A proposal with this title has been submitted Thursday 17th of February 2022 to the NWO call for proposal for Large Scale Research Infrastructure (LSRI). The proposal is submitted by the DANUBIUS-NL consortium under the lead of University Utrecht, Prof. Dr. Hans Middelkoop. For the first time ever, NCR en NCK partners have joined forces to realize such high-profile initiative. Drafting the proposal was also financially supported by NCK.
The proposal in 100 words:
Deltas and coastal plains are attractive places to live: fertile, flat, open to the sea. These lowlands are, however, also vulnerable to climate change and sea level rise. To better predict how deltas will develop in the future we need a thorough understanding of how organisms, currents, waves, water and sediment together shape the delta landscape. This so-called biogeomorphology lies at the heart of Δ-ENIGMA. The program provides measurement infrastructure for intensive observational and experimental research of the Dutch Delta. This will improve our ability to predict future development of our delta in times of climate change, to ensure safe and sustainable living for the generations to come.
Delta-ENIGMA forms a crucial element in our strategy to strengthen data-driven science in the field of water management, and it will bring the Netherlands globally in a forefront position regarding research infrastructure for studying biogeomorphological processes in engineered deltas. And it will serve as a basis for the Dutch contribution to the pan-European environmental research infrastructure DANUBIUS-RI.
