website: https://www.asg.ed.tum.de/iapg/uplift/
The UPLIFT project includes projects in the research fields of geophysics (including magnetism -> IAGA, geodynamics -> IASPEI), geodesy (-> IAG), geology, geomorphology, mathematics and computer science.
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The project “Geophysical modelling of vertical motion processes constrained by geodetic and geological observations (UPLIFT)” is a Research Training Group funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). It started in April 2022, its first phase will end in September 2027.
The Principal Investigators are:
Prof. Dr. Roland Pail
Prof. Dr. Hans-Peter Bunge
Prof. Dr. Anke M. Friedrich
Prof. Dr. Stuart Gilder
Prof. Dr. Urs Hugentobler
Prof. Dr. Heiner Igel
Prof. Dr. Dieter Kranzlmüller
Prof. Dr. Michael Krautblatter
Dr. Laura Melas
Dr. Markus Wiedemann
Prof. Dr. Barbara Wohlmuth
Prof. Dr. Xiaoxiang Zhu
The aim of the project is to improve our understanding of mantle convection processes and better constrain physical parameters of the Earth’s mantle, by an interdisciplinary approach.
The project is composed of 10 sub-projects, P1 to P10, which represent individual PhD projects. The projects are linked together by their common goal to address mantle convection phenomena from various disciplinary perspectives.
As an example, the aim of the sub-project P2 is to develop algorithms for signal separation in time-variable gravity data such as obtained from the past and current satellite gravity missions GRACE and GRACE-FO, or the future MAGIC mission. This is linked to the superordinate project since employing satellite gravimetric data for constraining mantle convection simulations requires not only a high data accuracy such as obtained from future double-pair satellite gravity missions, but also methods to extract the signals of interest from the measured sum of temporal gravity signals.
In the UPLIFT project, mantle convection is simulated numerically based on the equations describing conservation of mass, energy and momentum. The predictions of these numerical simulations shall be validated against observational data, to test their underlying assumptions on geophysical parameters. The observational data considered include geological data and geodetic data. In general, the idea of the project is to pursue an interdisciplinary approach, connecting the knowledge of geophysicists, geologists and geodesists, to improve our understanding of mantle convective processes and associated phenomena such as the involved vertical motion of the Earth’s surface, which gives the project its name UPLIFT.
Why is this research important?
The particularity of the project is its interdisciplinary approach, bringing forward the research done in individual disciplines by connecting the theoretical understanding and simulation of mantle convection with its signature in various observational datasets.
What is one key discovery and its challenges?
Each of the sub-projects P1 to P10 contributed with significant discoveries to the main project. As an example, one key discovery of the sub-project P2 is that neural network-based algorithms developed for pattern recognition tasks in image data are applicable to the signal separation task in temporal gravity data, if the latter are brought to the respective image data format. A challenge for solving the signal separation task are correlations between the individual signals to be separated: Signals that behave similarly in space and/or in time are difficult to distinguish by the algorithm.
The project is composed of 10 sub-projects, P1 to P10. The associated research is primarily conducted by 10 PhD students and 1 PostDoc, supported and supervised by the PIs. A detailed description of the 10 PhD projects of the first cohort can be found on the project webpage (https://www.asg.ed.tum.de/iapg/uplift/cohort-1/).
Don’t miss next week’s blog posts featuring interviews with ECS participating in the UPLIFT project!