Project Factsheets

ADVANCE
Antarctic bioDiVersity dAta iNfrastruCture

• Budget: 998.005 €
• Period: 2023-2026
• Executor: Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS)
• Contact: Anton Van De Putte (RBINS)
• BELSPO programme manager: David Cox

Description

ADVANCE (Antarctic Biodiversity Data Infrastructure) seeks to establish a distributed Virtual Research Infrastructure (VRI) for the Antarctic and Southern Ocean regions, converting biodiversity data into research and policy-relevant data products. 
The Antarctic and Southern Ocean region is rapidly changing in certain regions, although it remains mostly unaffected by human activity and deserves conservation. Furthermore, the region has a unique potential for collecting new knowledge on critical scientific challenges, such as those highlighted in the context of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) Horizon Scan exercise and the Southern Ocean Action Plan.

The VRI will contribute to addressing these issues by enabling the connecting, enrichment, and valorisation of heterogeneous information from multiple sources in order to give insights into biological systems' reactions to climate change. 

It will support the publication of all elements of the research cycle in accordance with open science principles, including the FAIR, TRUST, and CARE principles: findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR), transparency, responsibility, user focus, sustainability, and technology (TRUST), collective benefit, authority to control, responsibility, and ethics (CARE).

It will expand a well-established online data platform (the SCAR Antarctic Biodiversity Portal, biodiversity.aq) to meet the growing needs of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean biodiversity research communities for access to high-quality data, services, protocols, standards, workflows, and software/applications that integrate biodiversity data with environmental data from various sources to generate research and policy-relevant outputs. The methods, data, tools, and processes will all be open, reproducible, and transparent. 

ADVANCE will enhance the long-term sustainability of existing and emerging facilities while eliminating redundancy. The project will work with OBIS and the GBIF to develop new biodiversity data models and improve the current standard. This enables us to develop useful biodiversity research resources such as an image library and trait databases, as well as applications that enable the creation of data products based on Essential Biodiversity Variables, Essential Ocean Variables, Essential Climate Variables, and ecosystem Essential Ocean Variables (eEOVs). ADVANCE will use SOOS, EMODnet, and IDEA to retrieve and inject environmental data. SCAR will ensure scientifically sound services and resources by collaborating closely with non-funded partners such as ULB and AAD, as well as worldwide communities. 

The VRI built as part of the project will benefit researchers, industry (fisheries, tourism), and policymakers from Belgium and other ATS member states, as well as acceding countries, other international fora, NGOs, and the general public.
Better access to and sharing of analytical workflows will allow for more accurate comparisons of data collection and analysis methods, as well as support for best practices. Shared best practices, relating our research to action and policy, and raising individuals' knowledge of a remote and mysterious environment.

Documentation

BlueBioBoost
Boosting seaweed farming through better utilization of genetic resources

• Budget: 274 732 €
• Period: 2024-2027
• Executor: Eigen Vermogen van het Instituut voor Landbouw-, Visserij- en Voedingsonderzoek (EV-ILVO)
• Contact: Tom Ruttink (EV-ILVO)
• BELSPO programme manager: Koen Lefever

Description

Macroalgal biomass has multiple uses and is recognized as a target for increased production in Europe. In order to boost the growing seaweed industry, it is necessary to better utilise the genetic variation to increase yield, quality and stability of the cultivated crop. The current macroalgae cultivation practice in Europe starts every year from new seeding material, obtained directly from local natural populations. There is no selection of the most suitable genotypes, and no storage of seeding material. Hence, no genetic progress in terms of yield and quality is obtained in the cultivated material over time. This is in sharp contrast to virtually all land-based crop production, animal husbandry and fish aquaculture, where domestication has led to selection of genetic material with cumulative improvement of desired traits. There is, however, concern about the potential spread and mixing of domesticated macroalgae with natural populations (introgression), and the ecological consequences this may have, including erosion of the present natural genetic diversity. Blue Bio Boost will focus on sugar kelp (Saccharina latissima, a brown alga), and investigates two options to implement a breeding strategy while avoiding impact on natural populations; (1) a “mix-to-match" approach where we cultivate mixtures of superior material with allele frequencies similar to those of the local natural populations, thus attempting to circumvent the problem of introgression, and (2) techniques that could facilitate breeding of improved genotypes and production of sterile sporophytes in the future. A broad and representative Stakeholder Engagement Group (SEG) will be established and function both in co-design of a strategy for the future European breeding of macroalgae focusing on economic and ecological objectives, and as a channel for dissemination activities. The project is co-funded by the European Union through the Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership, and is coordinated by NMBU in Norway with partners from academia and industry from Norway, Sweden, Ireland and Belgium.

Documentation

• Project website: Blue Bio Boost project
• Instagram: @bluebioboost
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13058017/

BOOSTED
Belgium Optical network for Optical frequency Standards and TimE Dissemination

• Budget: 992.190 €
• Period: 2023-2026
• Executor: Royal Observatory of Belgium (KSB-ORB)
• Contact: Bruno Bertrand (KSB-ORB)
• BELSPO programme manager: Koen Lefever

Description

The BOOSTED network, a high performance and resilient infrastructure for frequency transfer by optical fiber at the level of 10^-18
The most used technique for the accurate time and frequency (T&F) synchronization uses the metrological signals broadcasted by the global positioning constellations of satellites like GPS (US) or Galileo (Europe). It determines the frequency offset between remote clocks with an uncertainty of 10^-16 in relative frequency with a one-day averaging. It is the most precise technique used so far at the Royal Observatory of Belgium (ROB) to disseminate UTC(ORB) on which is based the Belgian legal time. However, the T&F transfer using the GPS/Galileo signals is vulnerable to diverse interferences such as jamming and spoofing. It is thus inadequate for applications demanding higher precision and security.

The most promising alternative is the T&F transfer through optical fibers, making use of the existing networks dedicated to telecommunications. It overcomes the performances of the other techniques of T&F transfer by several orders of magnitude, thanks to the transmission medium, in which systematic effects altering the propagation delay are compensated. The purpose of this project is to deploy a new infrastructure of T&F transfer through the optical fibers in Belgium, called BOOSTED (Belgium Optical network for Optical frequency Standards and TimE Dissemination), see fig. 1, and to connect it to the European metrological network of optical fiber via the French REFIMEVE network.

A first aspect of the BOOSTED project is to disseminate UTC(ORB) with a precision of the order of the nanosecond, using the White Rabbit, an evolution of NTP/PTP. A link Gent < Brussels(ROB) > Leuven – Hasselt – Mol – Liège will be in operation by 2026.

In parallel, a second aspect of the BOOSTED project is to connect the ROB to the French network REFIMEVE in order to get access to an ultrastable frequency, of the order of 10^-18 in relative frequency at one day. Hence, a second link Paris – Brussels(ROB) – Louvain-la-Neuve will carry this ultrastable signal by 2026. At long term, the REFIMEVE signal will be disseminated to any Belgian stakeholder thanks to the impulse of the BOOSTED project.

Relative frequency stability below 10^-18 (@1 day) has applications in applied physics, for example in laser characterization, applied quantum mechanics, or clock manufacturing. The access to the ultra-stable signal will also enable to develop cutting edge research in diverse fields like e.g. nuclear waste process, photonics, quantum cryptography, frequency combs or high precision spectroscopy. An initial committee of future users has already been set up and put together research centers and stakeholders from KU Leuven, ROB, SCK-CEN, SMD, UGent, UCLouvain and ULB.

Finally, a European network of T&F transfer by optical fiber currently connects UK, France, Italy and Germany, while projects exist to link the operational local network in other EU countries, in a preparation phase for an integration into the European landscape of Research Infrastructures. This project will embed the nascent Belgium network to the EU infrastructure with a strategic and central play role.

Figure 1: Map of the BOOSTED network to be implemented by the late 2026. The orange solid lines represent the possible connections Lille – Brussels – Louvain-la-Neuve carrying the ultra-stable signal from Paris Observatory. The red dashed lines represent the possible White Rabbit connections Gent < Brussels > Leuven – Hasselt – Mol – Liège.

Documentation

BopCo-Ce
Barcoding Facility for Organisms and Tissues of Policy Concern - Centre of Excellence

• Budget: 385.000 €
• Period: 2021-2023
• Executors:
  • Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS)
  • Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA)
• Contact: Thierry Backeljau (RBINS) - Marc De Meyer (RMCA)
• BELSPO programme manager: Aline van der Werf

Description

The Barcoding Facility for Organisms and Tissues of Policy Concern (BopCo) is a joint initiative of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS) and the Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA) for the identification of policy-relevant biological samples.

BopCo converts taxonomic expertise and DNA know-how into concrete, socially useful results. BopCo currently performs species identifications at the request of a wide range of Belgian and foreign stakeholders, including federal, regional and local governments and agencies, research institutions, NGOs, associations, private companies and individuals.

The aim of the project is a feasibility study for the establishment of a centre of excellence whose tasks are (1) to serve as a national focal point for the identification of biological material on demand, using both morphological and DNA-based techniques, (2) to produce well-documented DNA barcodes of relevant taxa, (3) to maintain reference collections of barcoded organisms and the corresponding DNA barcode databases, and (4) to research and apply new tools and techniques for species identification and DNA barcoding.

Documentation

• Project website: BopCo - Barcoding Organisms of Policy Concern
• Demo video: BopCo - How to identify plants and animals using DNA analysis?
• Promotion folder: BopCo
• Overview poster: A Barcoding Facility for Organisms and Tissues of Policy Concern
• Publications
  • Final Report: Barcoding Facility for Organisms and Tissues of Policy Concern - Centre of Excellence
  • Open access publications
    • Intermediate gastropod hosts of major feline cardiopulmonary nematodes in an area of wildcat and domestic cat sympatry in Greece
    • First record of the West Nile virus bridge vector Culex modestus Ficalbi (Diptera: Culicidae) in Belgium
    • DNA identification of species of the Anopheles maculipennis complex and first record of An. daciae in Belgium
    • First record, DNA identification and morphometric characterization of Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas in the southern Black Sea
  • Science Connection
    • Science Connection nr. 63 (april-mei 2020): DNA-barcoding in de soorten en het eten van wilde dieren
    • Science Connection n° 63 (avril-mai 2020): Des codes-barres ADN les espèces invasives et la viande de brousse

BopCo-CE
Towards a Belgian Expert Centre for the Identification of Biological Specimens and Products of Policy Concern

• Budget: 796.605 €
• Period: 2023-2026
• Executors:
  • Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS)
  • Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA)
• Contact: Thierry Backeljau (RBINS) - Marc De Meyer (RMCA)
• BELSPO programme manager: Marlies Laethem

Description

Accurate species identification of biological material is required to assess and understand biodiversity and ecosystems, but also to implement, for example, existing animal and plant trade regulations, to prevent infectious disease outbreaks, to screen the food chain, or to deploy agricultural pest control programs. In response to the recurrent societal need for reliable species identifications of biological specimens and products of socio-economic relevance, the Barcoding Facility for Organisms and Tissues of Policy Concern (BopCo) was established in 2015 within the framework of the EU RI LifeWatch. BopCo, recently evolved into a BELSPO-financed Centre of Expertise (CE). BopCo-CE focusses on identifying biological material, which includes (but is not limited to): Invasive Alien Species (IAS), CITES-listed species, agricultural and horticultural pest species, human and veterinary disease organisms (including parasites) and their vectors, organisms of the food chain, species of forensic interest, quarantine species, indicator and sentinel species (e.g., ecotoxicological test species), species of hygienic concern, species of pharmaceutical importance, species with economic impacts, species that damage or pose risks to human infrastructures and activities, and beneficial species (e.g., biological pest control, pollinators).

