Which salt formations are suitable for storing hydrogen or compressed air? In the InSpEE-DS research project, scientists developed requirements and criteria for the assessment of suitable sites even if their exploration is still at an early stage and there is little knowledge of the salinaries’ structures. Scientists at DEEP.KBB GmbH in Hanover, worked together with their project partners at BGR and the Leibniz University Hanover, Institute for Geotechnics, to develop the planning basis for the site selection and for the construction of storage caverns in flat layered salt and multiple or double saliniferous formations. Such caverns could store renewable energy in the form of hydrogen or compressed air. While the previous project InSpEE was limited to salt formations of great thickness in Northern Germany, salt horizons of different ages have now been examined all over Germany. To estimate the potential, depth contour maps of the top and the base as well as thickness maps of the respective stratigraphic units were developed. Due to the present INSPIRE geological data model, it was necessary, in contrast to the original dataset, to classify the boundary lines of the potential storage areas in the Zechstein base and thickness layers, whereby the classification of these lines was taken from the top Zechstein layer. Consequently, the boundary element Depth criterion 2000 m (Teufe-Kriterium 2000 m) corresponds on each level to the 2000 m depth of Top Zechstein. However, the boundary of national borders and the boundary of the data basis could not be implemented in the data model and are therefore not included in the dataset. Information on compressed air and hydrogen storage potential is given for the identified areas and for the individual federal states. According to the Data Specification on Geology (D2.8.II.4_v3.0) the content of InSpEE-DS (INSPIRE) is stored in 18 INSPIRE-compliant GML files: InSpEE_DS_GeologicUnit_Isopachs_Zechstein.gml contains the Zechstein isopachs. InSpEE_DS_GeologicUnit_Isobaths_Top_Zechstein.gml and InSpEE_DS_GeologicUnit_Isobaths_Basis_Zechstein.gml contain the isobaths of the top and basis of Zechstein. The three files InSpEE_DS_GeologicStructure_ThicknessMap_Zechstein, InSpEE_DS_GeologicStructure_Top_Zechstein and InSpEE_DS_GeologicStructure_Basis_Zechstein represent the faults of the Zechstein body as well as at the top and at the basis of the Zechstein body. InSpEE_DS_GeologicUnit_Boundary_element_Potential_areas_Zechstein.gml contains the boundary elments of the potential areas at the top and the basis of Zechstein as well as of the Zechstein body. The three files InSpEE_DS_GeologicUnit_Uncertainty_areas_ThicknessMap_Zechstein.gml, InSpEE_DS_GeologicUnit_Uncertainty_areas_Top_Zechstein.gml, InSpEE_DS_GeologicUnit_Uncertainty_areas_Basis_Zechstein.gml represent the uncertainty areas of the Zechstein body as well as at the top and at the basis of the Zechstein body. InSpEE_DS_GeologicUnit_Potentially_usable_storage_areas_Storage_potential_in_the_federal_states.gml comprises the areas with storage potential for renewable energy in the form of hydrogen and compressed air. The six files InSpEE_DS_GeologicUnit_Salt_distribution_in_Germany_Malm.gml, InSpEE_DS_GeologicUnit_Salt_distribution_in_Germany_Keuper.gml, InSpEE_DS_GeologicUnit_Salt_distribution_in_Germany_Muschelkalk.gml, InSpEE_DS_GeologicUnit_Salt_distribution_in_Germany_Roet.gml, InSpEE_DS_GeologicUnit_Salt_distribution_in_Germany_Zechstein.gml and InSpEE_DS_GeologicUnit_Salt_distribution_in_Germany_Rotliegend.gml represent the salt distribution of the respective stratigraphic unit. InSpEE_DS_GeologicUnit_General_salt_distribution.gml represents the general salt distribution in Germany. This geographic information is product of a BMWi-funded research project "InSpEE-DS" running from the year 2015 to 2019. The acronym stands for "Information system salt: planning basis, selection criteria and estimation of the potential for the construction of salt caverns for the storage of renewable energies (hydrogen and compressed air) - double saline and flat salt layers".

