Digital map of the landscape

Where in the Meuse-Rhine Euroregio can and may the Einstein Telescope be built? Landscape architect Mike Tomassen from HeusschenCopier Landschapskracht mapped the existing uses and policies of the landscape in the Einstein Telescope search area.

Tell us a bit about yourself?

“All my life I have been fascinated by the space around us, the landscapes in which we live and the planology of how and why they are structured that way. That’s why my Finnish partner and I also moved to South Limburg. The landscape here is unique, we go out into the countryside a great deal. Partly due to my work on the Bocage Without Borders Landscape Park and on the Einstein Telescope, I now know all about that. But the living environments and cultures that come together here are also attractive.”

What did you do for the Einstein Telescope?

“With HeusschenCopier Landschapskracht we created a digital map of all above-ground area zoning in the search area. All that information comes together in GIS, a geographic information system. In brief, this is a digital map of the area containing all spatial information. If you click on a piece of land, you will see, for example, the corresponding function and regulations. You can see immediately whether it is a water catchment area, a river floodplain, a Natura 2000 site or cultural heritage. And that for the entire border region of Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.”

How did the mapping process go?

“That was quite a challenge because you can’t just get all the information from the Internet. So we started talking to all kinds of public authorities in the three countries, from the Stadt Aachen or the German-speaking community in Wallonia to the Dutch Province of Limburg and other parties. We also remain in constant dialogue with them to keep our model up to date.”

“In addition, you do of course encounter other challenges. For example, the Netherlands measures heights relative to the Amsterdam Ordnance Datum (NAP), Belgium uses the Second General Water Benchmark (TAW). This is 2.33 metres lower, which when merging the altitude maps presented another challenge to the colleague from TNO.”

How can you use your map?

“Finding the right site for the Einstein Telescope is as much a question about above-ground (landscape) characteristics and regulations as it is about underground geology. You can really do a lot with it – analyse, compare regulations, take stock and obtain an overview. Geologist Geert-Jan Vis also keeps his underground measurement data in a GIS model, so we can combine them. This is how we map all the characteristics of the search area.”

“Finding the right site for the Einstein Telescope is as much a question about the landscape above-ground as it is about underground geology.”

Mike Tomassen

Can you give an example?

“Our inventory enables us to know what rules from different countries apply to each piece of land. Some stop at the border, others are cross-border. Take this slope at Camerig for example: this is a Natura2000 area, part of the Netherlands Nature Network and a protected village scape. Our inventory shows which habitat types to consider. That tells you what possible restrictions exist if you want to undertake something here. But you also have to consider plans for wind farms in the border area, which can cause underground noise: what is the status of that and where are wind farms being sought for expansion?”

And, is there still room for the Einstein Telescope?

“There are many nature areas in this border region, that’s for sure! But of course that is also why it is so interesting for the Einstein Telescope, it is very calm. We have now completed the first inventory, it should be further detailed in the future by other above-ground studies. Then we will know in which areas we cannot or can hardly work, and where there are opportunities or chances. We can already advise soil investigators, what they may need to consider when drilling.”

Finally, what is your wish for the Einstein Telescope?

“My personal wish is that with the Einstein Telescope above ground, we will be as advanced and innovative as the geological studies and measurement equipment that is coming underground. In this way, we can, for instance, actually focus on the cohesion between surface and subsurface that is still present in this landscape and makes it so unique. If we can pull this off then I am really convinced that the Einstein Telescope can also add value to our living environment.”