The project is run jointly by the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS) and the Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA). Being based at these two Federal Research Institutions (FIs), allows BopCo-CE to access a broad expertise and infrastructure for species identifications, including major scientific equipment, networks, and knowhow, such as fully equipped DNA laboratories, (stereo)microscopy infrastructure (including SEM), µCT scanners, natural history collections, high-resolution photographic equipment, libraries, experimental knowledge, and taxonomic expertise. In this way, species identifications can rely on the traditional morphology-based taxonomic know-how and unique specimen collections available at both FIs in combination with DNA-based methods and a network of external experts. DNA-based methods are especially useful when morphological identifications are difficult or impossible (e.g., early life stages, processed food items, cryptic species, degraded or fragmented specimens).

Since its establishment BopCo-CE has grown significantly in users, partners and expertise. The growing demand for accurate species identification of organisms of policy concern drives BopCo-CE to foster new opportunities, to expand collaborations and partnerships in Belgium and internationally.

Against the increasing recurrent need for species identifications, the objectives are centred along three inter-related axes (i) the exploration and implementation of new species identification tools resulting from recent technological innovations (e.g., eDNA, Next Generation and Oxford Nanopore Sequencing, qPCR), (ii) the development of a comprehensive federal unit covering the identification of a broad range of policy concern organisms through a synergistic and collaborative work with other institutional units providing complementary identification services, and (iii) the upgrading of BopCo-CE's virtual and physical communication tools (e.g., renewed website, folders, social and public media). Altogether, these improvements will allow to expand the offer and increase the visibility, as well as the sustainability and end-user base of the facility, which will further increase the impact of BopCo-CE by helping to mitigate urgent societal challenges (e.g., policy support, societal service, law enforcement).

Documentation

• Project website: BopCo - A Barcoding Facility for Organisms and Tissues of Policy Concern

BE-QCI
Belgian-QCI

• Budget: 2.970.876 €
• Period: 2022-2025
• Executor: IMEC
• Contact: Kristiaan De Greve (IMEC)
• BELSPO programme manager: Guillaume Dervaux

Description

Documentation

CANATHIST
The Natural History collections collected in central Africa by Belgian institutions

• Budget: 738.170 €
• Period: 2023-2026
• Executors:
  • Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS)
  • Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA)
• Contact: Didier Van Den Spiegel (RMCA) - Patrick Semal (RBINS)
• BELSPO programme manager: Aline van der Werf

Description

Collections of natural history reflect both the unique worldwide biodiversity of past and present life and the geological history of the Earth. It is estimated that European Natural history (NH) collections contain up to 1 billion specimens. When used at their full potential, NH collections are able to contribute to understanding and mitigation of critical challenges such as biodiversity loss, climate change, invasive species or the vectors of diseases. The collections of the Africa Museum (RMCA), the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS) and the federal collection of Meise Botanic Garden (MBG) form together the richest collection (estimation of about 10 million specimens and more than 100000 type specimens) related to Central Africa due to the colonial history of Belgium. The collections of the RMCA and RBINS are moreover concerned by the law (loi du 3 juillet 2022) concerning the process of restitution of colonial collections and the draft bilateral agreement between Belgium and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The provenance study and the digitization of these collections is therefore a priority for this unique heritage and will contribute to the Belgian federal input in the setup of the DiSSCo European research infrastructure. A significant part of the FSIs natural history collections related to Central Africa have been made during the colonial period in the framework of scientific expeditions (e.g. Expeditions of the National Parks of Congo). The results of these field works were often divided between RMCA, RBINS and MBG. After the independence of the Congo, a part of the collections were also prepared for repatriation to Congo and stored in the Africa Museum, still waiting for a formal agreement with a host institution in DRC.

The goal of this proposal is to produce the most complete inventory of the concerned collections among the Belgian DiSSCo institutions and non-DiSSCo scientific institutions as research infrastructure, make a provenance study, prioritize the digitization of the collections (data, metadata and digital specimens) and share all information, digital specimens and archives with the competent authorities, institutions and citizen communities of DRC, Burundi and Rwanda, using a specific collaborative infrastructure and/or dedicated offline tools. There is a need, not only to give access or provide to overseas countries the FAIR access to the digital collections related to their own country but also to offer to them, as well as to the FSIs and other users/clients of Belnet a set of integrated open source tools (Collection Management systems, 2D Images server, 3d object server, Map server and Annotation server (text and image) ) allowing them to contribute to international infrastructures within the setup of EOSC.

This digital collection will also contribute to the ESFRI DiSSCo infrastructure with unique data which are today strongly under-represented in the world’s biodiversity inventory. This support to DiSSCo will help the 2 Federal scientific Institutions to participate in this community. Finally, the developed technical infrastructure will offer a generic and powerful set of tools to the other members of the Belgian DiSSCo communities and to the other FSIs allowing them to contribute to the different international networks/infrastructures related to the cultural and scientific heritages.

CANATHIST aims to reuse, optimize and share tools developed during previous Open Source projects (Agora 3D, DIGIT, NaturalHeritage.be) or existing already in the Belnet portfolio and will include a strong component of capacity building and participation of non-funded partners in the integration of the mentioned tools through specific training and technology transfer.

Documentation

• Project website

CHrisis
Heritage in danger

• Budget: 1.100.000 € - Restart and Transition Plan (RTP)
• Period: 2022-2024
• Executor: Royal Institute for Cultural heritage (RICH)
• Contact: Estelle De Bruyn (KIK)
• BELSPO programme manager: Helena Calvo del Castillo

Description

More than 250 heritage sites were impacted by the July 2021 floods. The insufficient preparation of these sites (general lack of emergency plans), the absence of a transversal vision of heritage management, the timing of the floods (summer holiday period), as well as the consequences of the health and economic crisis caused by the coronavirus have seriously hampered the implementation of a coordinated and efficient response strategy. The RICH, in close collaboration with the regional organisations concerned and at their request, has been working since the beginning of the flood crisis to organise this cross-cutting response.

Funding is provided within the Restart and Transition Plan to support the coordination role of the RICH.

Documentation

• Project website

CoSo
Colonial Sources: Improve access, Share archives and Promote knowledge on the colonial past (Belgium, Burundi, the DRCongo and Rwanda)

• Budget: 918.900 €
• Period: 2023-2026
• Executors:
  • Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA) 
  • State Archives of Belgium (AGR/ARA)
• Contact: Dieter Van Hassel (RMCA) - Bérengère Piret (ARA)
• BELSPO programme manager: Georges Jamart

Description

The Colonial Sources (CoSo) project aims to develop a digital platform as a gateway to archives and knowledge about the shared Belgian, Burundian, Congolese and Rwandan colonial past. The CoSo portal will, for the first time, bring together existing but still fragmented collections and information on the Belgian colonial period. It will also offer educational tools based on often asked questions about Belgian colonialism. The platform targets both researchers and a broad public.
CoSo capitalises on the momentum created by several factors such as the contemporary societal debates on (de)colonisation and the restitution of colonial collections; the publication of the source guide Guide des sources de l'histoire de la colonisation  in 2021; the recommendations  of the Belgian Special Parliamentary Commission "Colonial Past" from 2022 and the transfer of the ‘Africa Archives’  from the FPS Foreign Affairs to the State Archives started in 2016.
In essence, the CoSo project has two major short-term objectives:

1. Develop an integrated search environment centralising access to archival sources, collections and contextual information on the colonial history of Belgium, Burundi, the DR Congo and Rwanda.

Via this portal, the visitor will be able to search for collections and sources relating to the colonial process, both via a search interface and via a map. If available, the user will also be able to immediately consult digitised sources, existing archival access tools (inventories or source guides) or datasets. In order to contextualise these sources, visitors will also be able to search for contextual information, in particular about ‘people and institutions’ and ‘places’. Throughout the entire project, special attention will be given to colonial language. Using semi-automatic detection methods, problematic terms and descriptions of collections will be detected and dealt with.

2. Provide an educational toolbox that highlights Belgium's colonisation of Burundi, Congo and Rwanda through a series of FAQs.

This toolbox specifically targets young people between 12 and 18 years old and their teachers. The starting point is a series of common questions about the colonial process and its noticeable after-effects to this day. Each question will be answered by providing a synthesis of recent scientific research, digitised sources and interactive digital storytelling. The toolbox will also provide an overview of other existing online pedagogical tools related to Belgian colonialism.

In this first phase, the CoSo infrastructure project works with the (digitised) collections and research tools developed by the State Archives, the AfricaMuseum and the Royal Academy for Overseas Sciences. Yet, CoSo aims to add and use the collections and tools of other institutions in the future.

CoSo’s ambition is to create an international go-to platform for the colonial archives and history of Belgium, Burundi, the DR Congo and Rwanda. The CoSo infrastructure will not only allow institutions to share their colonial archives via a central platform, but will also offer them tools to further enrich these collections. This can be done both via (semi-)automatic enrichment methods such as OCR, HTR and NER but also via (semi-)public crowdsourcing projects.

In the longer term, CoSo aims to foster scientific research, societal reflection and (inter)national cooperation on the shared colonial heritage of Belgium, Burundi, DR Congo and Rwanda.

Documentation

• Project website

DORA
Detection of Ozone Recovery in the Arctic

• Budget: 243.760 €
• Period: 2023-2025
• Executor: Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB)
• Contact: Corinne Vigouroux (BIRA-IASB)
• BELSPO programme manager: David Cox

Description

Thanks to the Montreal Protocol and its Adjustments and Amendments to reduce the emissions of ozone depleting substances, stratospheric ozone is expected to slowly recover globally, although the delay of the recovery is still unsure due to the uncertainties associated to climate change. Detecting this recovery is very challenging because of the large natural variability of stratospheric ozone, and the expected small trend (a few percent per decade). In the polar regions, ozone is especially highly impacted by the effective-chlorine levels, which leads to the well-known “ozone hole” problematic. However, the much higher ozone natural variability in the Arctic, due to larger dynamical variability, complicates the observation of the ozone recovery in this region where no evidence of positive ozone trends is observed up to now (WMO 2018).
The DORA project will focus on this detection of ozone recovery in the Arctic by answering the three questions:

• Do we detect an ozone recovery at ground-based Arctic stations? We will perform long-term trend analysis of ground-based measurements operated from the late nineties up to present at seven stations equipped with FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared) spectrometers and at seven ozone sounding stations. To detect and attribute the stratospheric ozone trends, we will use the multiple linear regression technique involving a set of proxies that represent physical processes influencing the natural ozone variability. In addition, the trends of tropospheric ozone, an important pollutant and greenhouse gas, will be investigated.
• Is the current ground-based network representative for ozone trends in the Arctic? We will use CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) reanalysis, which combines model data with assimilated observations, to study the spatial and temporal representativeness of our network of stations.
• How well are the satellites monitoring ozone trends in the Arctic? We will use our ground-based data to evaluate several current stratospheric and tropospheric ozone data sets from merged satellite records and detect possible drifts or steps in satellite ozone time-series monitoring.

