Author(s): Peter Wellens; Simone Van Schijndel; Mark Klein Breteler
Linked Author(s): Simone Van Schijndel
Keywords: Hydraulic Experiment; European Coordination; Hydraulic Experimental Facilities
Abstract: Sea level rise and increasing storminess will likely result in the intensification of coastal zone erosion, which will, in turn, affect the safety against floods and produce changes in coastal ecology. Furthermore, increases in summer rainfall intensities over northern Europe will also increase the likelihood of pluvial flooding and result in changes to river and estuarine ecology, influencing food security and sustainable agriculture. The observed changes in sea ice on the Arctic Ocean and in the mass of the Greenland Ice Sheet, Arctic ice caps and glaciers over the past ten years are dramatic. The impact of renewable energy devices on our environment can also not be ignored and needs investigation, since society needs these innovative devices for clean and effective energy when adapting to climate change. It is evident that an informed management and use of our water resources and environment is essential to human well-being, and a pre-requisite to the development of advanced innovative technologies. To find solutions for these problems research in our hydraulic research infrastructures needs to go beyond just hydraulics and needs to focus more and more on complex questions regarding the interaction of water with other elements. These topics require more than just numerical modelling and really need research in special purpose, and therefore, often unique and costly research infrastructures. The use of research infrastructures and the development of instrumentation and tools within the field of environmental hydraulics are an essential part of the tools available to study these issues. This paper describes how we coordinate research in Europe in the field of experimental hydraulics by means of the HYDRALAB network. HYDRALAB supports the integrated provision of infrastructure related services to the environmental hydraulic research community at a European level, and harmonizes and optimizes the coherent use and development of the best infrastructures. It ensures that Europe keeps its position at the forefront of experimental hydraulic research and has a strong focus on combining the knowledge of experienced researchers with new ideas from the next generation of researchers and innovative market players all around the world. This coordination allows us to deal with the future infrastructure requirements of the next generation of engineers and scientists working within the broad field of environmental hydraulics in order to solve the above mentioned issues. Anticipation of those requirements is essential if we are to respond in a timely fashion to the challenges that society faces as freshwater and marine systems respond to climate change.
Year: 2013