Terrestrial Ecology Group
Since 2008, the Sierra Nevada Global Change Observatory has been consolidated as an institutional initiative of collaboration between the University of Granada (UGR) and the Department of Sustainability, Environment and Blue Economy (Andalusian Regional Government), with the aim of developing a long-term monitoring and information management program to assess the impact of global changes on the ecosystems of the Sierra Nevada.
Within this initiative, the UGR is mainly in charge of scientific coordination and information management. Our Ecology laboratory is in charge of collecting and enhancing the existing scientific and technical environmental information on Sierra Nevada, generating applications and services that facilitate the use of the data by different users (scientists, managers and citizens) and ensuring that the data are traceable, accessible, interoperable and reusable (FAIR principles), contributing to a more open science for the benefit of society.
iEcolab has a network of wireless sensors manufactured in-house capable of measuring air and soil temperature, air and soil humidity and luminosity. In addition, several types of cameras have been designed to quantify the capacity of vegetation to produce biomass through photosynthesis. All of these devices are currently installed in the Cáñar oak grove.
Environmental Fluid Dynamics Group
The Environmental Flow Dynamics Group was born in 1998 when Professor Miguel A. Losada, Director of the Oceanographic and Coastal Group of the University of Cantabria, moved to the University of Granada to begin his career in the study and research of Maritime Engineering. and Costas in Andalusia.
This group develops its work in the dynamics of the atmosphere, oceans and rivers and reservoirs, and their respective morphologies. He stands out for the international nature of his work and the inter-university and interdisciplinary nature of his research, working in close collaboration with the Fluvial Dynamics and Hydrology Research Group of the University of Córdoba, with the Institute of Marine Sciences of Andalusia of the Higher Research Council Scientific and with the Physical Oceanography Group of the University of Malaga.
Fluvial Dynamics and Hydrology Group
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The Fluvial Dynamics and Hydrology Group is a multidisciplinary and innovative research group formed by 17 researchers from the Andalusian Institute for Earth System Research (IISTA) (UCO-UGR). Included in the Andalusian system of Knowledge Agents, the group carries out the study on the Comprehensive Management of Basins and coastal areas in its different facets. Currently, he develops three main lines of research:
- Hydrological Processes in Mediterranean basins
- Transport and mixing processes in surface waters
- Uncertainty analysis in hydrological and environmental processes
Since its inception, the group has more than 95 scientific works, 37 of them indexed (21 are articles in first-quartile journals), and more than 150 works published in prestigious national and international conferences. The result of his research activity is WiMMed (Watershed Integrated Management in Mediterranean environment), a free distributed and physically based hydrological modeling software, applied to Mediterranean basins, which includes the simulation of water flows, sediments and associated substances.
With a significant profile in transfer (more than 20 competitive research projects and 19 R&D&I contracts from the public and private sectors; collaborator with 12 prestigious foreign groups that have received 20 pre/postdoctoral stays) the group was awarded in 2011 with the Transfer Award in its 3rd Edition, awarded by the Social Council of the University of Córdoba.
Atmospheric Physics Group
The Atmospheric Physics group has the task of identifying and characterizing the atmospheric composition, its dynamics and its interaction with ecosystems.
Due to its effect on human health and architectural heritage, the study of atmospheric aerosol in the surface boundary layer is of great importance, especially in the region of Andalusia, close to Africa, and specifically in the city of Granada, with a high presence of anthropogenic aerosol.
This group uses various in-situ observation techniques to determine everything from the optical and microphysical properties of the aerosol to its chemical composition and has aerosol sampling systems in filters for subsequent laboratory analysis. In addition, this laboratory has instrumentation to characterize the aerosol size distribution in different ranges and determine its ability to form cloud condensation nuclei. Due to the presence of biogenic particles in the atmosphere of Granada such as pollen, the laboratory is also studying to determine the fraction of particles with biogenic origin. The group carries out part of its research in an aerosol spectroscopy laboratory. The laboratory allows us to characterize the optical and microphysical properties of the aerosol both at the individual particle level and as a set of particles.
In addition, the group uses a series of remote sensing techniques to characterize the aerosol present in the atmosphere at altitude. Saharan dust intrusions, smoke layers from nearby fires transported over long distances, high presence of pollen particles during the flowering season and even thin layers of volcanic origin are some of the phenomena studied with lidar-based instrumentation. In addition, the characterization of clouds and precipitation, the size of the droplets that compose them and their interaction with the aerosol is also systematically performed. In collaboration with different space agencies, the atmospheric physics group has worked on the calibration and validation of different meteorological satellites: CALIPSO, AEOLUS, and soon EARTHCARE.
Some researchers of this group is strongly connected to European efforts to reduce of GHG emissions and to increase carbon sequestration. This research line is focused on measuring GHG exchanges of different ecosystems using the eddy covariance technique.