Documentation

• Project website

DOT
Database on Offender Trajectories

• Budget: 756.500 €
• Period: 2023-2026
• Executor: Nationaal Instituut voor Criminalistiek en Criminologie (NICC) - Institut National de Criminalistique et de Criminologie (INCC)
• Contact: Luc Robert (NICC-INCC)
• BELSPO programme manager: Aziz Naji

Description

Recidivism and criminal careers are important policy issues in the context of monitoring and studying public criminal justice policies and their effects. In the course of the last decade, researchers at the NICC have begun to study recidivism and criminal careers based on (dispersed) project funding.
The lack of systematic knowledge and research attention in Belgium led the minister of Justice in 2021 to found a permanent research unit at the NICC, the Research Unit on Recidivism and Criminal Careers (acronym CReCC in Dutch and French), which is operational since 2022. Members of the CReCC make use of different databases in the Justice Department (and beyond), but this remains an important challenge until today, one important reason being the lack of common identifiers between databases (making it very difficult to match individual data across databases), another remains the constant struggles to update data (due to the absence of a systematic approach).
Building upon the use of and links between national conviction records and national detention data in previous BELSPO-financed projects (particularly FAR and IIHA), this project seeks to develop a validated Database on Offender Trajectories (DOT) that will be future-oriented, including developments towards the facile integration of new up-to-date data.
DOT will serve as a permanent research infrastructure for the evaluation of public policies and the study of important subjects related to recidivism and criminal careers (e.g. recidivism or criminal careers after release from prison, …).
In light of extending DOT, a feasibility study based on a SWOT-analysis will be conducted to draw upon DOT for links with non-criminal justice data (medical and social security data), including all the important challenges related to data ownership and the protection of data and privacy (GDPR-compliance).
Furthermore, DOT will provide the validated elements to develop a Recidivism Monitoring Justice Infrastructure with information that will be disseminated to professionals working in criminal justice and to the wider public. Internationally, DOT will be an important instrument for ongoing work towards European comparative recidivism statistics.

Documentation

• Project website

DTO-TRACK
Digital Twin of the Ocean: Animal Tracking

• Budget: 243 524 €
• Period: 2024-2027
• Executor: Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee (VLIZ)
• Contact: Jan Reubens (VLIZ)
• BELSPO programme manager: Koen Lefever

Description

Context
DTOTrack is a newly funded Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership project that aims to create a digital twin of the North Sea using animal tracking data. Marine science has the tools and capacity to support effective management and catalyze a transition towards a sustainable blue economy. However, adequate management, protection, and conservation of ocean life require an understanding of animal needs in terms of habitat and movement routes. The movement of aquatic animals provides numerous services to the ocean, but observing these movements is challenging due to the limitations of geolocation tools underwater. GPS technology, which is highly effective on land, is nearly useless underwater, making it difficult to track marine life accurately.
Digital Twins (DTs) are becoming a popular tool to nearly real-time monitor complex processes and test different ‘what-if’ scenarios. Digital twins are especially promising in aiding marine animal tracking research given the technical difficulties of studying animal movement. However, the construction of such a Digital Twin has not been realized yet. DTO-Track addresses this gap through developing a digital twin test case encompassing the North Sea. The developed DT test case will include multiple types of animal movement data and solve the challenge of integrating these various data types into one data ecosystem.

General Objectives and Underlying Research Questions:
DTOTrack aims to map the movements and distributions of marine life in the North Sea to create a digital twin of the area. Key research questions include:

• What are the drivers of inter-basin movements for highly migratory species in the North Sea?
• How do human activities and infrastructures, such as oil rigs and offshore windfarms, impact these movements?
• How can animal movement data be operationalized in a digital twin for better management and conservation?

Methodology:
The project will coordinate tracking efforts for migratory species using acoustic telemetry infrastructure, map species movements and ocean developments, and develop tools and methods to integrate animal movement data into a digital twin test case in the North Sea. Collaboration with projects like STRAITS (Strategic Infrastructure for Improved Animal Tracking in European Seas,EU Horizon Europe, Grant No. 101094649, https://europeantrackingnetwork.org/en/straits) and DTO-Bioflow (Integration of biodiversity monitoring data into the Digital Twin Ocean, Horizon Europe, Grant No. 101112823, https://dto-bioflow.eu) will enhance data collection and analysis. By leveraging acoustic telemetry data, DTOTrack will detect acoustically tagged animals across the North Sea, providing valuable data on their movements and interactions with their environment.

Potential Impact:
The research will have significant implications for science, economy, society, culture, environment, and public policy. By providing real-time and continuous monitoring tools, the project can aid in evidence-based decision-making, improve conservation efforts, and enhance the management of marine resources. Examples include the setup of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), the timing of human activities such as pile driving or sand extraction to minimize interaction with migratory species, and the implementation of seasonally varying fishing efforts. The digital twin will also serve as a valuable resource for policy initiatives and environmental management strategies. It will enable scientists and policymakers to assess the state of marine ecosystems with little lag, detect trends, and determine the effectiveness of intervention efforts.

Expected Final Research Results:
DTO-Track expects to produce advanced analysis tools, detailed studies, policy recommendations, and various scientific manuscripts. In the short and medium term, the digital twin and associated tools will be operationalized for practical use in marine management and conservation. For this, data flow pipelines will be developed to ensure smooth and real-time integration of animal tracking and monitoring data into the digital twin. Through the digital twin test case, DTO-Track will provide unprecedented tools for addressing 'what if' scenarios in the North Sea, contributing to conservation and policy initiatives.

Documentation

• The European Tracking Network : DTOTrack: Digital Twin of the Ocean - Animal Tracking
• Twitter : AquaticTracking
• Instagram : aquatictracking

ENFORCE
Expertise centre for Forensic Wood Research

• Budget: 720.000 € - Restart and Transition Plan (RTP)
• Period: 2022-2024
• Executor: Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA)
• Contact: Hans Beeckman (KMMA)
• BELSPO programme manager: Aline van der Werf

Description

A substantial part of timber trade is illegal and illegal logging is considered the most profitable breach of biodiversity regulations. 27.5% of total primary tropical timber imports into the European Union are imported through Belgium (mainly through the port of Antwerp). Belgium thus plays a key role in the international timber trade and has an important responsibility to (1) monitor trade in timber and timber products and (2) build research capacity for timber identification and apply it in an enforcement context.

Given the enormity of the illegal timber trade and its associated problems, the Restart and Transition Plan initiates the instauration of a Belgian forensic timber identification centre at the RMCA.  The RMCA's wood collection is among the largest in the world, comprising more than 80,000 wood samples, including more than 13,000 species. This Forensic Wood Research Centre will be the Belgian reference centre for wood identification and include both scientific services and scientific research.

Documentation

• Project website
  
  
• Papers
  • Tervuren wood collection
    H. Beeckman, “A xylarium for the sustainable management of biodiversity: the wood collection of the Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium,” Bull. l’APAD, no. 26, 2003.
    V. Deklerck, “National treasure: valorisation of the Federal Xylarium in Belgium for timber identification and wood technology.” Ghent University, 2019.
  • Wood identification
    • General
      E. E. Dormontt et al., “Forensic timber identification: It’s time to integrate disciplines to combat illegal logging,” Biol. Conserv., vol. 191, pp. 790–798, 2015.
      A. J. Lowe et al., “Opportunities for improved transparency in the timber trade through scientific verification,” Bioscience, vol. 66, no. 11, pp. 990–998, 2016.
      P. E. Gasson et al., “WorldForestID: Addressing the need for standardized wood reference collections to support authentication analysis technologies; a way forward for checking the origin and identity of traded timber,” Plants, People, Planet, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 130–141, 2021.
      S. M. Piabuo, P. A. Minang, C. J. Tieguhong, D. Foundjem-Tita, and F. Nghobuoche, “Illegal logging, governance effectiveness and carbon dioxide emission in the timber-producing countries of Congo Basin and Asia,” Environ. Dev. Sustain., vol. 23, no. 10, pp. 14176–14196, 2021.
      W. Magrath, P. Younger, and H. Phan, “An INTERPOL Perspective on Law Enforcement in Illegal Logging,” Lyon INTERPOL Gen. Secr., 2009.
      A. Hoare, “Tackling illegal logging and the related trade,” What Prog. where next, p. 79, 2015.
      P. Hirschberger, Illegal wood for the European market: an analysis of the EU import and export of illegal wood and related products. WWF-Germany, 2008.
      Low, Melita et al., (2022). Tracing the worldas timber: The status of scientific verification technologies for species and origin identification. IAWA Journal. 37. 1-22. 10.1163/22941932-bja10097.
    • Wood anatomy
      Koch G, Haag V, Heinz I, Richter HG, Schmitt U (2015) Control of Internationally Traded Timber - The Role of Macroscopic and Microscopic Wood Identification against Illegal Logging. J Forensic Res 6: 317. doi: 10.4172/2157-7145.1000317
      P. Gasson, P. Baas, and E. Wheeler, “Wood anatomy of CITES-listed tree species,” IAWA J., vol. 32, no. 2, pp. 155–198, 2011.
      
    • Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS)
      S. Tsuchikawa and H. Kobori, “A review of recent application of near infrared spectroscopy to wood science and technology,” J. Wood Sci., vol. 61, no. 3, pp. 213–220, 2015.
      S. Tsuchikawa, K. Inoue, J. Noma, and K. Hayashi, “Application of near-infrared spectroscopy to wood discrimination,” J. Wood Sci., vol. 49, no. 1, pp. 29–35, 2003.
    • Genetic methods
      A. Michael Höltken, H. Schröder, N. Wischnewski, B. Degen, E. Magel, and M. Fladung, “Development of DNA-based methods to identify CITES-protected timber species: a case study in the Meliaceae family,” 2012.
      A. J. Lowe, K. N. Wong, Y. S. Tiong, S. Iyerh, and F. T. Chew, “A DNA Method to Verify the Integrity of Timber Supply Chains; Confirming the Legal Sourcing of Merbau Timber From Logging Concession to Sawmill.,” Silvae Genet., vol. 59, no. 6, p. 263, 2010.
    • Artificial Intelligence (AI)
      P. Ravindran, A. Costa, R. Soares, and A. C. Wiedenhoeft, “Classification of CITES-listed and other neotropical Meliaceae wood images using convolutional neural networks,” Plant Methods, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 1–10, 2018.
      P. Ravindran et al., “Image based identification of Ghanaian timbers using the XyloTron: Opportunities, risks and challenges,” arXiv Prepr. arXiv1912.00296, 2019.
      P. Ravindran, B. J. Thompson, R. K. Soares, and A. C. Wiedenhoeft, “The XyloTron: flexible, open-source, image-based macroscopic field identification of wood products,” Front. Plant Sci., vol. 11, p. 1015, 2020.
      S.-W. Hwang and J. Sugiyama, “Computer vision-based wood identification and its expansion and contribution potentials in wood science: A review,” Plant Methods, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 1–21, 2021.
    • Identification keys
      K. Vander Mijnsbrugge and H. Beeckman, “Knowledge modelling for a wood identification system,” Silva Gandav., vol. 57, 1992.
      C. A. LaPasha and E. A. Wheeler, “A microcomputer based system for computer-aided wood identification,” IAWA J., vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 347–354, 1987.
      J. Ilic, “Computer aided wood identification using CSIROID,” IAWA J., vol. 14, no. 4, pp. 333–340, 1993.
  • Wood databases
    E. A. Wheeler, P. E. Gasson, and P. Baas, “Using the InsideWood web site: potentials and pitfalls,” IAWA J., vol. 41, no. 4, pp. 412–462, 2020.
    F. Ruffinatto, G. Castro, C. Cremonini, A. Crivellaro, and R. Zanuttini, “A new atlas and macroscopic wood identification software package for Italian timber species,” IAWA J., vol. 41, no. 4, pp. 393–411, 2019.
    F. Ruffinatto and A. Crivellaro, Atlas of macroscopic wood identification: with a special focus on timbers used in Europe and CITES-listed species. Springer Nature, 2019.
    A. C. Barefoot and F. W. Hankins, Identification of modern and tertiary woods. Oxford University Press., 1982.
    M. Gregory, “Wood identification: an annotated bibliography,” Iawa J., vol. 1, no. 1–2, pp. 3–41, 1980.
    I. B. NS, “IAWA list of microscopic features for hardwood identification,” 1989.
    F. Ruffinatto, A. Crivellaro, and A. C. Wiedenhoeft, “Review of macroscopic features for hardwood and softwood identification and a proposal for a new character list,” IAWA J., vol. 36, no. 2, pp. 208–241, 2015.
    I. A. of W. A. Committee, “IAWA list of microscopic features for softwood identification,” IAWA J., vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 1–70, 2004.
    V. Angyalossy et al., “IAWA list of microscopic bark features,” IAWA J., vol. 37, no. 4, pp. 517–615, 2016.
    E. A. Wheeler, “Inside Wood–A web resource for hardwood anatomy,” Iawa J., vol. 32, no. 2, pp. 199–211, 2011.
    
    
• Links:
  • Database for wood identification: Inside Wood - Search the Inside Wood Database (ncsu.edu)
  • Network for promoting the operationalization of innovative tools for species identification and for determining the geographic origin of wood to verify trade claims: Global Timber Tracking Network (GTTN)
  • FSC Home | Forest Stewardship Council (fsc.org)
  • PEFC PEFC België
  • Overview of the importance for forensic science against illegal wood trade, WWF TNRC Topic Brief Using Wood Forensic Science to Deter Corruption and Illegality in the Timber Trade | Pages | WWF (worldwildlife.org)
  • Interpol Forestry crime (interpol.int)
  • Best Practice Guide for Forensic Timber Identification (unodc.org)
    
    
• Regulations:
  • EU: EUTR: Timber Regulation - Forests - Environment - European Commission (europa.eu)
  • EU: FLEGT: FLEGT Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs) - Forests - Environment - European Commission (europa.eu)
  • USA: Lacey Act: USDA APHIS | Lacey Act
  • Canada: Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation on International and Interprovincial Trade Act 1992: Trade in protected species: Canadian act and regulation for wild animal and plant protection - Canada.ca
  • Australia: Illegal Logging Prohibition Act: Illegal logging - DAFF (agriculture.gov.au)
  • UK: United Kingdom Timber Regulation: Regulations: timber and FLEGT licences - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
  • CITES: Front | CITES

ExPoSoils
Climate change experiments in Arctic and Antarctic polar desert soils

• Budget: 488.250 €
• Period: 2023-2026
• Executors:
  • Universiteit Gent (UGent)
  • Université de Liège (ULiège)
  • Universiteit Gent (UGent)
  • Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS)
• Contact: Elie Verleyen (UGent) - Annick Wilmotte (ULiège) - Anne Willems (UGent) - Quinten Vanhellemont (RBINS)
• BELSPO programme manager: David Cox

Description

The Arctic and parts of Antarctica are experiencing very rapid climate and environmental changes. Earth system models further predict increasing temperatures and changing precipitation patterns in the 21st century as a result of the polar amplification of global warming. It can be expected that these changes will affect the biodiversity and functioning of polar terrestrial ecosystems, yet the resilience of these habitats and their vulnerability to change is largely unknown due to the lack of long-term monitoring data and extensive field experiments. This knowledge gap resulted in the development of permanent monitoring stations and field experiments in the framework of international research projects and initiatives.

ExPoSoils is aimed at studying the effects of increased temperature and snow cover on the biodiversity and genetic functional potential of microbial communities in polar desert and tundra soils in the Arctic and Antarctica, and consolidating the long-term monitoring of ecosystem responses to climate change in these regions. Snow fences to increase snow cover and open-top chambers to increase soil temperature were installed 5 years ago in Svalbard (High Arctic) and the Sør Rondane Mountains (East Antarctica) and baseline samples were taken. Specifically, the objectives of ExPoSoils are to (i) develop an integrated database with high-throughput DNA sequencing data of microbial communities in polar desert and tundra soils differing in moisture content and other environmental properties from both the Arctic and Antarctica, (ii) predict the trajectories of these communities in response to future changes in temperature and moisture availability by comparing data from snow fences, open top chambers and measurements of key ecosystem functions (carbon and nitrogen cycling) between the start of these experiments and the present-day, (iii) use a combination of remote sensing and close-range field observation techniques and high-throughput DNA sequencing to detect potential changes in the presence/extent of microbial mat and biological crust communities, and study the diversity and functional potential in natural communities since the start of the monitoring, (iv) isolate, characterize and preserve ‘ex situ’ novel polar microbial diversity that may be threatened by rising temperatures, and (v) establish a long-term monitoring site in Antarctica and put a monitoring scheme in place to identify potential future biological and environmental changes in sites recently proposed to be included in the Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA) 179 in the Sør Rondane Mountains.

Documentation

FROID
Finding the world’s oldest ice record around the Princess Elisabeth Station

• Budget: 244.050 €
• Period: 2023-2026
• Executor: Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB)
• Contact: François Fripiat (ULB)
• BELSPO programme manager: David Cox

Description

One of the most intriguing mysteries in our understanding of the Quaternary (i.e., last 2.7 million years) relates to the Mid-Pleistocene transition (MPT), around 1,200,000 to 800,000 years, during which glacial cycles become longer and stronger. To date, the forcing and responses of the climate system components that led to this enigmatic transition remain largely unknown. Greenhouse gases that directly affect the Earth’s radiative balance are believed to have played an important role during the MPT but indirect indicators of their evolution remain ambigous and uncertain. The analysis of air trapped in ice cores provides direct access to past changes in greenhouse gas concentrations, but the oldest continuous records only spans over the last 800,000 years. To obtain older ice, several international teams are currently preparing and undertaking deep-drilling efforts (i.e., several kilometers) on the Antarctic ice sheet. An alternative and somewhat 'out of the box' approach is to collect old ice at and near the surface in blue ice areas (BIAs). These BIAs form where the bedrock geometry redirects (old) englacial ice towards the ice sheet's surface, with katabatic winds removing snow and younger ice. Therefore, in BIAs, old ice can directly be sampled from the surface or by coring at a relatively shallow depth, allowing to collect large quantities of ice. In this project, we will make use of the exceptional setting of the Princess Elisabeth (PE) Station which is in direct vicinity of many BIAs. We will study the local ice stratigraphy by combining fieldwork, numerical modelling, and laboratory analysis of collected samples (including absolute dating). This will eventually culminate in identifying a prime site for very old ice to be contained, where a drilling of up to a few hundred meters will be performed with the goal to collect some of the oldest ice on Earth.

Documentation

H-SEARCH
Heritage Science Elastic Archives

• Budget: 664.275 €
• Period: 2023-2026
• Executor: Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (KIK-IRPA)
• Contact: Wim Fremout (KIK-IRPA) - Eva Coudyzer (KIK-IRPA)
• BELSPO programme manager: Helena Calvo del Castillo

Description

Ever since the very foundation of KIK/IRPA in 1948, a vast number of heritage objects have been studied, conserved or restored by its experts. These interventions are documented in intervention dossiers, that are stored on paper and/or in digital form. These scientific archives are currently stored as-is: there is a large spread in the quality, extensiveness and state of conservation between the intervention dossiers. The archive can be consulted by specialists and members of the broad public, either directly or through E-RIHS ARCHLAB. However, one needs to apply beforehand, allowing the archivists to verify the requested intervention dossiers and remove sensitive and privacy-related information that should not be made public. 

A more robust archival strategy needs to be developed to safeguard the scientific archives and will put it at the service of science. The value of BALaT and the archives have recently been highlighted during the 2021 floodings in Belgium and the subsequent damage to tangible heritage. H-SEARCH’s focus is twofold. On the one hand, infrastructure and procedures will be set out for long-term archival and preservation of the scientific archives, maximising the use of an established archive management solution and Belspo’s LTP platform. On the other hand, H-SEARCH aims to make the archives consultable online according to the FAIR principles. To achieve this goal, H-SEARCH will build on top of KIK/IRPA’s new knowledge platform BALaT (under development). In the proposed project, BALaT will be further extended with full-text multilingual search capabilities that searches within the archived documents.

During the project, a number of closed intervention dossiers will be selected based on the heritage value of the objects and the quality and scientific value of the existing data. The selection criteria will take into account existing lists of valuable heritage objects as defined by the regions and communities in Belgium. Furthermore, the selection will include important dossiers in which the studios and labs of paintings, polychrome wood sculpture, stone sculpture and textiles were involved. The selection will form the basis of an enhanced archive service, integrated in BALaT. Besides the steady flow of new intervention dossiers, more older intervention dossiers can be archived as well, depending on demand and requirements.

Documentation

Hydrogen Test Facility for scientific and applied research

• Budget: 16.200.000 € - Restart and Transition Plan (RTP)
• Period: 2022-2024
• Executor: The von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics (VKI)
• Contact: Peter Simkens (VKI)
• BELSPO programme managers: Anna Calderone - Maaike Vancauwenberghe

Description

This project carried out by the von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics (VKI) is one of the priorities of the Federal Science Policy to strengthen the federal research infrastructure. Moreover, this project, which is part of the "Federal Hydrogen Vision and Strategy" presented by the Minister of Energy to the Council of Ministers on 29 October 2021, is also of strategic importance for the FPS Economy, SMEs, Self-Employed and Energy.

