Minister for Science, Innovation and Higher Education waved goodbye to mother-in-law’s house

“It doesn’t look good for mother-in-law’s house,” was Morten Østergaard’s initial comment when Professor Lars Arge, Director of the Centre for Massive Data Algorithmics (MADALGO), showed the minister how it is possible at Aarhus University to precisely calculate where floods will occur as a result of rising sea water and extreme rain.
In spite of his busy programme, the minister spent a long time at MADALGO’s demonstration of the model the researchers have developed. He was particularly impressed by the monitor. Once a random rise in the water level has been entered here, the viewer can immediately see the impact of a heavy downpour of rain on a specific property – mother-in-law’s house, for example.
“It’s exciting for the visitors coming here when we show them what would happen if the water level should rise in their area. While our models are particularly interesting in relation to EUROPE’S CHALLENGES, it’s nevertheless important that we focus attention on basic research that has been applied to a very specific and topical issue,” explains Professor Arge.
Mobile phone makes the world greener
Next to the MADALGO stand, Postdoctoral Scholar Mikkel Baun Kjærgaard presented the EcoSense project, where research is being carried out into how to reduce the amount of CO₂ affecting society as a result of different activities.
This is done by means of crowd sensing, a method in which an app downloaded to a smartphone sends signals to central computers that register data about how the individual user moves around. The researchers use this information to gain thorough insight into the traffic behaviour of citizens, thereby forming a basis for analysing how new traffic initiatives could reduce CO₂ emission.
The Aarhus University project is being carried out in collaboration with private companies and the Municipality of Aarhus, and it looks at suburbs such as Skejby to get answers to different questions. How far is it to the bus stop? Are there direct cycle tracks? Could a new bus route make a difference? The aim is to get better at highlighting problems so decision-makers can get ideas for green initiatives, and to subsequently document the impact of such measures.
“People contribute with data about their traffic behaviour for periods of a fortnight, for example. This can provide a much more detailed picture of problems and opportunities than would be possible by collecting responses to questionnaires. We’re at the same time working with environmental researchers who provide us with relevant environmental models. This enables us to calculate the environmental impact along with the municipal traffic planners,” explains Mikkel Baun Kjærgaard.
Read more about the projects and the minister’s visit in the original news item (in Danish only) here.