Recent  

In our study, we investigate the variability of potential offshore wind power over Europe on time scales of more than 10 years. Detailed spectral analysis of potential offshore wind power capacities over the last century indicates a strong coupling to large climate patterns such as the NAO. Furthermore, combining the wind power potential at the German North Sea and the Portuguese Atlantic coast shows that the variability can be mitigated.

The coordinates of radio telescopes, which are part of the emerging VLBI Global Observing System, were estimated in a least squares unconstrained adjustment. The higher number of observations per time with better sky coverage, which these telescopes can produce, was optimally utilized by testing different intervals for the tropospheric delay estimation. We found that a short estimation interval of 15 min for the tropospheric gradients with a 45 min interval for the zenith wet delay perform best.

Changes to a volcanic edifice and its surroundings can be caused by movements of underground magma, gas or other fluids (typically water). These deformations are usually very small in magnitude, so very sensitive instruments are the only capable of detecting them. A discrimination between deformations caused by volcanic processes in regards to those caused by external sources could help in understanding the volcano dynamics and give scientists a way to forecast volcanic eruptions.

We investigate the oscillations of relative sea level through the analysis of tide gauge records collected in the Gulfs of Pozzuoli and Napoli (Southern Italy). The main goal is to provide a suitable resolution model of the sea tides including seiches, tidal bands and non-linear tides. We also target a non-conventional purpose of the tidal analysis, namely extracting from the tide gauge records the volcano-tectonic signal, the vertical ground displacement in the resurgent Campi Flegrei caldera.

For the documentation of time and space variations of water vapor in atmosphere during the Nawdex campaign (fall 2016), a ground network of more than 1200 continuously operation reference GNSS stations has been analyzed. This network spreads from Caribbeans to Morocco through Greenland. This study presents the retrieval of Integrated Water Vapor content from GNSS measurements and their use in the evaluation of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts reanalyses ERAI and ERA5.

The wettability of reservoir rock is one of the most critical factors affecting the residual saturation and transport properties. In this work, we investigated the wettability of target rock samples using a nuclear magnetic resonance, vapor adsorption, and wetting contact angle technique. Results provided an initial assessment of rock surface wettability and showed correlations between wettability index, rock lithology, and organic matter morphology for target shale formation.

Correctly determining the orbit of Earth-orbiting satellites requires to account multiple background effects which appear in the system Earth. Usually, these effects are introduced by various complex force models, which are not always easy to handle. We publish and validate a data set of commonly used models to make it easier to track down potential issues when applying such background forces in orbit and gravity field determination.

This study presents a framework for regional smart energy planning for the optimal location and sizing of small hybrid systems. By using an optimization model – in combination with weather data – various local energy systems are simulated using the Calliope and PyPSA energy system simulation tools. The optimization and simulation models are fed with GIS data from different volunteered geographic information projects, including OpenStreetMap.

Energy supply in Germany is subject to a profound change. The present paper addresses the German potential of storing excess energy from renewable power sources in the geological subsurface. Wind and solar electricity can be transformed into hydrogen, and with carbon dioxide subsequently into methane. The current potential for combined subsurface storage of methane and carbon dioxide allows to store far more than required to date and is estimated to provide the entire coverage in 2050.

Utilization of geothermal reservoirs as alternative energy source is becoming increasingly important worldwide. Here, we studied the surface expression of a warm water reservoir in Waiwera, New Zealand, that has been known for many centuries but remained little explored. Using thermal infrared cameras we were able to show renewed activity of the hot springs on the beachfront and identified faults and fractures as important fluid pathways, as well as individual fluid conducting lithologies.

As national regulator within the German siting process, the Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management (BASE) performs own research on, e.g., geo-scientific questions, methodological aspects of the implementation of the site selection process, and public participation aspects. The results support BASE to fulfil its task according to state-of-the-art science and technology, ensure highest safety-level and are also relevant to other stakeholders of the siting process.

Fracture networks are often self-similar and are defined by a fractal dimension. However, two such networks with the same fractal dimension may have subtle differences in their clustering attributes that lead to distinct connectivity and flow behavior. This research shows that rather than the fractal dimension, lacunarity, a parameter quantifying scale-dependent clustering, is a better proxy for fracture connectivity as well as flow responses and, is relatively easy to compute than connectivity.