The aim of the project is to develop a generic infrastructure at a new location that can house the various facilities needed to carry out large-scale experimental tests with hydrogen technologies. The facility should host applied experiments covering the whole value chain of the hydrogen economy, with a particular focus on what falls under federal competence (in the area of hydrogen production, transport and storage, hydrogen applications in mobility and electricity generation, and plant safety).

infraFADA
Upgrading the taxonomic backbone of global freshwater animal biodiversity research infrastructures

• Budget: 397.500 €
• Period: 2023-2026
• Executor: Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS)
• Contact: Koen Martens (KBIN)
• BELSPO programme manager: Aline van der Werf

Description

Although unfrozen freshwater covers less than one percent of the Earth’s surface, ten percent of all animals occur only in freshwater. This discrepancy, where biodiversity in freshwater is one or two order(s) of magnitude higher than what can be expected from the surface coverage on the planet, is known as the “paradox of freshwater”. However, freshwaters are not only unusually rich in biodiversity, but they are also among the most threatened ecosystems worldwide, because of human impacts and resulting climate change.
Several virtual research infrastructures, such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), document extant freshwater biodiversity. However, such global data repositories require reliable taxonomic backbones, which are a prerequisite for making them interoperable with others. The current Freshwater Animal Diversity Assessment (FADA) comprises an extensive set of global taxa lists for freshwater animal groups (125,530 described species and 11,388 genera). However, taxonomy is a living scientific discipline where new taxa are being described and existing taxa are being placed in new taxonomic positions. Therefore, after one and a half decades of relative inactivity, FADA needs an upgrade, both technically and with regard to content, so that it can serve as the up-to-date freshwater animal taxonomic backbone of global biodiversity data repositories.
infraFADA, a three-year project within the Belspo call INFRA-FED, will develop FADA into a research infrastructure that will enable more and better research and enhanced understanding of freshwater biodiversity by developing, using, and implementing new and innovative methods, and by going beyond the state-of-the-art in this area. In order to fulfill these aims, infraFADA has five objectives.
The first objective is to rebuild the FADA consortium of taxonomic experts. Several experts from the extant consortium have already confirmed that they are willing to continue the work for FADA. Several others, however, meanwhile have retired or have other commitments. These experts will have to be replaced. The Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS) will coordinate the rebuilding of the expert consortium. The experts will be asked to update the taxa list for their group of aquatic animals, which will then be fed into the FADA database.
Secondly, infraFADA will develop an online taxa information management system (FADAtims) which will allow the FADA experts to curate, maintain, and publish their taxa lists, and which will make these lists available to all potential users and interoperable with other (global) data infrastructures. This work will be done by subcontractor BOKU (Vienna), together with the company Kartoza and the coordinating institute RBINS. As soon as FADAtims is operational, the FADA experts will be able to enter new taxa or insert new taxonomic decisions for their group on an ad hoc basis.
The third objective builds on the previous two and will link the FADA taxa lists as the taxonomic backbone to international research infrastructures such as GBIF, CoL, and FIP. We will also re-evaluate previously planned connections of FADA data with Aphia/WORMS, following the protocol that was developed within the Belspo project AQUARES. In addition, infraFADA will contact other international initiatives and networks dealing with freshwater taxonomic data, and will check if the FADA taxa lists can also be useful for them. Examples are DISSCo, IUCN, eBIOAtlas, and various initiatives within the LifeWatch consortium, as well as ongoing and future infrastructure research projects.
Objective four deals with the publication of the FADA data. We envisage publishing reference taxa lists including analyses with associated (meta-) data papers in scientific journals and in the Freshwater Metadata Journal, respectively. We will also involve the FADA taxonomic expert community in publishing an update of the highly cited FADA Hydrobiologia 2008 volume (e.g. the concluding chapter alone was cited 660 times in Google Scholar).
The final objective deals with outreach activities targeting various potential stakeholder communities, such as organisations performing monitoring activities for the Water Framework Directive (WFD), but also the general public. This will in the first place be done by the publication of the taxa lists on the FADA website and on ChecklistBank, as well as through social media, the popular FIP Freshwater Blog, and news items on other websites (SIL, CETAF, SEFS, …). infraFADA will also organise a final project event, back to back with an international conference or symposium, where several outreach activities to the general public will be organised.
These objectives will be executed through a set of six work packages and 19 tasks.
The management of infraFADA will be centralised at RBINS but will follow up the different tasks and projected deliverables through a Steering Committee which will consist of the PIs of the coordinating institute and the subcontractor, the project manager recruited by infraFADA, and a representation of the FADA expert consortium. Regular (annual and ad hoc if necessary) meetings of this Steering Committee and the Follow-up Committee will be organised to enable bilateral flows of information. The Follow-up Committee will consist of representatives of potential stakeholder organisations and together carry a large critical mass of experience in biodiversity data application and management, which will be useful for the infraFADA project.
The relevance of the FADA Research Infrastructure is obvious from the above descriptions: there is a clear need for up-to-date taxonomic information on freshwater biodiversity for a variety of potential users, such as global data repositories, stakeholders linked to WFD monitoring and general laymen as citizen scientists, to name only the obvious ones. The scheduled links with international initiatives such as GBIF, CoL, FIP, and others ensure the international anchoring of FADA. The potential impact of infraFADA thus situates itself in increased scientific knowledge, taxonomic quality control of digital biodiversity databases, and resulting contributions to the science-policy interface in the field of freshwater biodiversity.

Documentation

LATTITUDE
Sleep at extreme latitudes: examining the differences between Antarctic and arctic environments

• Budget: 242.680 €
• Period: 2023-2026
• Executor: Royal Military Academy (RMA)
• Contact: Nathalie Pattyn (RMA)
• BELSPO programme manager: David Cox

Description

Why this scientific question ?
One of the major problems faced by crews on mission in Antarctica is sleep disorders. More specifically, there is a poor quality of subjective sleep, increased fragmentation, a reduction in slow-wave sleep and a disruption of our circadian cycle. The main reason identified for these problems is the absence of normal photoperiodicity (24-hour day/night alternation) in this part of the world. Our team has published an important contribution to this state of the question.
A number of confounding inter-individual and cross-cultural variables have yet to be clarified Firstly, an Antarctic expedition crew has no (intergenerational) experience of life in isolation and in this fairly hostile environment. In contrast, the inhabitants of the higher latitude regions of the Arctic do have such experience. This raises the whole question of expedition adaptation versus intergenerational adaptation. In addition, gender effects have been documented in the physiological adaptation at Antarctic bases. Crews of Antarctic missions are known for their unequal gender distribution, with a very large minority of women, which affects their experience and the data collected.
We therefore want to understand which factors play a major role in adaptation by including in our study variables such as the degree of isolation, age and psychosocial context, origin, and lifestyle habits. In the framework of this project, we will collect data in Arctic population, inhabitants of high latitudes, to compare to our Antarctic data set. This will allow us to investigate whether, at the same latitudes, we find similar effects on sleep architecture and circadian rhythms.

Scientific aims of the project :

1. Understand whether sleep disturbance in Antarctica should be attributed to latitude or lived experience, or an interaction between the two?
2. Further explore a gender effect in sleep and circadian rhythms in Antarctica/Arctic regions
3. Integration: A Bayesian network analysis (BNA) to understand how certain underlying mechanisms may link aspects of seasonality.

Documentation

• Project website
  
  
• Reference to our previous work, which led to this scientific question :
  • Tellez HF, Mairesse O, Macdonald-Nethercott E, Neyt X, Meeusen R, Pattyn N. (2014). Sleep-related periodic breathing does not acclimatize to chronic hypobaric hypoxia: a 1-year study at high altitude in Antarctica. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2014 Jul 1;190(1):114-6. doi: 10.1164/rccm.201403-0598LE. PMID: 24983221.
  • Collet G, Mairesse O, Cortoos A, Tellez HF, Neyt X, Peigneux P, Macdonald-Nethercott E, Ducrot YM, Pattyn N. (2015). Altitude and seasonality impact on sleep in Antarctica. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2015 Apr;86(4):392-6. doi: 10.3357/AMHP.4159.2015. PMID: 25945557.
  • Pattyn N., Mairesse O., Cortoos A., Marcoen N., Neyt X., Meeusen R. (2017). Sleep during an Antarctic summer expedition: new light on “polar insomnia.” J. Appl. Physiol. 122, 788–794. 10.1152/japplphysiol.00606.2016 - DOI – PubMed
  • Pattyn N., Van Puyvelde M., Fernandez-Tellez H., Roelands B., Mairesse O. (2018). From the midnight sun to the longest night: sleep in Antarctica. Sleep Med. Rev. 37, 159–172. 10.1016/j.smrv.2017.03.001 - DOI - PubMed
  • Mairesse O, MacDonald-Nethercott E, Neu D, Tellez HF, Dessy E, Neyt X, Meeusen R, Pattyn N. (2019). Preparing for Mars: human sleep and performance during a 13 month stay in Antarctica. Sleep. 2019 Jan 1;42(1). doi: 10.1093/sleep/zsy206. PMID: 30403819.
  • Van Puyvelde M, Gijbels D, Van Caelenberg T, Smith N, Bessone L, Buckle-Charlesworth S, Pattyn N. (2022). Living on the edge: How to prepare for it? Front Neurogenom. 2022 Dec 14;3:1007774. doi: 10.3389/fnrgo.2022.1007774. PMID: 38235444; PMCID: PMC10790891.

LEANI
Low Energy Astrophysical Neutrinos in the Ice

• Budget: 242.920 €
• Period: 2023-2026
• Executor: Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain)
• Contact: Gwenhaël De Wasseige (UCLouvain)
• BELSPO programme manager: David Cox

Description

The IceCube Neutrino Observatory, buried in the ice of the South Pole, has opened a new window on the Universe. In addition to study the most energetic astrophysical phenomena with light, IceCube has demonstrated blazars, Seyfert galaxies and even our own galaxy may be observed using neutrinos, the most elusive particles discovered up to date.

Despite more than a decade of operation, IceCube has not yet elucidated the origin of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos to its full extent. While new instruments are planned to increase the size of IceCube or search for neutrinos at even higher energies to solve the question, LEANI will look at the 15 years of data from a different angle.

LEANI will work on three different axes towards the understanding of the origin of astrophysical neutrinos:

• Development of a new analysis of IceCube data using an acquisition system, HitSpooling, which allows us to save every single neutrino interaction happening in the ice surrounding the observatory, lowering the current energy threshold for individual neutrino detection at the South Pole by an order of magnitude. This ambitious task will extract neutrinos from the large background coming from the ice and the detector itself using advanced unsupervised machine learning techniques. In parallel, we will seek for the help of Citizen Scientists as the human eyes can identify features in data a machine would not see. The results of the two different approaches will be gathered to create the new way of analysis IceCube data.
• This new approach will allow IceCube to be sensitive from the MeV to the PeV range, covering more than 10 orders of magnitude in energy. However, the current analyses are targeting each energy band independently. The second goal of LEANI is to combine the observations from each energy band in a cohesive manner, providing unprecedented sensitivity. As illustration of the method, LEANI will create the first catalog of neutrino energy distributions from compact binary mergers.
• LEANI will finally prepare the observation with the next generation of neutrino telescope at the South Pole by capitalizing on the knowledge acquired on background coming from the ice and the detector itself isolated during the new analysis developed in the first axis.

