Presentation

The Institute of Environmental Geosciences (IGE) is a public research laboratory in Earth and Environmental Sciences, born on January 1, 2017 from the merger of the research units LGGE (Laboratory of Glaciology and Geophysics of the Environment) and LTHE (Laboratory of Study of Transfers in Hydrology and Environment). In 2023, the research unit ETNA (Erosion Torrentielle Neige et Avalanche) joins the IGE to form a joint research unit whose supervisors are the CNRS/INSU, the IRD, the University of Grenoble Alpes (UGA), the INRAE and Grenoble-INP within the Observatoire des Sciences de l’Univers de Grenoble.

The Polar Institute IPEV and the CNES are privileged partners accompanying the research conducted by the IGE.

Through the Observatoire des Sciences de l’Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), the IGE runs several national observation services and is involved in INSU accredited means.

Through the International Joint Laboratories (LMI) deployed by the IRD, the IGE is part of a strategy to strengthen North-South partnership activities in research, training and societal transfer.

IGE staff teach, train, and transfer our knowledge to the greatest number of people, whether in the framework of university training courses or through communication and knowledge dissemination activities.

Finally, the IGE also conducts research on the prevention of natural hazards in mountains (avalanches, snow transport by wind, floods and debris flows, block falls, glacial hazards), conducts expert assessments and participates in risk assessment and decision support in a context of rapid and marked environmental changes.

Scientific themes

The IGE conducts its research on climate, the anthropization of our planet and environmental risks by combining glaciology, hydrology, oceanography, mechanics, atmospheric and environmental sciences, inter and transdisciplinary sciences conducted with SHS and/or socio-economic actors.

The IGE is positioned where societal and environmental issues are the most significant : polar regions where warming is twice as fast as in our latitudes and where the ice caps are witnesses and actors of changes ; the intertropical zone where climate change, urban and demographic pressures accentuate the already strong tensions on land use and access to water resources ; and mountain regions (Andes, Himalayas and the Alps) where glaciers are both vital water resources but also the source of potential natural hazards.

With its unique know-how, which has made its reputation : glacier drilling, long-term observations in difficult contexts, the IGE deploys innovative tools and autonomous and/or embedded multi-sensors, spatializes its measurements and develops new methods of rapid and sensitive physico-chemical analysis, necessary for understanding the Earth system. In addition, the IGE pursues high-level numerical developments : international community codes, original synergistic methods, products exploiting space-based remote sensing measurements, and strategies for accompanying space observation missions.

The major axes of the IGE 2021-2025 project

Progress in the fundamental understanding of the climate system and its variability, particularly in intertropical, polar and mountain regions

A better understanding of the functioning of the Earth system and in particular of the complex relationships that operate between its different compartments, for example ocean-sea ice interactions, the inter-relationship between groundwater, surface water and the atmosphere, the impact of relief on mountain climate, etc., is essential in order to make progress on the quality of climate projections and the evaluation of the effects of human activities. The way these couplings and their feedbacks on the climate work is still a scientific lock.
Through the projects of its teams and services, the IGE proposes to address the following major challenges :

• To carry out and interpret a glacial drilling aimed at understanding the strong change in climate response 1 million years ago (mid-Pleistocene transition 1200 to 900 ka BP),
• Quantify the conditions, periods of occurrence and consequences of tipping points of elements of the climate system (e.g. instability of the polar ice caps, dry/wet regimes of the African monsoon, decrease in melt rates of mountain glaciers, etc.),
• To model the hydrogeological functioning of the whole of West Africa at high resolution (1 km², between the surface and 100 m depth),
• To contribute to the mapping and probabilistic interpretation of physical and biogeochemical observations in the ocean.
  

Better understanding of physical and biogeochemical processes in surface environments (water/snow/ice, ocean, soils, atmosphere) and at their interfaces

Climate change and human activities are rapidly modifying the balance and functioning of the Earth’s
The evolution of the climate and human activities are rapidly modifying the equilibrium and functioning of the Earth’s surface envelopes (soil and cryosphere, ocean, atmosphere) which, in turn, affect the climate system and the equilibrium of the planet, and the phenomena that generate risks. Physical, chemical and biological processes govern morphodynamic equilibrium and the major cycles (heat, water, C, N, P). They play a major role at the interfaces (critical zone, ocean/ice, for example) in the transport, storage, and transformation of energy, biogenic elements, contaminants, and sediments, and ultimately, in the quality of environments from urbanized regions to the most remote areas of the planet.

• Tracking and reconstructing the evolution of trace species (emerging contaminants, biogeochemical tracers) in rich and complex environments (soils, estuaries) and/or highly diluted environments (water, air, ice),
• To take up technological and analytical challenges (development of hyperspectral cameras, underwater probes, spatialized measurements by drone or rover, low-cost sensors) and to model transfers at interfaces,
• To understand the evolution of the different components of the water-energy-agriculture nexus in West Africa,
  Understanding the evolution of the different components of the water-energy-agriculture nexus in West Africa, -* Better understanding of coastal glacier dynamics at ocean/ice interfaces (through underwater measurements and modeling).
  

To refine our capacities for pre-operational forecasting, projection of climate change and the effects of anthropization and their risks for societies

We need to push back the limits of our predictive capacities of the evolutions of external environments by better quantifying their associated uncertainties, in particular on key issues for societies (e.g. in meteorology, oceanography, glaciology and hydrological extremes). This concerns the pre-operational forecasting of short and medium term evolutions (from week to season), and the long-term projection of
long-term projection of climate change (interannual, decadal and multi-centennial).
The increasing climatic and anthropogenic forcing induce effects that go beyond the disruption of the major cycles since they alter the quality of the ecosystem services of our planet (air, water, soils for example). Effects on health and consequences on societies are expected and we must develop cross-cutting approaches to refine our ability to anticipate and assess the risks to populations in an integrated manner.

• Contribute to the implementation of the first air quality prediction model integrating a health impact metric (oxidative potential),
• Predicting the evolution of water resources in sub-Saharan Africa under different scenarios,
• Anticipate the loss of mass of the continental cryosphere (ice caps and glaciers) and its impact on sea level, water resources and risks of glacial origin,
• Designing adaptation strategies in the face of climate change and hydroclimatic risks in particular and implementing human impact models,
• Building the foundations of high-resolution ensemble ocean forecasting systems

Research areas

The richness of the IGE is expressed by the diversity of the geographical areas studied : our major geographical priority areas correspond to "work sites" where the issues at stake require the implementation of perennial or punctual observations over time, in order to observe, understand and model systems related to global changes, their interfaces and their interactions. Our main research areas are the alpine and polar zones, the global ocean and the intertropical zones. For the latter, the aim is to address scientific issues related to sustainable development and to include them in the geostrategic priorities defined by the IRD.
Each year, the laboratory staff carries out missions of several weeks to several months in the polar regions (thanks to the support of IPEV) and regularly participates in field campaigns in conjunction with partner organizations. In addition, a dozen members of the laboratory are on long-term assignments, or carry out with the support of the IRD long missions in West Africa (Benin, Ivory Coast), South America (Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador) and Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Nepal), in the framework of projects developed with Southern countries.