High-resolution, spatially-controlled geochemical and isotopic analysis is a specialised area of mass spectrometry that requires the use of highly focussed scientific techniques using lasers or ion beams. The state-of-the-art ion microprobe facility (IMF) at the University of Edinburgh houses two such ion beam instruments that are central to NERC science and not available at other UKRI facilities or institutions. The combination of high-precision isotopic analysis and micron-scale spatial resolution is unique and crucial in earth and environmental-funded science. The IMF supports high quality research of international importance into understanding natural resources, natural hazards, investigating the future green economy and exploring the implications of environmental change on our natural world. As examples, analysis of volcanic materials provides insight into the processes controlling the explosivity of eruptions, a key factor in determining the relative hazards represented by different volcanoes around the world. While the analysis of fish ear bones tracks the evolution of migratory patterns in fish e.g. salmon and tuna, in response to climate change and is informing our understanding of the factors influencing fish condition and affecting fisheries. Finally, research on coral skeletons identifies how the reef-building process in tropical corals responds to ocean acidification and rising seawater temperatures and allows us to predict the future of reef structures on which hundreds of millions of people rely for coastal protection, building materials, fisheries, and tourism. Research such as this is fundamental in tackling the grand challenges that face our communities and directly address UN sustainability development goals. This proposal is to provide continued UK science community support for the world-class Edinburgh IMF that enables the UK to excel in the quantitative microanalysis of earth and environmental materials, and explore fundamental questions that have consequences for the planet, the environment and its population.

The proposed internship aims for a transformational change in how catchment management scientists at Dwr Cymru Welsh Water (DCWW) assess catchment management resource availability and quality issues. It will achieve this through embedding an expectation of geological and hydrogeological understanding to complement water resource catchment studies. It is proposed that following workshops to gain a better understanding of DCWW objectives Dr Vanessa Banks, an applied (karst-, engineering-, hydro- and environmental-) geologist with a research interest in developing conceptual ground models for problem solving at a range of scales, will embed herself in catchment science research activities. She will use these projects to demonstrate the benefits of the extensive range of BGS data and information to catchment science understanding. Through cross site working and facilitated meetings she will develop networks of DCWW/BGS/NERC collaborations that will be a legacy of the internship. In parallel with this Vanessa will provide monthly hydrogeology related CPD opportunities (talks, workshops and field skills); identify and lead on peer review writing opportunities, and facilitate the pursuit of research funding opportunities for DCWW/ BGS/ NERC research opportunities.

Recent natural disasters in Malaysia, such as the wide-spread floods in 2014/15 and the flash flooding of Kuala Lumpur in 2007, have revealed that improvements are required in the prediction of damaging natural hazards and in the capacity to manage the associated risks and consequences. Appropriate to the theme of 'future cities', the focus of this project is the prediction and management of physical risks relevant to Kuala Lumpur, which is the Malaysian capital and the most populated city in Malaysia with around 8 million inhabitants. The particular hazards to be targeted in this project, which are common in Kuala Lumpur, are floods, landslides, sinkholes, strong winds, urban heat and air pollution. A consortium of 16 research and business partners from the UK and Malaysia has been assembled for this project. The basic strategy is to adapt and combine existing technologies to enhance hazard assessment and develop the ability to forecast, with main objective to develop a prototype multi-hazard information platform suitable for communicating risks to geophysical and atmospheric hazards. The primary beneficiaries will be risk managers and decision-makers in Malaysian local government and the insurance sector. The project objectives relate to the Malaysian Science to Action initiative, which has an aim of mobilising science for societal well-being. The University of Cambridge (UoC) is the lead UK and academic partner in the project and its main role is to lead the meteorological forecasting package. The British Geological Survey will co-lead the Geophysical hazards phase of the project working specifically on the geophysical hazard modelling (landslides and sinkholes) and co-develop a platform for managing and communicating multi-hazard forecasts in a changing climate for Greater Kuala Lumpur city region. Benefits of the project will include: Improved information regarding the risks of occurrence of geophysical and atmospheric hazards, enabling Malaysian local authorities to make better contingency plans to mitigate the effects of geophysical and atmospheric hazards, which will provide economic benefits and improve the quality of life for Malaysian citizens. Improved information about geophysical hazards will aid the further development of insurance services in Malaysia. The multi-hazard platform developed for Greater Kuala Lumpur city region will have relevance to cities elsewhere in Malaysia and in the wider south-east Asian region. Where the commercial development of such systems, could benefit both the commercial sector and future urban management.