The WMS Nicht-konventionelle KW (INSPIRE) presents the results of the NiKo project according to data specifications Energy Resources (D2.8.III.20) und Geology (D2.8.II.4_v3.0). NiKo stands for „unconventional hydrocarbons“, „Nicht-konventionelle Kohlenwasserstoffe“ in German. In the NiKo project the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) has investigated the potential resources for shale oil and shale gas in Germany. The study was published in 2016 as a report titled „Schieferöl und Schiefergas in Deutschland – Ressourcen und Umweltaspekte“ (available in German only). The colloquial terms shale oil and shale gas refer to oil and natural gas resources in sedimentary shale rock formations, with high organic matter content. In the study, seven formations were identified to have a shale oil and/or gas potential in Germany and their distribution has been mapped in small scale. For each of the formations the organic-rich facies distribution is provided as layer and, if appropriate, the regional potential resource distribution: Fischschiefer (Oligocene), Blättertone (Barremium - Lower-Aptian), Wealden (Berriasium), Posidonienschiefer (Lower-Toarcium), Middel-Rhaetium (Oberkeuper), Permokarbon (Stefanium - Rotliegend) und Lower Carboniferous (Upper Alaunschiefer (Kulm-Facies) + Kohlenkalk-Facies). According to the overview maps in the report the following layers are provided, omitting however the sub-category “possible potential regions”. Bituminous facies distribution (0-5000 m depth) – data specification Geology: GE.GeologicUnit.Fischschiefer_distribution, GE.GeologicUnit.Blaettertone_distribution, GE.GeologicUnit.Wealden_distribution, GE.GeologicUnit.Posidonienschiefer_distribution, GE.GeologicUnit.Mittelrhaetium_black_shale_thicker_20m_distribution, GE.GeologicUnit.Permokarbon_black_shale_distribution, GE.GeologicUnit.Unterkarbon_Hangende_Alaunschiefer_distribution und GE.GeologicUnit.Unterkarbon_Kohlenkalk Facies layers are coloured according to the corresponding oldest formation age (olderNamedAge). Distribution shale oil and shale gas – potential resources (1000 - 5000 m depth) – data specification Energy Resources: ER.FossilFuelRessource.Blaettertone, ER.FossilFuelRessource.Wealden, ER.FossilFuelRessource.Posidonienschiefer, ER.FossilFuelRessource.Mittelrhaetschiefer, ER.FossilFuelRessource.Permokarbon und ER.FossilFuelRessource.Unterkarbon The shale oil and shale gas distribution layers are not coloured according to INSPIRE guidelines, but rather as common international practice in green and red, respectively. The distribution maps of the potential resources for shale oil and gas are based on geoscientific criteria. Further non-geoscientific limiting criteria, e.g. exclusion areas, have not been taken into account for the assessment. These assessments are based on appraisements of input parameters naturally with large uncertainties for the potential resources and their distribution in the deep underground. Based on the incipient exploration status of unconventionals in Germany, these resources are considered as undiscovered. The assessed shale oil and gas resources for Germany, represent the order of magnitude of potential resources. Source: BGR 2016 - Schieferöl und Schieferöl in Deutschland in 2016: - Potenziale und Umweltaspekte https://www.bgr.bund.de/DE/Themen/Energie/Downloads/Abschlussbericht_13MB_Schieferoelgaspotenzial_Deutschland_2016.html

