surface system sciences. This field of geochronometry has grown over the last several decades to become well recognised and established within the broader Earth Science community, and the broadening remit and increased profile of this workshop series reflects this.
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The 6th Workshop on Cosmogenic Nuclides, COSMO2024, took place at the Institute of Geology and Mineralogy from May 20 to 24, 2024. COSMO2024 kicked off on Monday with three workshops for young scientists. Over the following three days, four keynotes and 41 lectures were held in the Geo/Bio lecture hall. The event concluded on Friday with an excursion to the Middle Rhine Valley. Over 90 scientists from 22 nations took part in COSMO2024 and made this workshop in Cologne a successful event.
KPA 011 (12th/13th November 2024)
Prof. Dr. Christina Bogner and Prof. Dr. Javier Revilla Diez - Geography
Workshop with the topic "Integrating Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Sustainability Research: Mutual Insights and Learning"
As our planet is challenged by manifold crises, concepts like complex systems and systems thinking are fundamental for many disciplines in the KPA and beyond. However, different disciplines have their own understanding and way to treat those concepts. In practice, systems thinking includes a broad array of qualitative and quantitative methods and tools designed to better understand system behaviours and intervene in the context of complexity and uncertainty. We suggest a workshop where these concepts can be discussed focusing on climate change adaptation. We aim at inviting experts from both, quantitative and qualitative areas to work intensively on controversial statements (part of the concept of the workshop which will be developed and sent to participants beforehand). This workshop will bring together different disciplines and intensify KPA’s links outside the Faculty and University, thus increasing its national and international visibility.
KPA 012 (5th/6th February 2024)
Prof. Dr. Christian Sohler - Computer Science - Algorithm and Complexity
Workshop with the topic "Algorithmic Aspects of Neural Networks"
The goal of this workshop was to bring together experts in Theoretical Computer Science and Machine Learning and to discuss recent developments on Algorithmic Aspects of Neural Networks and related topics. The workshop took place on February 5th/6th in the main university building.
Schedule and speaker see here.
KPA 013 (planned)
Dr. Steven Binnie - Geology & Mineralogy
Coupling geo- and bio-chronometers to reconstruct river histories: evolution of the Douro River, Portugal
River networks evolve in response to changes in their surrounding environments and so fluvial histories tell us about past landscape defining events. Topographic evidence in the landscape showing that rivers have adjusted to new boundary conditions takes the form of geomorphic features, such as fluvial terraces (Pazzaglia, 2013). We can date these terraces with cosmogenic nuclides to constrain the timing and rates of fluvial evolution, and over the last decade, or so, more sophisticated approaches for such dating have been developed (e.g. Erdlanger et al., 2012). On the other hand, what has been significantly underappreciated by the geomorphology community is how the biological record of the aquatic species that inhabit these rivers can inform us of fluvial histories (Craw et al., 2008). The phylogenetic records of riverine species, such as amphipods (shrimp), can be analyzed using molecular clock dating to show when fluvial networks reorganized. Combining cosmogenic nuclide with molecular clock dating thus has great potential for understanding, amongst other things, the relationships between fluvial evolution and the major climatic changes during the Quaternary.
Recognizing this potential during the multidisciplinary CRC1211 project, combining geoscience and biology, Dr Binnie and Dr Kathrin Lampert (of the Inst. of Zoology at UoC) have achieved initial success, integrating these techniques to understand biological and landscape evolution in the Atacama Desert. This IMfESS proposal now seeks to expand on this success by testing the geo- bio-chronology approach outside of deserts, specifically in the Douro River, draining the largest catchment of the Iberian Peninsula. Here it is known that upstream portions of the river were once endorheic, but began to drain into the Atlantic following a major drainage capture event. The age of this event is poorly constrained and based on extrapolation it is suggested to have occurred between ~ 3.7 - 1.8 Ma (Cunha et al., 2019). The main hypothesis of this project is that the timing of Douro River reorganization derived from molecular clock dating of amphipods will be coeval with the start of incision obtained by cosmogenic nuclide dating of the river’s highest terrace. It is further hypothesed that this timing will relate to a period of major global climatic change. If successful, this study would serve as a pilot for a larger DFG research grant proposal, aimed at studying in more detail the coupling of these complimentary dating techniques at other locations worldwide.
