Research

In this project, procedures for the development of digital twins for the implementation of efficient sustainability analyses will be developed and tested, taking into account the national requirements of the DACH countries. A specific implementation of digital twins and selected sustainability-related indicators for the evaluation and optimisation of the operation and dismantling of civil engineering structures with regard to a cycle-oriented resource management will be carried out. The focus is on decision support for the operators of engineering structures with regard to planning, construction, operation and dismantling. On the basis of open source developments, an implementation guide is also being created to enable the transfer and further development of the results. For the demonstration, digital twins of up to three engineering structures will be created, enriched with data and used for the calculation of relevant indicators for sustainability analysis. In addition, advice will be given on which data should be collected in the future and integrated into sustainability analyses so that data gaps can be closed and transparent decisions can be made.

Archeology has traditionally placed emphasis on the study of human processes, assuming the continuity in the settlement as a phenomenon proper to the occupation of space. Discontinuities have received less attention. However, regions with low population pressure, geographically marginal with respect to the most recurrently occupied areas, as is the case of central-western Patagonia (Aisén Region), are characterized by discontinuities in human occupation. Discontinuities are not the same in terms of characteristics and extension, some even lasting millennia. This phenomenon has been identified at the spatial scales of archaeological sites and localities; however, a detailed study of a regional scale is needed to address the mechanisms and characteristics of the discontinuities throughout 12,000 years of history. This project will use the concept of exploration within the framework of an evolutionary archeology as it allows recognizing the role of information networks between individuals in the incorporation of new spaces and proposes that, given the prolonged and repeated discontinuities in the occupation of central-western Patagonia, its exploration was not a single process, but rather corresponded to a multidimensional phenomenon. With this objective in mind, open steppe areas, high-altitude sectors, periglacial environments, and closed forests will be evaluated as they are all margin areas where the archaeological record would be expected to preserve actions associated with exploration contexts. In spatial terms, explicit analytical scales will be used in data retrieval at the site, locality, and regional levels. In temporal terms, given the characteristic discontinuity of human occupation, it will seek to define chronological gaps as a starting point to evaluate the archaeological data sets. Different dating methods will be applied for defining the occupational redundancy at the site and locality level as well as the periods of occupation of the sites. The archaeological record will allow the comprehensive study of the directionality of the flows of goods, the ranges of action, the organization of technology and the strategies of subsistence and mobility through time.

The objectives for this expedition are focusing on a better scientific understanding of Lake Altaussee, Austria through its cultural, geological, and ecological significance. The priority was to obtain a multi-beam sonar map of Lake Altaussee and a sub-bottom profiling of the lake bed. Biologists from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, San Diego, California, and from the Paul Ricard Oceanographic Institute (France) collected samples from all water-entry points and from the lake surface area. At the deepest part of the lake (74.2 m), a Deep Trekker remotely operated vehicle (ROV) provided an important view of a geological occurrence: images of colored sediment and rock suggested the presence of iron ore. The Team also collected water, sediment, snow and air samples destined to be tested for microfibers, with the goal being to understand the dynamics of these fibers and eventually, by collecting and analyzing two juvenile fish and a dozen copepods, determine if they enter the local food web.