The WMS GÜK250 (INSPIRE) represents the surface geology of Germany on a scale of 1:250,000. In general, the term “surface geology” refers to geologic formations up to a depth of two meters. However, particularly in the south of Germany, considerable deviations of this concept exist and thicknesses of a couple of hundred meters may be displayed. According to the Data Specification on Geology (D2.8.II.4_v3.0) the geological map provides INSPIRE-compliant data. The GÜK250 (INSPIRE) contains a base layer and an overlay layer which usually represents thin Quaternary deposits. The WMS GÜK250 (INSPIRE) contains correspondingly two layers for the geologic units (GE.GeologicUnit.BaseLayer and GE.GeologicUnit.OverlayLayer). Additionally the WMS comprises layers representing the faults (GE.GeologicFault), marginal position of the ice shield (GE. NaturalGeomorphologicFeature) and quartz veins (GE.GeologicUnit.QuartzVein). The layers are mostly displayed according to the INSPIRE portrayal rules. The geologic units are represented graphically by stratigraphy (GE.GeologicUnit.BaseLayer.AgeOfRocks and GE.GeologicUnit.OverlayLayer.AgeOfRocks, stored in group layer GE.AgeOfRocks) and lithology (GE.GeologicUnit.BaseLayer.Lithology and GE.GeologicUnit.OverlayLayer.Lithology, stored in group layer GE.Lithology). Because INSPIRE doesn’t provide portrayal rules for the genesis (event process und event environment), this display mode is not available compared to the original WMS GÜK250. In case of different geochronologic minimum and maximum ages, e.g. Pleistocene - Holocene, the portrayal is defined by the colour of the geochronologic minimum age (olderNamedAge). The portrayal of the lithology is defined by the rock or rock group representing the main part of the petrographic composition of the geologic unit. For the portrayal of different petrographic main components the corresponding colours are superimposed in a dot pattern. Analogous to the original WMS GÜK250 the petrographic content is represented graphically according to the generic terms of the main components, e.g. clastic sedimentary rock, pure carbonate sedimentary rock or metamorphic rock. In case of the geologic units the user obtains detailed information on the stratigraphy, lithology and genesis via the getFeatureInfo request.

The WMS of the map „Organic Matter Content of Top-Soils in Germany 1:1,000,000 (INSPIRE)“ highlights the results of a Germany-wide compilation of typical soil organic matter contents in top-soils differentiated according to groups of soil parent material, four climatic areas and the main land use. The evaluation is based on more than 9000 soil data profiles with information about Soil Organic Matter (SOM) from a period of about 20 years. The report 'The Organic Matter Content of Top-Soils in Germany', BGR Archive, No. 0127036 (in German) documents the methodology. To transform the organic matter content (of the original dataset HUMUS1000OB) into INSPIRE-relevant organic carbon content (CORG), we applied the van Bemmelen factor (1.724). According to the “Data Specification on Soil“ (D2.8.III.3_v3.0) and the “Guidelines for the use of Observations & Measurements and Sensor Web Enablement-related standards in INSPIRE“ (D2.9_v3.0) the map “Organic Matter Content of Top-Soils in Germany 1:1,000,000“ provides INSPIRE-compliant data. The data has been transformed into the following INSPIRE-Feature Types (Spatial Object Types): “SoilDerivedObject“, “OM_Observation“ and “OM_Process“.