LEANI is expected to make a leap forward in the way astrophysical neutrino data are processed and combined.

Documentation

LIFTHAW
Nutrient lift upon permafrost thaw: sources and controlling processes

• Budget: 244.080 €
• Period: 2023-2025
• Executor: Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain)
• Contact: Sophie Opfergelt (UCLouvain)
• BELSPO programme manager: David Cox

Description

LIFTHAW aims to comprehensively assess the nutrient mobility response in permafrost regions undergoing thawing. It seeks to determine whether the newly available nutrients due to thawing primarily benefit deeply rooted plants or if the change in water table level acts as a nutrient lift. Additionally, the project aims to understand the impact of thaw depth variability on surface and subsurface water flows and subsequent lateral nutrient mobility.
LIFTHAW will use isotopic geochemical tools to investigate nutrient sources for plant uptake, quantify the nutrient lift driven by water table changes, and detect changes in lateral nutrient transfer during permafrost degradation.

Documentation

• Project website
  
  
• Publications
  • Hirst C., Monhonval A., Mauclet E., Thomas, M., Villani M., Ledman J., Schuur E.A.G., Opfergelt S. Evidence for late winter biogeochemical connectivity in permafrost soils. Communications Earth & Environment, 2023, 4, 85, doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-00740-6
  • Monhonval A., Hirst C., Strauss J., Schuur E.A.G., Opfergelt S. Strontium isotopes trace the dissolution and precipitation of mineral organic carbon interactions in thawing permafrost. Geoderma, 2023, 433, 116456, doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2023.116456
  • Mauclet E., Hirst C., Monhonval A., Stevenson E.I., Gérard M., Villani M., Dailly H., Schuur E.A.G., Opfergelt S. Tracing changes in base cation sources for Arctic tundra vegetation upon permafrost thaw. Geoderma, 2023, 429, 116277,  doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2022.116277
  • Villani, M., Mauclet, E., Agnan, A., Druel, A., Jasinski, B., Taylor, M., Schuur, E.A.G. and Opfergelt, S. Mineral element recycling in topsoil following permafrost degradation and a vegetation shift in sub-Arctic tundra. Geoderma, 2022, 421, 115915, doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2022.115915
  • Hirst, C., Mauclet, E., Monhonval, A., Tihon, E., Ledman, J., Schuur, E.A.G. and Opfergelt, S. Seasonal changes in hydrology and permafrost degradation control mineral element-bound DOC transport from permafrost soils to streams. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 2022, 36(2). doi: 10.1029/2021GB007105
  • Mauclet, E., Agnan, Y., Hirst, C., Monhonval, A., Pereira, B., Vandeuren, A., Villani, M., Ledman, J., Taylor, M., Jasinski, B. L., Schuur, E. A. G. and Opfergelt, S. Changing sub-Arctic tundra vegetation upon permafrost degradation: impact on foliar mineral element cycling, Biogeosciences, 2022, 19 (9), 2333-2351, doi:10.5194/bg-19-2333-2022
  • Hirst C., Opfergelt S., Gaspard F., Hendry K.R., Hatton J.E., Welch S., McKnight D., Lyons W.B. Silicon isotopes reveal a non-glacial source of silicon to Crescent Stream, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. Frontiers Earth Science, 2020, 8:229, doi: 10.3389/feart.2020.00229
  • Opfergelt S. The next generation of climate model should account for the evolution of mineral-organic interactions with permafrost thaw. Environ. Res. Lett., 2020, 15: 091003, doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab9a6d
    Roux P., Lemarchand D., Redon P.-O., Turpault M.-P., B and δ11B biogeochemical cycle in a beech forest developed on a calcareous soil: Pools, fluxes, and forcing parameters,Science of The Total Environment, 2022, 806(3), 150396,doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.150396

LINAC@LNK
LINAC@LNK: from nuclear waste characterization to medical metrology

• Budget: 998.955 €
• Period: 2023-2026
• Executor: SCK-CEN
• Contact: Ana Vaniqui (SCK-CEN) - Filip Vanhavere (SCK-CEN) - Christophe Bruggeman (SCK-CEN) - Cristian Mihailescu (SCK-CEN) - An Bielen (SCK-CEN) - Wim Steegmans(SCK-CEN)
• BELSPO programme manager: Helena Calvo del Castillo

Description

LINAC@LNK involves the purchase and refurbishment of a second-hand medical LINAC for various nuclear research purposes. It will enable both calibrations and tomography imaging, which opens door for:

New applications in dosimetry and calibration expertises
With LINAC@LNK, SCK CEN strives to improving radiotherapy calibration by eliminating potential error margins. The ultimate goal is to establish a precise calibration method for radiotherapy treatments. Additionally, the utilization of a LINAC opens up avenues for advanced research in radiotherapy and dosimetry. This includes exploring dosimetry at the cellular level, enabling a deeper understanding of radiation mechanisms, and developing novel detectors to enhance quality assurance protocols. Through these advancements, LINAC@LNK seeks to drive progress in the field of radiotherapy and improve patient outcomes.

R&D to enable material identification in drums of radioactive waste
The introduction of the new LINAC also opens up a novel application in assisting ONDRAF/NIRAS with their surface disposal site for low and medium-level short-lived waste. The device provides high-energy CT scans, which are used to ensure that numerous conditioned waste drums are compliant with the conformity criteria. Furthermore, the facility has the potential to facilitate additional research aimed at investigating whether multiple-energy irradiation can provide supplementary information about the chemical composition of the conditioned waste drums. This development not only addresses the immediate need for low and medium-level short-lived waste compliance but also paves the way for enhanced exploration and understanding of waste characterization using advanced radiation techniques.

Documentation

MAGSCREEN
Construction of a magnetically shielded room

• Budget: 800.810 €
• Period: 2023-2026
• Executor: Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium (KMI-IRM)
• Contact: Simo Spassov (KMI-IRM)
• BELSPO programme manager: Georges Jamart

Description

Solid rocks, sediments and baked archaeological material contain tiny magnetic minerals and can therefore provide information about changes in the Earth's magnetic field in the past. This fact is used, for example, to date archaeological structures and sedimentary sequences, or to study polarity reversals of the Earth's magnetic field.
Since these tiny magnetic minerals occur in very low concentrations, sophisticated special instruments are required to measure the magnetisation (magnetic remanence) of such materials. In order to increase measurement accuracy and to be able to measure very weakly magnetised materials, these instruments must ideally be housed in a magnetic shield to protect them from the influence of the Earth's magnetic field and other magnetic or electromagnetic disturbances.
The aim of MAGSCREEN is to design and build a large magnetically shielded working environment housing necessary instruments for measuring magnetic remanence, such as demagnetisation devices and a cryogenic rockmagnetometer. This magnetic shielding environment will reduce the noise floor of the cryogenic rockmagnetometer by three orders of magnitude, allowing the measurement of weakly magnetic samples such as marine and lake sediments and increase measurement precision. Another aim of the project is to conceive magnetic shielding environments in particular for the emerging class optically pumped mini-sensors used for example for biological research, medical applications or for cryogen-free rock magnetometers currently entering the scientific instrumentation market.
The Federal Science Policy has prioritised this project in order to sustainably strengthen federal research infrastructures. MAGSCREEN makes the unique Geophysical Centre of the Royal Meteorological Institute even more competitive in scientific research at international level and, in the longer term, opens up further opportunities for future technological developments in the field of magnetic instrumentation and related applications.

Documentation

MetaBelgica
A shared entity management infrastructure between Federal Scientific Institutions

• Budget: 728.560 €
• Period: 2023-2026
• Executors:
  • Royal Library of Belgium (KBR) 
  • Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (KMSKB-MRBAB) 
  • Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (KIK-IRPA) 
  • Royal Museums for Art and History (KMKG-MRAH)
• Contact: Hannes Lowagie (KBR) - Karine Lasaracina (KMSKB-MRBAB) - Eva Coudyzer (KIK-IRPA) - Els Angenon (KMKG-MRAH)
• BELSPO programme manager: Helena Calvo del Castillo

Description

MetaBelgica is a project that aims to create a Linked Data platform for Belgian entities shared among Federal Scientific Institutes (FSIs) in Belgium's cultural heritage sector. Currently, these institutes maintain duplicate data in different formats, making it inefficient for data exchange and international strategies. For instance, multiple records exist for the same painter, Rogier Van der Weyden, with different spellings. MetaBelgica seeks to integrate millions of Belgian entities from various FSIs into a shared platform, provide persistent identifiers (PIDs) for these entities, and improve data findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reusability (FAIR principles). The project intends to use the Wikibase platform, which supports collaborative structured data, multilingualism, and semantic queries.

Documentation

• Project website

Metis-Resolution - phase 1 (prolongation)

• Budget: 175.000 €
• Period: 2023-2026
• Executor: General State Archives (ARA-AGR)
• Contact: Pierre-Alain Tallier - Nico Wouters
• BELSPO programme manager: Georges Jamart

Description

Pursuant to the Chamber of Representatives unanimously adopted resolution "on the segregation of the métis during the Belgian colonisation of Africa", and in accordance with the Government agreement of 30 September 2020, the State Archives of Belgium, supported by the Departments of Science Policy, Foreign Affairs and Development Cooperation, have been entrusted with a major societal mission divided into two phases, each responding to a wish set out by the resolution in its articles 6 and 7, which request:

• that a detailed historical investigation be carried out into the role of civil and religious authorities in the treatment of the métis during the colonial period in the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi (art. 6).
• that all personal files of the métis be inventoried and that correlations be made between

Phase 1, which is the subject of this research contract, corresponds to article 7 of the resolution and is structured around 2 central tasks:

• I. Locate, identify, and list information documenting the individual and collective trajectories of métis individuals born in the context of the Belgian colonization, and establish links between this information with a view to reconstituting family links.
• II. Respond to individual origins research requests sent by métis or their relatives and descendants.

Phase 1 began on the 1st September 2019. It has been supported by the FPS Foreign Affairs with a budget of 400,000€. This phase was planned for a period of four years, i.e. until August 31, 2023. The workload of phase 1 proved much more extensive than initially planned. In addition, the COVID-19 crisis and its restrictive measures to access first-hand sources held in the archives have also caused a certain delay in the work of the researchers.

Through this contract, the Belgian Science Policy is contributing to the co-financing (50%) of an extension to phase 1 of the mission, until 31 January 2026.

Documentation

Metis-Resolution - phase 2

• Budget: 780.000 €
• Period: 2021-2025
• Executor: General State Archives (ARA-AGR)
• Contact: Pierre-Alain Tallier - Nico Wouters
• BELSPO programme manager: Georges Jamart

Description

On 29 March 2018, the Chambre of Representatives unanimously approved the resolution "on the segregation suffered by metis of Belgian colonial origin in Africa". Article 6 of this Metis-Resolution called for "a detailed historical investigation into the role of civil and ecclesiastical authorities in the treatment of the metis during the colonial period in the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi", with the importance of making the necessary budgetary, material and human resources available to the General State Archives (ARA-AGR) in order to achieve the objectives pursued in the Resolution.

