The event opened with welcoming remarks and logistical coordination by Dr. Stelios Myriokefalitakis from NOA, the Principal Investigator of the project and an overview of the REINFORCE project, including its objectives, scientific scope, and key achievements, was presented. The scientific program continued with presentations addressing critical aspects of aerosol–climate interactions and Earth system modeling. In more details, Prof. Apostolos Voulgarakis, co-PI from the Technical University of Crete (TUC), presented recent developments in wildfire emission schemes within the EC-Earth Earth System Model, followed by Ms. Konstantina Paraskevopoulou from the TUC group, who discussed the impacts of wildfires on the global atmosphere through multi-year simulations using diverse emission datasets. Advances in organic aerosol modeling were presented by Dr. Stelios Kakavas from the Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH) from the group of Prof. Spyros Pandis, focusing on the coupling of a volatility-basis set (VBS) organic aerosol module into the EC-Earth Earth System Model (ESM). Further contributions included an overview of new bioaerosol emission schemes in EC-Earth by Prof. Maria Kanakidou, co-PI from the University of Crete (UoC), and a detailed analysis of aerosol impacts on radiative forcing and climate by Prof. Prodromos Zanis, co-PI from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH).
Additionally, Dr. Georgios Papangelis (NOA) presented the development of a downscaling framework for EC-Earth climate model outputs, followed by a discussion session on machine-learning applications developed during the REINFORCE project, presented by Mr. Orfeas Karathanasopoulos (NOA).
The session concluded with a focused discussion on the project risks, key deliverables, achieved milestones, and dissemination and exploitation activities, with contributions from the PIs of the host institute and the collaborating organizations. The event wrapped up with an open discussion for both in-person and remote participants, including Dr. Spyros Vasilakos, President of the BoD of NOA, on future research directions and collaboration opportunities, highlighting the scientific impact and long-term value of the REINFORCE project in advancing aerosol–climate interactions and Earth system modeling.