Aerobiology Group
In our research group, various studies have been carried out in the field of agriculture, mainly on olive and oak trees. Pollen records from the air can be used to make an estimate of the future crop to be collected, especially in the case of anemophilous species. Once the pollen season is over, the total count of pollen grains of a given pollen type gives us an idea, using predictive formulas, of the amount of fruit that will be produced, a few months in advance of the harvest, which is Very useful for planning the collection and subsequent treatment of the product. These studies have produced useful models for the production of fruits of economic interest such as acorns, olives or grapes.
Climate change: Currently, pollen databases are being of great help to detect changes in pollen seasons. These changes may be related to the increase in temperature caused by climate change. These studies can be carried out thanks to the fact that there are databases in which pollen data for more than 20 years are stored, since sampling of the atmosphere of Córdoba began in the 1980s. Mainly it involves establish whether there is an advance in the beginning of flowering of certain plant species caused by the increase in temperature, and therefore, a lengthening of the pollen seasons.
Agricultural and Forestry Systems Assessment and Restoration Group
It emerged in 2008 from the collaboration that the members of this group carried out with other researchers from the University of Córdoba and other national and international research centers, based on common research objectives in the field of natural resources. In this way, a multidisciplinary research group is formed in which professionals and researchers linked to different institutions of knowledge generation and transfer collaborate, both nationally and internationally.
The objectives of the ERSAF research group are framed within an integrative vision of research and knowledge generation, linked to scientific dissemination and environmental education, and are mainly summarized in the following specific objectives:
- Promote the education and training of students from different areas and different levels of knowledge on topics related to the restoration of agricultural and forestry systems.
- Promote and participate in research projects that include specialized work in ecophysiology and restoration of agricultural and forestry systems.
- Develop the publication of scientific, technical and descriptive information on aspects related to forest decay, the variability of forest species, the restoration of agricultural and forestry systems and the impact of the restoration of degraded areas.
- Work on the internationalization of forestry science, creating and reinforcing lines of coordination with other national and international research centers and groups.
- Consolidate lines of research on aspects that revolve around the restoration of species and forest areas, both in Mediterranean and tropical and subtropical ecosystems, integrating experts in forestry, ecophysiology, molecular biology, climatology, pathology and remote sensing and GIS applied to forestry.
- Contribute to the mitigation of degradation and decline processes in forest ecosystems derived from biotic and abiotic processes (climate change, water stress, pest and disease effects, etc.).
- Bet on new technologies associated with the management of forest masses, through the sensorization of forest plots, the use of LiDAR technology and remote sensors for spatial analysis and the study and development of parameterization, modeling, Big Data and Machine Learning for macro data analysis.
Fluid Mechanics and Fluid-Structure Interaction Research Group
The Fluid Mechanics and Fluid-Structure Interaction Research Group of the Universities of Jaén and Granada is a young and very active team, formed by researchers with wide experience in different generalist techniques in Fluid Mechanics, including analytical developments, experiment development and numerical simulations.
The main research lines of the group are:
– The study of multiphase flows, mainly focused on bubble generation and dynamics.
– The analysis of wakes behind blunt bodies with special interest in the development of passive aerodynamic enhancement systems and in the application of fluid-structure interaction phenomena.
– Biomedical flows, in particular, the movement of cerebrospinal fluid in the spinal cord and brain.
Researchers of the group have also developed research related to fire dynamics in large atria, hydrodynamic stability of jets and wakes, seed dispersion, kinematics and free body wake.
Atmosphere and Solar Radiation Modeling Group
The Atmosphere and Solar Radiation Modeling Group participates in the International Energy Agency (IEA) working group 36 Solar Resource Knowledge Management. The research activity of our group falls within the field of Meteorology and Energy. In particular, the research projects that the group is currently working on pursue:
- Evaluate renewable energy resources (solar and wind resources) in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, analyzing their spatial and temporal complementarity.
- Develop methodologies for predicting solar resources on scales from hours to days.
- Analyze the variability of solar and wind resources in the face of climate change.
Group of Ecology, Evolution and Conservation of Mediterranean Vegetation
The Ecology, Evolution and Conservation of Mediterranean Vegetation Group develops three main lines: (1) Conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services in agroecosystems and fragmented landscapes. This line investigates the loss of diversity (taxonomic, genetic, phylogenetic and functional) and ecosystem services and their causes in agricultural (olive grove) and natural systems in anthropized landscapes. (2) Dynamics of Mediterranean plant communities. This line investigates ecological mechanisms of coexistence of woody species in Mediterranean natural ecosystems. To do this, we combine real information on plant-plant interaction networks with mathematical models of vegetation dynamics, which allows us to assess possible effects of global change processes on the maintenance of plant diversity in Mediterranean forests. (3) Evolutionary Ecology and Functional Genomics in plants. Study three aspects. A) Adaptive significance of polyploidy in the Brachypodium distachyon complex and its importance in the evolution of functional traits of tolerance to drought and competition in a model plant for grasses and cereals. B) Ecogenomics of the olive tree and its functionality in pest control. C) Genetics of traits of ecological and agronomic interest (mating system, fat content of seeds and resistance to herbicides) in Sinapis alba.