The WMS KOR250 (INSPIRE) in the scale of 1:250,000 shows occurrences and deposits of mineral resources in Germany, which lie close to the Earth’s surface, i.e. can be mined in open-pits, quarries or near-surface mines. These mineral resources include industrial minerals, aggregates, peat, lignite, oil shales, and natural brines. The map is derived from the KOR250, the digital successor of the map series KOR200 „Map of Near-Surface Deposits of the Federal Republic of Germany 1:200,000”, which has been published since 1984. The KOR200 and KOR250 have been published by the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources together with the State Geological Surveys of the federal states on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. Primary purpose of the KOR250 is to display Germany’s potential of domestic raw materials in a comparable way. The explanations given in the printed booklets accompanying the KOR200 are not available in the digital KOR250. In the KOR250 besides the defined deposits and differently coloured areas of raw materials, "active mines" (= operations) at time of publication or "focal points of several active mines" are marked with one symbol each. These mines are not included in the KOR250 (INSPIRE) as often the headquarters of the mining company and not the mining site itself is displayed as well as in many regions the dataset is outdated. As the map sheets of the KOR200 have been generated over more than three decades the timeliness of data is extremely different. For more detail, the current large-scale raw material maps of the Federal State Geological Surveys should always be consulted. The point data displayed in KOR250 (INSPIRE) indicate very small, but worth mentioning prospects of certain raw materials. The WMS KOR250 (INSPIRE) contains the two layers MR.MineralOccurence.Commodity.Polygon (mineral resources as polygons) and MR.MineralOccurence.Commodity.Point (mineral resources as points). Via the getFeatureInfo request the user obtains additional information on the mineral resources. Notes: The colouring of the raw material occurrences in the KOR250 (INSPIRE) largely corresponds to the colouring of the original KOR250. In the INSPIRE Data Specification on Mineral Resources (D2.8.III.21) there are no portrayal rules for building raw materials and dimension stones, which constitute a large part of the raw material occurrences. It should be noted that according to the INSPIRE commodity code list, most magmatites and metamorphites were assigned to the two values "granite" and "basalt". From a geological point of view and with regard to its origin, this assignment is often misleading. For more information on the outcropping rock of a specific raw material occurrence, the German name from the original KOR250 was mapped to the attribute name of the class GeologicFeature. Link KOR200: https://www.bgr.bund.de/EN/Themen/Min_rohstoffe/Projekte/Rohstoffverfuegbarkeit_laufend_en/KOR_200_en.html

The WMS BSK1000 (INSPIRE) provides basic information on the spatial distribution of energy resources and mineral raw materials (‘stones and earth’, industrial minerals and ores) in Germany on a scale of 1:1,000,000. The BSK1000 is published by the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources in cooperation with the State Geological Surveys of Germany. According to the Data Specification on Mineral Resources (D2.8.III.21) the map provides INSPIRE-compliant data. The WMS BSK1000 (INSPIRE) contains five layers: MR.Mine displays important mines. MR.MineralOccurence.Commodity.Point.EnergyResourcesAndMineralRawMaterials displays small-scale energy resources and mineral raw materials as points. MR.MineralOccurence.Commodity.Polygon.DistributionOfSalt displays the distribution of salt. MR.MineralOccurrence.Commodity.Polygon.EnergyResources displays large-scale energy resources as polygons. MR.MineralOccurrence.Commodity.Polygon.MineralRawMaterials displays large-scale mineral raw materials as polygons. The user obtains detailed information on the mineral raw materials, energy resources and mines via the getFeatureInfo request. Notes regarding the portrayal: The colouring of the large- and small-scale energy resources and mineral raw materials as well as of the mines corresponds largely to the colouring of the KOR250 respectively KOR250 (INSPIRE). In addition, the gas and oil polygons are coloured in green and red according to common international practice. The black coal polygons are displayed in their original colour grey. Also the colours of the mine symbols correspond largely to the KOR250 respectively KOR250 (INSPIRE) colouring. Only the salt and potash mine symbols have their original colour. All mine symbols are BGR symbols. The distribution areas of the Triassic and Zechstein salt show the corresponding geochronological INSPIRE colours (see Data Specification on Geology D2.8.II.4_v3.0). The distribution area of salt diapirism is displayed in a BGR colour.

The WMS SuK-Nord (INSPIRE) shows the geological distribution of aggregates (sand and gravel) in Northern Germany, especially north of the southernmost maximum of the Scandinavian inland ice sheet (Saalian and Elsterian glaciation). According to the Data Specification on Mineral Resources (D2.8.III.21) and Geology (D2.8.II.4_v3.0) the map provides INSPIRE-compliant data. The WMS GK2000 Lagerstätten (INSPIRE) contains the following layers: MR.MineralOccurence.Commodity represents the distribution of sand and gravel. GE.GeomorphologicFeature shows the southernmost maximum of the Scandinavian inland ice sheet (Saalian and Elsterian glaciation).