The three stakeholders in this project, Transport Northern Ireland (TNI), Northern Ireland Rail (NIR) and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI) all have one common need which this project addresses. They are required to monitor ground deformations across their geotechnical assets (e.g. embankments, cuttings and earth retaining structures) using the most efficient, cost effective methods, with a view to minimising and managing the geotechnical risk to their businesses and the road/rail users. The objective of the work therefore is to apply the methodologies that the British Geological Survey (BGS) have already developed through past research projects of assessing the deformation of geotechnical infrastructure, such as slope movement or ground subsidence, using Satellite Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR). The project will validate this methodology through ground truthing, using geotechnical monitoring and high resolution photogrammetry developed by Queen's University Belfast (QUB). Through this project, the stakeholders will be able to monitor ground deformations in a more cost effective, efficient, more thorough and more robust way, and embed the use of this methodology across their organisations making a step change on how they approach assessment and manage the resilience of their geotechnical infrastructure. TNI anticipate that the use of InSAR data will help form their strategies for monitoring their geotechnical assets and will feed into the existing GIS based risk assessment methods for their infrastructure assets. The site at Straidkilly is only one of many sections along the A2 coast road that is unstable and it is hoped that InSAR will give a much greater insight into the behaviour of a variety of geohazards that impact on the road and will inform their maintenance strategies and lead to more cost effective better targeted maintenance. TNI also are committed to having a better understanding of the mechanisms of failure on the slow moving failures on the Throne Bend in Belfast. The InSAR data will allow a much better correlation between slope movement and rainfall intensity and duration to be undertaken. InSAR data will also allow better mapping of the extent and magnitude of the instability. NIR also hope to be able to correlate the slope instability against rainfall data on the Belfast-Bangor rail line. DETI anticipate that the project will validate new methods of monitoring and provide baseline data of ground motion to form the basis of future strategic decisions in regards to geohazards. The use of InSAR at sites in Carrickfergus will potentially provide greater knowledge of extent of subsidence boundaries and provide indicators to potential catastrophic collapse by analysing SAR data against periods of known rapid collapse of ground. Keywords: geotechnical infrastructure, subsidence, slope instability, remote sensing, radar interferometry (InSAR), ground motion monitoring

The UK uses around 50 GW of energy to heat and cool buildings with only 6% delivered from renewable sources. Heating of buildings represents almost a quarter of UK carbon emissions, while demand for cooling is projected to increase as the climate warms and summers become hotter. The UK Heat and Buildings Strategy is clear that action to reduce emissions is required now to facilitate compliance with legally binding 2050 Net Zero targets. Moreover, the current geopolitical uncertainty has highlighted the risks associated with importing energy. However, heat is challenging to decarbonise due to its extreme seasonality. Daily heat demand ranges from around 15 to 150 GW, so new green technologies for inter-seasonal storage are essential. Geothermal resources offer natural heat energy, very large-scale seasonal energy storage, cooling as well as heating, and steady, low carbon energy supply. Widespread exploitation of urban geothermal resources could deliver a significant component - and in some cases all - of the UK's heating and cooling demand, supporting UK self-sufficiency and energy security. However, barriers remain to uptake of geothermal energy, especially at large-scale in urban areas. There is uncertainty in the size of the underground resource, the long-term sustainability of urban geothermal deployments, and potential environmental impacts. New methods and tools are required to monitor and manage installations to ensure the resource is responsibly used. These knowledge gaps, along with lack of awareness and guidance available for stakeholders and decision makers, result in higher than necessary risks and therefore costs. In this project, we will remove obstacles to uptake by reducing uncertainty about how the ground behaves when used to store and produce heat and cool at a large scale in urban areas. We will focus on relatively shallow (<400m depth) geothermal resources and open-loop systems in which groundwater is pumped into and out of porous, permeable aquifer rocks underground, because these offer large storage capacity and can deliver heat and cool. Shallow, open-loop systems are also deployable in most UK urban areas and have lower investment costs than technologies which require deeper drilling. We will conduct advanced field experiments with state-of-the-art monitoring, supported by laboratory experiments, to determine the response of aquifers to storage and exploitation of heat and use the results to understand how temperature changes over a wide area as groundwater flow transfers heat within the aquifer. We will compare two different aquifers, with contrasting types of underground flow regimes, that can be exploited across much of the UK. We will also determine how temperature changes impact groundwater quality and stress ecological environments and sensitive receptors, as well as understand any risks of ground movement caused by use of the resource. The field data will be used to create calibrated heat flow models, which we can use as a 'numerical laboratory' to simulate and explore the capacity of urban geothermal and how different installations within a city might interact. The results will support planning of future resource use and assess the capacity of geothermal resources to store waste heat from industrial processes and commercial buildings and return it later when needed. We will explore the use of AI-based models that can 'learn' from data provided by geothermal operators to actively manage the resource in a responsible and integrated way. Together, this research will permit regulators to plan and permit installations to ensure fairness and prevent environmental damage, as well as ensuring system designs realistically predict the amount of energy available. Recommendations will be made for resource assessment, safe and sustainable operation and management, to stimulate the widespread development of low carbon, geothermally heated and cooled cities.