MICE² is conducted in the city of Modena (Northern Italy), a unique urban laboratory where long-term atmospheric monitoring, ecological research and environmental modelling are combined within a relatively compact urban area.
The city provides an exceptional scientific infrastructure that allows the integration of field observations, experimental ecology and numerical modelling to investigate the relationship between microplastic pollution and ecosystem carbon exchange.
The study area covers the historical city centre and the surrounding urban districts monitored by the Eddy Covariance tower installed at the UNIMORE Geophysical Observatory.
Two key sites are central to the project.
🏛 UNIMORE Geophysical Observatory
Located in the historic Ducal Palace of Modena, the Geophysical Observatory hosts the Eddy Covariance tower used to continuously monitor the exchange of carbon dioxide between the city and the atmosphere.
The Observatory also provides high-quality meteorological observations and represents one of the longest-running environmental monitoring sites in Italy.
🌿 UNIMORE Botanical Garden
The UNIMORE Botanical Garden, located in Viale Caduti in Guerra 127, provides the experimental site where soil ecology, microplastic contamination and ecosystem respiration are investigated.
Here MICE² performs field experiments to evaluate how microplastics influence soil quality and biological processes under realistic environmental conditions.