The WMS GK2750 Geology (INSPIRE) represents the surface geology of Germany on a scale of 1:2,750,000. According to the Data Specification on Geology (D2.8.II.4_v3.0) the geological map provides INSPIRE-compliant data. The WMS GK2750 Geology (INSPIRE) contains layers of the geologic units (GE.GeologicUnit), faults (GE.GeologicFault) and marginal position of the ice shield and the impact crater Nördlinger Ries (GE. GeomorphologicFeature) displayed correspondingly to the INSPIRE portrayal rules. The geologic units are represented graphically by stratigraphy (GE.GeologicUnit.AgeOfRocks) and lithology (GE.GeologicUnit.Lithology). For different geochronologic minimum and maximum ages, e.g. Upper Devonian - Permian, the portrayal is defined by the colour of the geochronologic minimum age (olderNamedAge). In case of the geologic units the user obtains detailed information via the getFeatureInfo request on the lithology, stratigraphy (age) and genesis (event environment and event process).

Considering water as the primary resource necessary for social life, agriculture, industry, and wealth, the importance of groundwater investigation is clear. Apart from many other pollutants, this work focusses on geogenic uranium (U) and radium (Ra), which both stand for natural radionuclides (NORM) that need to be considered frame of groundwater exploration and monitoring programmes due to their specific mobility and chemo-/radiotoxicity. As investigation of U and – to a lesser extent - Ra is done by an increasing number of scientific working groups, the global dataset is improving continuously. In order to give a summarized overview on available and recent literature, scientific papers, reports, and governmental documents have been reviewed for U-238 mass concentrations and Ra-226 and Ra-228 activity concentrations and collected in tables and global maps. Further natural isotopes of U and Ra have been rarely subject of investigation. The collected data were evaluated and interpreted in frame of an associated scientific publication (see citation). From the available data it can be concluded that high geogenic U occur mainly under oxidizing conditions and carbonate rich groundwater, which might be seen as indicator for elevated U concentrations. Certain geological formations, as for example sedimentary, granitic, and volcanic host rocks, promote high U concentrations in groundwater. For geogenic Ra, the search for definite indications proved difficult, since less clear correlation is given for any observed factor. In a global perspective, the most promising evidence for elevated Ra are highly reducing redox conditions, as well as the occurrence of Fe/Mn mineral phases. Furthermore, barite represents a sink for Ra due to its ability to incorporate Ra isotopes. Dissolution of those mineral phases eventually results in co-dissolution of Ra, when Ra is found in host rocks of investigated aquifers, or downstream of such groundwater reservoirs. Furthermore, cation exchange might enhance Ra mobility process, especially in case of sedimentary aquifers with low sorption capacity and/or aquifers with high salinity. Given those chemical requirements for the occurrence of U and Ra, a negative correlation between mother and daughter nuclide can be established. When knowledge on present geological and geochemical constraints is available, elevated U and Ra concentrations might be predictable, as long as anthropogenic influence is excluded.

Web Map Service (WMS) of the BUEK1000. The first country wide soil map at a scale of 1:1,000,000 (BUEK1000) has been compiled on the basis of published soil maps of the former German Democratic Republic and the pre 1990 federal states of Germany. To do this, it was necessary to match the soil systems used in East and West Germany and to develop standardized descriptions of soil units. A relatively homogeneous map has resulted, which permits uniform assessment of the soils throughout Germany. The map shows 71 soil mapping units, described in the legend on the basis of the German and FAO soil systems. Each soil unit has been assigned a characteristic soil profile (Leitprofil) as an aid to map interpretation. For the first time the subdivision of the country into 12 soil regions has been represented on the map. This subdivision was coordinated with the state Geological Surveys. These soil regions will represent the highest hierarchic level of nation wide soil maps in future. The colours of soil units correspond to the standards of the 'Bodenkundliche Kartieranleitung' (KA 3; Guidelines for Soil Mapping). The various hues characterize differences in relief or soil humidity. The BUEK1000 was produced digitally. It is an important part of the spatial database integrated in the Soil Information System currently being established at the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (FISBo BGR). It can be used together with the characteristic soil profiles to derive thematic maps related to nation wide soil protection. The scale of the BUEK1000 makes it especially suitable for small scale evaluations at federal or EU level.