Opinion : Gigacity - a source of problems or the new way to sustainable development

The eastern part of China as a whole is practically a gigacity; it is a conglomeration of megacities with circa 650 million inhabitants. The gigacity, with its emissions, processes in pollution cocktail, numerous feedbacks and interactions, has a crucial and big impact on regional air quality within itself and on global climate. A large-scale research and innovation program is needed to meet the interlinked grand challenges in this gigacity and to serve as a platform for finding pathways for sustainable development of the whole globe.Non peer reviewe

Carbon sink and CarbonSink+ : from observations to global potential

Carbon balance of forests is defined by three main processes; photosynthesis, autotrophic respiration, and heterotrophic respiration. Climate impact of forests include also non-carbon effects like albedo, biogenic aerosols, effect on clouds, evaporation and surface roughness. A well-thought measurement setup as well as standardised procedures are essential for a meaningful and robust monitoring and the comparability of the observations at the same site and in inter-site comparisons. Depending on the mitigation project objectives and scale different combination of methodologies could be used including forest carbon inventories, chamber measurements, tower-based eddy covariance flux measurements, large-scale atmospheric greenhouse gas measurements, aircraft and satellite remote sensing. In addition to GHGs, forests have other important climate effects. They change surface albedo (warming effect), are source of volatile organic compounds (VOC), have effect on aerosol particle formation and growth, increases amount of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), and has effect on cloud formation as well as on the precipitation. Moreover, any modification of the carbon cycle by removing or increasing CO2-binding vegetation has impact on the complex climate - carbon cycle feedback. We define these additional cooling effects as CarbonSink+. Accounting all these effects, this CarbonSink+ may increase the climate cooling impact of forests compared with pure carbon sink effect. Land use based mitigation plays an important role in current Nationally Determined Contributions of Paris Agreement. Scientific findings indicate that through different actions land sector could provide up to 1/3 of the needed total mitigation through year 2030. However, permanence of ecosystem based carbon storages is still a challenge and trade-offs between different land use form exist and should be properly acknowledged in the mitigation projects. We define in this report a cost effective, i.e. as simple as possible but good enough, measurement setup to verify both ordinary carbon sink and CarbonSink+ -effect. The methodology is planned for commercial applications, rather than for scientific purposes. The estimated prices of the instrumentation are based on present-day situation. In the conclusions of the report, we also describe first level principles and challenges which could help to formulate protocols for larger framework needed for the global commercial carbon marketNon peer reviewe

Adsorptive uptake of water by semisolid secondary organic aerosols

Aerosol climate effects are intimately tied to interactions with water. Here we combine hygroscopicity measurements with direct observations about the phase of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) particles to show that water uptake by slightly oxygenated SOA is an adsorption-dominated process under subsaturated conditions, where low solubility inhibits water uptake until the humidity is high enough for dissolution to occur. This reconciles reported discrepancies in previous hygroscopicity closure studies. We demonstrate that the difference in SOA hygroscopic behavior in subsaturated and supersaturated conditions can lead to an effect up to about 30% in the direct aerosol forcinghighlighting the need to implement correct descriptions of these processes in atmospheric models. Obtaining closure across the water saturation point is therefore a critical issue for accurate climate modeling.Peer reviewe

Finnish Centre of Excellence in Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Meteorology of Atmospheric Composition and Climate Change : summary and outlook

Peer reviewe

InDEx – Industrial Data Excellence

InDEx, the Industrial Data Excellence program, was created to investigate what industrial data can be collected, shared, and utilized for new intelligent services in high-performing, reliable and secure ways, and how to accomplish that in practice in the Finnish manufacturing industry.InDEx produced several insights into data in an industrial environment, collecting data, sharing data in the value chain and in the factory environment, and utilizing and manipulating data with artificial intelligence. Data has an important role in the future in an industrial context, but data sources and utilization mechanisms are more diverse than in cases related to consumer data. Experiences in the InDEx cases showed that there is great potential in data utili zation.Currently, successful business cases built on data sharing are either company-internal or utilize an existing value chain. The data market has not yet matured, and third-party offerings based on public and private data sources are rare. In this program, we tried out a framework that aimed to securely and in a controlled manner share data between organizations. We also worked to improve the contractual framework needed to support new business based on shared data, and we conducted a study of applicable business models. Based on this, we searched for new data-based opportunities within the project consortium. The vision of data as a tradeable good or of sharing with external partners is still to come true, but we believe that we have taken steps in the right direction.The program started in fall 2019 and ended in April 2022. The program faced restrictions caused by COVID-19, which had an effect on the intensity of the work during 2020 and 2021, and the program was extended by one year. Because of meeting restrictions, InDEx collaboration was realized through online meetings. We learned to work and collaborate using digital tools and environments. Despite the mentioned hindrances, and thanks to Business Finland’s flexibility, the extension time made it possible for most of the planned goals to be achieved.This report gives insights in the outcomes of the companies’ work within the InDEx program. DIMECC InDEx is the first finalized program by the members of the Finnish Advanced Manufacturing Network (FAMN, www.famn.fi).</p

The Center of Excellence in Atmospheric Science (2002–2019) — from molecular and biological processes to the global climate

The study of atmospheric processes related to climate requires a multidisciplinary approach, encompassing physics, chemistry, meteorology, forest science, and environmental science. The Academy of Finland Centre of Excellence in atmospheric sciences (CoE ATM) responded to that need for 18 years and produced extensive research and eloquent results, which are summarized in this review. The work in the CoE ATM enhanced our understanding in biogeochemical cycles, ecosystem processes, dynamics of aerosols, ions and neutral clusters in the lower atmosphere, and cloud formation and their interactions and feedbacks. The CoE ATM combined continuous and comprehensive long-term in-situ observations in various environments, ecosystems and platforms, ground- and satellitebased remote sensing, targeted laboratory and field experiments, and advanced multi-scale modeling. This has enabled improved conceptual understanding and quantifications across relevant spatial and temporal scales. Overall, the CoE ATM served as a platform for the multidisciplinary research community to explore the interactions between the biosphere and atmosphere under a common and adaptive framework

Kevytpäällysteisten tierakenteiden kunnon kehittymisen ennustemallit

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Kevytpäällysteisten tienrakenteiden projekti, havaintotieaineiston kokoaminen ja analysointi

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