WORK PLAN
The uppermost terrace of the downstream reach of the Douro River in central Portugal will be sampled for cosmogenic nuclide analysis. Human modification of the terrace surface precludes exposure dating and instead isochron burial dating will be used. This requires several samples to be dug from depths in excess of ~3 m and their 10Be and 26Al concentrations measured by accelerator mass spectrometry at CologneAMS. Amphipod samples would be collected from the main stem and several side tributaries of the Duoro River in Portugal and Spain and undergo molecular analysis of mitochondrial genes (COI) by Dr Lampert. Previous fieldwork in this area has built good relations with Portuguese colleagues, who would help facilitate sample collection, in particular obtaining permission and arranging the digging to get cosmogenic nuclide samples from depth.
KPA 014 (30th Sep - 3rd Oct 2025)
Prof. Dr. Christine Heim - Geobiology
Support for the workshops "M-FED 25 (Microbialites – Formation, Evolution, Diagenesis)" in Hannover
Microbialites are organo-sedimentary deposits influenced by benthic microbial communities, formed through the trapping and binding of detrital sediment or mineral precipitation, with a strong environmental control on its development. Therefore, microbialites have played an important role in the early history of life on Earth but also until today microbial build-ups serve as important primary producers, food source, surface stabilisers and remediation agents.This conference aims to bring together diverse researchers from the interdisciplinary fields of biogeosciences tackling microbialite research from various scientific angles. The conference will include presentations, posters, workshops and a field trip to the nearby UNESCO Geopark Heeseberg where the term “stromatolite” was coined.
Schedule, speaker and further information see here.
KPA 015 (11th - 13th June 2025)
Prof. Dr. Tony Reimann (Geography), Dr. Steven Binnie (Geology & Mineralogy) and Prof. Dr. Stephane Bonnet (GET, Université de Toulouse)
Workshop "Quantifying long-term sediment fluxes in river landscapes using geochronological and computational methods"
Rivers are the main continental conveyor belts of sediments at the surface of continents and the fluxes associated to their fluvial transfer are critical to understand the long-term evolution of landscapes in general and river landscapes in particular (e.g. Allen 2008). During the last two decades new and highly complementary geochronological and computational tools have been developed to quantify the production of sediment through weathering and erosion at the hillslopes and the transfer of sediment at the Earth’s surface (e.g. Dunai, 2000; Davy and Lague, 2009; Carretier et al. 2013, 2020; McGuire&Rhodes 2015; Guyez et al., 2022). We hypothesize that the most powerful approach to be able to sufficiently quantify the complex long-term fluxes of sediments in river landscapes lies in the systematic combination of complementary geochronological and computational methods (e.g. Gray et al., 2017, Carretier et al., 2023, Guyez et al., 2023). Yet, the scientific exchange between the different communities (e.g. cosmogenic nuclide, luminescence or river landscape modelling communities) is underdeveloped.
The development of intelligent methods that combine long-term observations at the Earth Surface through geomorphological and geochronological methods with state-of-the art numerical simulations of particle transport and landscape evolution models is currently delayed. Key players in the respective communities do not know each other well enough both from a scientific and also personal point of view. The goal of this workshop is to boost the interaction between the different sub-disciplines and corresponding key players to bridge between the different research traditions, dominating concepts, and terminologies among the different disciplines.
To facilitate scientific exchange and discussions between the different communities we propose to organize an inter-disciplinary scientific workshop on “Quantifying long-term sediment fluxes in river landscapes using geochronological and computational methods” at the Department of Geosciences at the University of Cologne. The aim of the workshop is to foster closer scientific cooperation’s between fluvial geomorphologists, geochronologists and modelers eventually leading to joint research and/or research-training funding proposals.