FORFUS-RT3.3

Assessing the impact of air pollution on forest trees

This project is led by the Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research as part of the FORFUS DTU.

Inspiration

Air pollution is continuing to rise. It harms human health, crops and species, and will harm forest trees in the coming decades (up to 2040 and beyond). Despite this, the exposure of forest trees to ozone (O3) and methane (CH4) has not yet been evaluated in Luxembourg at a fine spatial and temporal scale.

Innovation

The objectives of FORFUS-RT3.3 are: (a) to quantify O3 and CH4 across Luxembourg at a very fine spatial (e.g. 100m) and temporal resolution (daily/monthly), (b) to assess the temporal and spatial distribution and identify hotspots of O3/CH4 pollution in forested areas across Luxembourg, (c) to create a geospatial database of O3/CH4, crops, and (dead) forest trees by combining different complementary sources of information (e.g. remote sensing, satellite imagery, LiDAR, orthophotomaps), and (d) to build a decision support system (Dashboard) to evaluate the exposure of forests to O3/CH4 and thereby stakeholders in developing public policies to protect forests.

Impact

The scientific knowledge generated in this project will help identify the exposure of forest trees to air pollution, and overall, the causes of tree death. The understanding and methods developed as part of the project are expected to be useful for similar studies at different sites around the world, in order to provide a policy recommendation (action plan) for mitigating forest exposure to air pollution. In a nutshell, we will contribute to: (a) increasing scientific knowledge by sensing the environment in a new way using mobile-based technology (satellite S5P) and fixed-based sensor network (field work), (b) societal impact by developing a dashboard DSS tool for stakeholders and the research community, and (c) a new data input for the PRIDE-DTU, as well as to the national digital twin initiative.

 

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Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST)

5, avenue des Hauts-Fourneaux
L-4362 Esch-sur-Alzette

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Further information

    

About Hichem Omrani - Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research

Hichem is a specialist in data science, machine learning and (space) data analytics. He enjoys generating new ideas and developing practical solutions for broadly impactful challenges.

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