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Project title

Groundwater-g - Supporting Groundwater Resources Management using Low-Cost Microgravity Technology

Primary Funding Agency

Geological Survey Of Ireland (GSI)

Co-Funding Organisation(s)

n/a

Lead Organisation

Queens University Belfast

Lead Applicant

n/a

Project Abstract

Groundwater plays a major role in supplying water to millions of people globally. Across Ireland, groundwater contributes up to 75% of water supplies in some counties and provides crucial baseflow contributions to streams and wetlands, thereby sustaining flow regimes and ecosystem health, respectively. At the same time as water resources are threatened by climate extremes, water demand continues to increase with competing demands from domestic, industrial, and agricultural sectors. Thus, sustainable management of groundwater resources is crucial for communities� resilience and economic development. Cost-effective groundwater monitoring is a key challenge. Installing and maintaining borehole networks is often costly and impractical due to lack of land access. The recent breakthrough invention of a �gravimeter-on-a-chip� using a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) provides an exciting new sensor to overcome these limitations at a fraction of cost. The project will evaluate the feasibility of new MEMS gravimeter technology as a low-cost non-intrusive method for monitoring groundwater storage fluctuations and for determining key aquifer parameters across Irish bedrock aquifers on a relevant scale for catchment-scale water resource management. The project will advance the generic scientific understanding regarding the hydrogeological application of microgravity methods and establish the new low-cost sensor technology in the field of hydrogeological studies for the first time.Please enter short abstract here

Grant Approved

�28,420.00

Research Hub

n/a

Research Theme

Relevant to other areas as well as climate

Start Date

01/12/2020

Initial Projected Completion Date

31/01/2022