Scheduled proceedings

Proceedings of a meeting held 22–25 May 2018, Cologne, Germany. The contributions cover the following topics:

• developments in ground-based remote sensing of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL);
• boundary-layer studies;
• atmospheric modelling and ground-based ABL remote sensing;
• ground-based remote sensing for ABL applications.

The European Geosciences Union (EGU) brings together geoscientists from all over Europe and the rest of the world, covering all disciplines of the earth, planetary and space sciences. This geoscientific interdisciplinarity is needed to tackle the challenges of the future. A major challenge for humankind is to provide adequate and reliable supplies of affordable energy and other resources. These should be obtained in environmentally sustainable ways, which is essential for economic prosperity, environmental quality and political stability around the world. These mutually coupled challenges are the focus of the division of Energy, Resources & the Environment (ERE).

Hydrological processes can be well studied in small research basins, where high-quality data are available. They serve as interdisciplinary observatories or outdoor laboratories covering the complexity of combined physical, chemical, and biological processes. Furthermore, long-term measurements in small research basins help to analyse environmental changes. New measurement and sensing techniques support further hydrological understanding. For the depiction and understanding of hydrological processes, numerical modelling approaches can additionally be used. On the one hand, hydrological models need sufficient data with high spatial and temporal resolution for model set-up, calibration, and validation. On the other hand, they offer the possibility of predicting processes that are not easily measurable, and allow for the calculation of the impact of supposed scenarios that will possibly affect the water cycle and mass transport in the future. Small research basins provide the high-quality data required for model development and testing, also for new and innovative model approaches. Knowledge gained from monitoring and modelling studies in small hydrological basins can be used for decision-making with respect to managing water resource systems.

Modern research programs at national, European, and international levels are challenged by an increasing requirement for interdisciplinarity, societal relevance, and educational outreach as well as market-oriented applications.

Project management strategies need to adapt to these new demands and incorporate innovative, yet sound and coherent, project management practices to ensure the effective use of the project results for higher societal impact and public awareness.

With this special issue, we offer project managers from Europe and beyond an opportunity to share their knowledge, experience, and best practices for effective management of research and technology projects in the various fields of geosciences.