The Second DESERVE Science Progress Meeting was held from 4 May to 6 May 2015 at the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), Potsdam, Germany. DESERVE welcomed 40 representatives of the DESERVE partner institutions and members of external institutions from Israel, Jordan, Germany and Palestine.  

After the opening of the meeting by Prof. Reinhard F. J. Hüttl (Scientific Executive Director, GFZ) and Prof. Christoph Kottmeier (scientific speaker of DESERVE, KIT), the work package leaders informed on the current project state, as well as on the people and institutes involved. Subsequently, the participants continued to develop the DESERVE research agenda by discussing the research questions addressed, exchanging scientific results and coordinating coming research activities. Special focus was on interdisciplinarity as DESERVE aims at a sound scientific understanding of coupled atmospheric, hydrological, and lithospheric processes like sinkhole genesis, groundwater movement and extreme rainfall-runoff events which cannot be tackled from a narrow disciplinary viewpoint.

Participants of the Second DESERVE Science Progress Meeting.

 

23 talks provided an insight into already accomplished research activities complementing long-term measurements of climatic, hydrological, and tectonic processes by extensive field campaigns (sinkhole campaigns, HEADS 2014, seismic wind array etc.) and modelling studies (COSMO-ART, J2000g etc.). The talks emphasised and demonstrated the high potential of applying recently developed measurement and modelling techniques to the extreme conditions of the Dead Sea.

The very productive event in a cordial atmosphere clearly showed the scientific progress and the good relations within DESERVE. It also demonstrated the high demand for an integrated approach of earth and atmospheric sciences as achieved with DESERVE to cope with the outstanding challenges - environmental risks, water availability and climate change - in the Dead Sea region.