The "Metis-Resolution" research project, carried out in accordance with the wishes of the Resolution, is divided into two phases, which correspond respectively to Articles 6 and 7 of the Resolution.

Phase 1 - which corresponds to Article 7 of the Resolution - was the subject of a cooperation agreement between the FPS Foreign Affairs and the State Archives. In this first phase, all personal files of the metis were inventoried and correlations between these files were made. The transfer of the 'African archives' from the FPS Foreign Affairs to the ARA-AGR is currently underway.

The present research project concerns phase 2 of the research, which corresponds to Article 6 of the Resolution, in which a detailed historical investigation is conducted into the role of the civil and church authorities in the treatment of the metis during the colonial period in Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi.

Documentation

• Project website: Resolutie-Metissen
• Virtual exhibition:
  • Metis. Archief, herinnering en identiteit. Een blik op het onderzoeksproject "Resolutie-Metissen" aan het Algemeen Rijksarchief
  • Archives, mémoires et identités métisses Un regard sur le projet de recherche «Résolution-Métis» en cours aux Archives de l'État
• Publications
  • Jalon de recherche – (Re)chercher les archives relatives aux métis et à leur histoire familiale
  • Zoekwijzer - Zoeken naar archieven over metissen en hun familiegeschiedenis
  • Science Connection
    • Science Connection nr. 64 (april-mei-juni 2021): De ‘Resolutie-Metissen’ - Maatschappelijke uitdagingen en mogelijkheden voor onderzoek
    • Science Connection n° 64 (avril-mai-juin 2021): La ‘résolution-métis’ - Enjeux sociétaux et opportunités pour la recherche

MPVAQUA
Floating solar at sea

• Budget: 1.500.000 €
• Period: 2022-2024
• Executor: Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS)
• Contact: Brigitte Lauwaert (RBINS)
• BELSPO programme manager: David Cox
  
  
• Budget: 500.000 €
• Period: 2022
• Executors: Tractebel Engineering S.A., DEME N.V. and Jan De Nul N.V.
• BELSPO programme manager: David Cox

Description

Documentation

• Project website

NAMSAT
Natural hAzards Monitoring from SATellites

• Budget: 531.920 €
• Period: 2023-2026
• Executors:
  • Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB) 
  • Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium (KMI-IRM)
• Contact: Nicolas Theys (BIRA-IASB) - Nicolas Clerbaux (KMI-IRM)
• BELSPO programme manager: Aline van der Werf

Description

Natural hazards such as volcanic eruptions, dust storms and fires, poses a direct threat to aviation as well as to local populations. There is a growing concern about these natural hazards and on how to best mitigate them. Natural hazards can have transboundary impacts and, in an interconnected world, there is a critical need to increase the availability and use of scientific knowledge on disasters. The current trend is to deal with multiple-hazards, and therefore to further develop integrated systems for timely monitoring and early warning.
Satellite data sets are playing a crucial role and are often the only means to assess/monitor the situation and study the phenomena. However, the suite of available satellite data (operational and research) products is underexploited. With the NAMSAT project, the Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB) and the Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium (RMI) team up to develop a web-based data service dedicated to the monitoring of airborne hazards from space that combines low earth orbit (LEO) and geostationary (GEO) near-real time data products. Starting from the existing Support to Aviation Control Service (SACS) hosted by BIRA-IASB, NAMSAT has several objectives:

• Improve the SACS infrastructure at system level as for its reliability, robustness, and a better handling of near-real time satellite data.
• Expand the service with GEO satellite data, including from GOES, HIMAWARI, and SEVIRI instruments, and provide the products to users few minutes after sensing time.
• Implement products from future missions.
• Develop GEO-based detection products for aerosols and Sulphur dioxide, as well as combined GEO-LEO product.
• Develop tailored products for aviation stakeholders and volcanological users, including notification mechanisms in case of exceptional events.
• Develop of a new interface to visualize satellite products.
• Develop an open/public satellite data base of past events.

Documentation

• Project website

NEED
Needs Examination, Evaluation and Dissemination: identifying unmet patient and societal needs for a more needs-driven health policy and product development

• Budget: 976.285 €
• Period: 2023-2026
• Executors:
  • Federaal Kenniscentrum voor de Gezondheidszorg - Centre Fédéral d'Expertise de Soins de Santé (KCE) 
  • Sciensano
• Contact: Irina Cleemput (KCE) - Robby De Pauw (Sciensano)
• BELSPO programme manager: Corinne Lejour

Description

The identification of unmet health-related needs is crucial for the development of a needs-based healthcare policy and innovation. Meeting unmet needs is a common objective of many stakeholders in the health system. Although there is no single definition of unmet health-related needs, there is a consensus that these can be approached both from the perspective of the individual patient and from the societal perspective. In the NEED project, health-related needs are defined as the specific needs related to a particular health condition, which encompasses the needs of individuals affected by the condition and possible broader societal needs that result from the impact of the condition on segments of society not directly afflicted by the condition (e.g. transmissibility, impact on informal caregivers, environmental impact). 

Documentation

• Project website

ORCHESTRA
ecOsystem Responses to Constant offsHorE Sound specTRA

• Budget: 248.650 €
• Period: 2021-2025
• Executor: Universiteit Gent (UGent)
• Contact: Tom Moens (UGent)
• BELSPO programme manager: David Cox - Koen Lefever

Description

Documentation

PASPARTOUT
Pathways of particles, VOCs and moisture into East-Antarctica in a changing climate

• Budget: 488.040 €
• Period: 2023-2026
• Executors:
  • • Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium (RMI)
  • Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven)
  • Universiteit Gent (UGent)
  • Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB)
• Contact: Alexander Mangold (RMI) - Nicole Van Lipzig (KU Leuven) - Christophe Walgraeve (UGent) - Nadine Mattielli (ULB)
• BELSPO programme manager: David Cox

Description

The atmospheric circulation, water cycle, and cloud-aerosol-interactions are key elements of the Antarctic climate system. Clouds and aerosols play a significant role in the radiative energy budget and aerosols impact cloud microphysics because they are cloud condensation (CCN) and ice nuclei. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and their atmospheric degradation products might play a role in the formation of CCN. In addition, clouds are an important part of the hydrological cycle serving as the agent linking water vapour transport into Antarctica with precipitation.

To investigate these complex processes, different instrumentation and modelling tools will be combined within PASPARTOUT. By analysing ERA-5 data (European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts Reanalysis 5th generation), the project will investigate the atmospheric circulation patterns and weather regimes over the last 15 years. Further, the atmospheric transport pathways and potential source regions of atmospheric compounds will be determined and pathways and weather types will be connected to measured properties of particles, VOCs, moisture, precipitation and clouds.
In addition to atmospheric composition measurements at Princess Elisabeth station, automated samplers for a year-round, temporally resolved sampling of VOCs, and of inorganic compounds (isotopes; metals and rare earth elements) will be set up near the coast in Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica. This will be complemented with snow profile measurements, in order to collect samples of the different layers of annual snow accumulation for chemical analyses.
Finally, based on the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 6 (CMIP6) archive of climate model data, it will be investigated how atmospheric circulation might change towards the future. PASPARTOUT will relate that to how potential source regions will change in a changing climate and will determine the implications on clouds and precipitation as a result of changes in atmospheric composition.

Documentation

• PASPARTOUT - Pathways of particles, VOCs and moisture into East-Antarctica in a changing climate

PROCHE
Provenance research on the ethnographic collection

• Budget: 2.320.000 €
• Period: 2021-2024
• Executor: Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA)
• Contact: Els Cornelissen (RMCA)
• BELSPO programme manager: Helena Calvo del Castillo

Description

The social and political debate surrounding the restitution of cultural heritage acquired during the colonial period has intensified over the past few years, both on an international and a European level. The Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA) participates in this international debate as a social actor and as manager of the Belgian State patrimony of collections from the countries colonised by Belgium (DRCongo, Rwanda and Burundi), as well as collections collected in other countries in West, South, East and Central Africa.

The RMCA currently manages 128.500 ethnographic objects and musical instruments, of which approximately 85.000 objects from Central Africa. Most of the collection came about through donations, missionaries, civil servants, soldiers and scientific missions. Especially in the Congo Free State period - from 1885 to 1908 - objects were acquired by force or plunder. In the period of the Belgian Congo from 1908 onwards, objects were collected in a context of unequal relations between the colonised and the coloniser. Only a small portion was purchased.

Although the RMCA has well-documented archives on where and by whom a particular object was acquired, there is often little information available on the exact manner of its acquisition (gift, purchase, 'under slight force'). Thorough provenance research into how the 85.000 objects acquired by the RMCA were acquired is essential.

Documentation

• Provenance trail
  • Provenance of the collections
  • De herkomst van de collecties
  • La provenance des collections

PURE WIND
Impact of sound on marine ecosystems from offshore wind energy generation

• Budget: 244.762 €
• Period: 2021-2025
• Executor: Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS)
• Contact: Alain Norro (RBINS)
• BELSPO programme manager: David Cox - Koen Lefever

Description

Documentation

• Project website

RESIST
Recent Arctic and Antarctic sea ice lows: same causes, same impacts?

• Budget: 488.080 €
• Period: 2023-2026
• Executors:
  • Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain)
  • Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium (RMI)
• Contact: François Massonnet (UCLouvain) - David Docquier (RMI)
• BELSPO programme manager: David Cox

Description

Recent changes in polar regions are generally portrayed in terms of changing means: the negative mass balance of ice sheets and glaciers, the decline of sea ice, or the amplified rise in near-surface air temperature. However, this view does not convey the notion that polar regions have also been the scene of a chain of extreme events in recent years. For example, Arctic summer sea ice extent, which had been steadily decreasing since 1979, reached record lows in 2007 and 2012. Similarly, Antarctic sea ice, which had been expanding slightly, has experienced record lows in all seasons since 2016, with notable summer minima in 2017, 2022 and 2023. It is unclear whether these Antarctic sea ice minima are part of natural variability or early indicators of more profound changes.
RESIST (“Recent Arctic and Antarctic sea ice lows: same causes, same impacts?”) aims to investigate the causes and impacts of extreme summer sea ice lows in both the Arctic and Antarctic regions. By examining the relationships between the sea ice and its interacting agents (ocean, atmosphere, permafrost), RESIST will enhance our understanding of sea ice variability and improve future predictions. Current knowledge gaps exist due to limited observational data and coarse climate models. RESIST will close these gaps by proposing a suite of global ocean-sea ice model reconstructions run from ~50 km down to 5 km resolutions, and by analyzing large ensembles of climate model simulations. The project will also apply causal analysis methods to disentangle cause-effect relationships and will use a rare event algorithm to study extreme sea ice conditions.
The collaboration between UCLouvain and RMI, which have complementary expertise in polar research and dynamical systems theory, will be key to achieve these goals. The project outcomes will enhance Belgium's increasing presence in polar research and contribute to European and international initiatives, such as seasonal forecast system development, polar observing systems, climate research programs, and large-scale collaborative projects.

Documentation

SORBET
Services and OpeRability of the BRAMS nETwork

• Budget: 407.055 €
• Period: 2023-2026
• Executor: Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB)
• Contact: Hervé Lamy (BIRA-IASB)
• BELSPO programme manager: Koen Lefever

Description

The BRAMS (Belgian RAdio Meteor Stations) network is a research infrastructure developed by BIRA-IASB since 2010, funded by BIRA-IASB, STCE and the BRAIN-Be project METRO. It uses forward scatter of VHF radio waves on ionized meteor trails to detect and characterize meteoroids falling into the Earth’s atmosphere and to estimate their impact on the upper atmosphere. The network currently comprises a transmitter and 46 receiving stations (most in Belgium, a few in France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands). One of the receiving stations is an interferometer.

Two methods have recently been developed to reconstruct meteoroid trajectories and speeds using BRAMS data. The first one uses time delay observations between the appearances of meteor echoes of at least 6 BRAMS receiving stations. A second method using the radio interferometer requires only 3 additional detections from BRAMS receivers. Both methods are now complemented with use of the pre-t0 phase technique which provides an additional constraint on the meteoroid speed. A comparison with optical observations confirms that both methods provide accurate speed and inclination.

With these tools now in hand, the next step is to bring BRAMS from research to operations and to provide services to space operators, scientists, and the public. These services are based on the derived data described below:

1) Trajectories, speeds and orbital parameters of meteoroids are important for the astronomical community to study meteoroid dynamics, detect new meteor showers and to identify parent bodies.
2) Temperature and wind speeds in the Mesosphere - Lower Thermosphere : since meteoroids ablate around 85-105 km altitude, they sample this region inaccessible to balloons or spacecraft. From the characteristics of meteor echoes one can derive the temperatures and wind speeds at those altitudes, a task routinely done using meteor radars but that we will adapt for a forward scatter system such as BRAMS. The main advantage is to provide such measurements with a higher spatial resolution and wider coverage area, taking advantage of the large number of BRAMS receivers. We will offer this as a service to modellers of the global atmospheric circulation.
3) Meteor fluxes are crucial for space companies since meteoroids pose a threat to spacecraft. We will envisage how to develop or be included in a service providing meteoroid impact risk for a given spacecraft geometry and orbital characteristics (Earth orbit). Being involved in scientific space instruments, our Institute is increasingly confronted with the need to provide such impact risk assessments.

In order to better reach these objectives, we will first expand the BRAMS network to fully benefit from the newly developed algorithms by adding a second interferometer and a second transmitter, and by increasing the power of the current transmitter.

Documentation

• BRAMS (Belgian RAdio Meteor Stations)

SUNRISE
Sustained and UNified Research Infrastructure for Solar data sErvices

• Budget: 998.770 €
• Period: 2023-2026
• Executor: Royal Observatory of Belgium (KSB-ORB)
• Contact: Véronique Delouille (KSB-ORB)
• BELSPO programme manager: Koen Lefever

Description

Context: Observing the Sun and collecting solar observations for the benefit of research, space weather operations and data services are part of the mission of the Solar Physics and Space Weather department at the Royal Observatory of Belgium, known as SIDC (Solar Influences Data Analysis Center). SIDC is responsible for several ground- and space-based solar instruments and manages data collections related to space weather forecasting and operations. It hosts the World Data Center for Sunspot Index and Long-term Solar Observations (WDC-SILSO), as well as a Regional Warning Centre (RWC) which provides near real-time space weather warnings and forecasting services to various agencies, such as ESA or the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Up till now, data services for disseminating these various data collections have been established based on individual projects. Consequently, homogeneity amongst the data services is often missing, and related expertise is not shared among various sub-teams of the department.

Objective: The goal of SUNRISE is to work towards a common data service infrastructure that serves both the SIDC internally and external users. As a start, we consider two data services related to the monitoring of the Sun which are currently independent and at different stages of development. Within SUNRISE, our aim is to bring these two data services within a common platform, building upon the existing SIDC Event Database (EventDB), which already collects datasets in support of space weather operations.
The first data service concerns the long-term monitoring of the Sun by the WDC-SILSO. The SILSO pipeline will be automated to be more easily linked to the common platform. At the same time new services will be implemented, such as the monitoring of the stations that provide sunspot counts, and the production of the Group Sunspot Number.
The second data service is related to the short-term monitoring of the Sun and improvement of space weather forecasting capabilities. We aim to develop a comprehensive data model for describing the complex chain of solar eruptive events occurring on the Sun and traveling towards the Earth. In accordance with this new data model, event chain catalogs produced by recent validation and research projects will be used to populate the enriched EventDB. The new platform will ensure in the future that the entire Space Weather forecast workflow may be stored within the EventDB and made easily accessible. 
 Such structural storage of the operationally produced information will allow to perform research on these generated data right away and will create a feedback loop between research and operations. This will help bridge the gap between science and operations.

Methodology SUNRISE will bring together expertise about databases, IT services, data management, as well as research content on data models, computation of International Sunspot Number, linking of different solar events, etc. This collaborative approach will enable progress in the two data services related to the monitoring of the Sun, as well as in the deployment of a common data service platform.

Impact A common data service infrastructure for all SIDC data services will improve the efficiency of current services, facilitate the addition of future services, and provide at competitive cost visibility and FAIR access to all SIDC data. The automation of the WDC-SILSO production will ensure lower maintenance costs, thus improving its sustainability. The enriched EventDB will help to disseminate the knowledge of the sequence of physical processes at work in Sun-to-Earth event chains. In the common platform, lesser known or newer data products will become visible alongside the products with an established reputation, thereby enhancing in practice the visibility of all SIDC data products..

 

Documentation

• SUNRISE Sustained and UNified Research Infrastructure for Solar data sErvices

SURV-EMIS
Consolidating ship emission monitoring over the North Sea

• Budget: 360.000 € - Restart and Transition Plan (RTP)
• Period: 2022-2024
• Executor: Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS)
• Contact: Brigitte Lauwaert (RBINS)
• BELSPO programme manager: David Cox

Description

In 2020, the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS) carried out 158 flight hours over the North Sea as part of the national aerial observation program. These operations led, among other things, to the identification of 10 cases of operational marine pollution observed by ships, and of an accidental marine pollution resulting from a collision between 2 tankers. Suspicious sulphur levels were also measured in the smoke plumes of 10 ships.

In recent years, the RBINS has equipped its surveillance aircraft with innovative 'sniffer' sensors. These sensors measure sulphur, nitrogen and soot emissions from individual seagoing vessels. With the sniffer aircraft, the strict international ship emission standards on the North Sea can be monitored. If a suspicious SOx or NOx emission is measured in the smoke plume of a ship, this ship is targeted for a port inspection in the next European port of call. With this extension, Belgium continues to play a pioneering role internationally in the monitoring of ship emissions. However, additional SOx/NOx/BC sniffer flights are necessary.

Additional funding is provided within the Restart and Transition Plan to support recurrent costs linked to these air observations

Documentation

• Aerial surveillance : Combatting air pollution above the sea (MARPOL Annex VI)

ULTIMO
UnLocking The scIentific potential of the Belgica MOuntains, East Antarctica

• Budget: 318.140 €
• Period: 2023-2026
• Executors:
  • Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
  • Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB)
  • Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS)
• Contact: Steven Goderis (VUB) - Vinciane Debaille (ULB) - Sophie Decrée (RBINS)
• BELSPO programme manager: David Cox

Description

The Antarctic environment represents one of the last frontiers in scientific exploration. For more than 10 years, the VUB-ULB-RBINS-NIPR consortium has focused on constraining the origin and evolution of both rocks (terrestrial and extraterrestrial [ET]) and ice in proximity of the Belgian Princess Elisabeth station (PEA) in the Sør Rondane Mountains (SRM) by applying a highly interdisciplinary approach. This methodology has led to the recovery of more than 1,300 meteorites from blue ice fields, the retrieval of ~50,000 microscopic ET particles from high-altitude sedimentary deposits (including micrometeorites, airburst debris and impact ejecta), as well as determining the geological and exposure histories of rock outcrops, moraines, and ice in this area.
Together, the rock and ice samples have unlocked an astonishing treasure of information on the origin of the Solar System, the formation of planets, past climatological conditions, as well as the formation and exposure of regional geological and glaciological features (e.g., [1-5]). The time has now come to expand the activities of our consortium to the Belgica Mountains, of which the scientific potential remains largely untapped to date. This isolated mountain chain about 16 km long is located ~100 km east-southeast of the SRM. It was named by the Belgian Antarctic Expedition in 1957-1958 under G. de Gerlache, and only the northern range of this mountain chain was revisited once during a Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition (JARE) in 1998, with an excellent success rate for finding meteorites in a short amount of time (37 meteorites recovered over a 3-day time period).
The aims of the ULTIMO project are to (1) validate the predictive power of existing machine learning approaches to trace meteorite accumulation in the Antarctic environment [5] and subsequently collect and characterize meteorites in that blue ice field area, (2) substantially expand the current inventory of ET particles and cosmic events by sampling deposits in the previously unexplored territory of the Belgica Mountains and compare the physicochemical properties of the sampled deposits and extracted particles to those of existing collections to learn about the early evolution of the Solar System, (3) determine the potential of the blue ice fields surrounding the Belgica Mountains to host ancient ice by mapping spatiotemporal variations using stable isotope variations (δ¹⁸O en δD), directly measuring the age of the surface ice, and modelling the local ice flow, and (4) study the geological and exposure history of the Belgica Mountains bedrock and associated moraines.
The study of unique cosmic material allows to define source regions in the Solar System from where the material that arrives on Earth today derives and to detect possible changes in the intensity and nature of the ET flux over the last few million years (Myr). As such, this ET material complements costly sample-return missions to primitive asteroids and comets and allows to explore the very first stages in the evolution of the protoplanetary disk using material accessible here on Earth. Notably, meteorites and micrometeorites (and other microscopic traces of ET events) can highlight different processes and reservoirs, as – due to their sizes – the latter undergo different preservation biases. Similarly, the exposure histories of ice and bedrock can be used in conjunction to refine existing tectonic, geomorphological, glacioeustatic, and paleoenvironmental reconstructions and models, which are critical in Antarctica as the geological bedrock is covered by ice. The targeted collections and resulting scientific insights further enhance the position of this Belgium-led international consortium at the vanguard of the geological, planetary, and paleoclimatic sciences.

[1] Imae N. et al. 2015. Antarct. Rec. 59, 38-71; [2] Zekollari H. et al. 2019. Geochim. Cosmochim. Ac. 248, 289-310. [3] Goderis S. et al. 2020. Geochim. Cosmochim. Ac. 270, 112-143; [4] van Ginneken M. et al. 2021. Sci. Adv. 7, eabc1008. [5] Tollenaar V. J. W. et al. 2022. Sci. Adv. 8, eabj8138.

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