ICTA - Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals

The Institute of Environmental Science and Technology at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB) is a multidisciplinary centre that promotes academic research and postgraduate education on environmental sciences. It aims to improve our understanding of global environmental change, and the nature and causes of environmental problems. In addition, it studies policies, strategies and technologies to foster a transition to a sustainable economic and societal model.

The ICTA-UAB addresses major global environmental and sustainability challenges related to anthropogenic climate and global change. Researchers at ICTA-UAB undertake advanced research in specific areas of environmental science, divided into three general areas, namely “Earth and life sciences”, “Social environmental sciences” and “Technology, environment and society”.

About the Unit of Excellence María de Maeztu ICTA-UAB is the only research centre in environmental sciences to be identified as a Unit of Excellence by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO), the highest institutional recognition of scientific research in Spain.

Usage statistics Most popular
Latest additions:
2026-01-13
20:10
15 p, 9.8 MB Adapting urban areas to rising temperatures : Strategies to reduce heat and vulnerability in a warming world / Ventura, Sergi (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals) ; Miró, J. R. (Servei Meteorològic de Catalunya. Departament de Territori i Sostenibilitat) ; Camacho, David (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals) ; Casellas, Enric (Servei Meteorològic de Catalunya. Departament de Territori i Sostenibilitat) ; Segura Barrero, Ricard (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals) ; Martilli, Alberto (Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (Espanya)) ; Villalba, Gara (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament d'Enginyeria Química, Biològica i Ambiental)
The need for cities to prepare for the increasing frequency, persistence, and intensity of heat waves (HWs) makes modeling these events essential for evaluating the effectiveness of heat adaptation strategies. [...]
2026 - 10.1016/j.uclim.2025.102757
Urban climate, Vol. 65 (February 2026) , art. 102757  
2026-01-12
17:10
1 p, 253.2 KB Corrigendum to : "Electoral consequences of urban interventions : The case of superblocks, school streets, and bike lanes in Barcelona" / Fernández Núñez, Marta Beatriz (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) ; Orrego Oñate, Jaime Pablo (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) ; Triguero-Mas, Margarita (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya) ; Marquet Sardà, Oriol (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
The authors regret not having properly included the reference number for the funding acquired to do such article. We acknowledge the financial support for this article from the Generalitat de Catalunya FI-Joan Oró Programme (AGAUR, FI-1 00812, 2023) as well as, the European Research Council Starting Grant ATRAPA (GA101117700), ECOMOV project (TED2021-129280B-I00). [...]
2025 - 10.1016/j.cities.2025.106667
Cities (Amsterdam), November 2025, art. 106667  
2026-01-09
17:11
15 p, 1.6 MB Experienced climate change impacts help explain subjective well-being-Evidence from 14 nature-dependent communities / Reyes-García, Victoria (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals) ; Attoh, Emmanuel M. N. A. N. (International Water Management Institute) ; Barrington-Leigh, Christopher (McGill University) ; Benyei, Petra (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals) ; Calvet Mir, Laura (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals) ; Chakauya, Rumbidzayi (IKS and Resilience Insights. Bristol (Regne Unit)) ; Al Faisal, Abdullah (McGill University) ; Galbraith, Eric (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals) ; Glauser, Marcos (Iniciativa Amotocodie. Asunción (Paraguay)) ; Izquierdo, Andrea E. (Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (Argentina)) ; Junqueira, André B. (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals) ; Li, Xiaoyue (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals) ; López-Maldonado, Yolanda (Indigenous Science. Mérida (México)) ; Miñarro, Sara (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals) ; Porcher, Vincent (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals) ; Porcuna Ferrer, Anna (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals) ; Schlingmann, Anna (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals) ; Singh, Priyatma (The University of Fiji) ; Torrents-Ticó, Miquel (Children's Hospital, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland)
Climate change profoundly affects well-being in complex and interconnected ways. However, the relationship between climate change and well-being has been explored in only a handful of settings, most of which are industrialized. [...]
2025 - 10.1002/pan3.70230
People and Nature, December 2025  
2026-01-09
11:35
24 p, 5.0 MB Carbon leakage in production networks under asymmetric climate policies / Grugni, Elisa (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals) ; Savin, Ivan (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals) ; van den Bergh, Jeroen C. J. M. (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Climate policies are typically designed at the regional level. This generates differences in implicit carbon prices across countries that can alter the structure of trade patterns and undermine the effectiveness of environmental regulations through carbon leakage. [...]
2026 - 10.1016/j.jedc.2025.105241
Journal of economic dynamics & control, Vol. 183 (February 2026) , art. 105241  
2026-01-08
17:10
16 p, 6.1 MB Wet and dry seasons modulate coastal coccolithophore dynamics off South-western Nigeria (Gulf of Guinea) / Adekunbi, Falilu O. (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals) ; Grelaud, Michael (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals) ; Langer, Gerald (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals) ; Chukwu, Lucian O. (University of Lagos) ; Alvarez, Marta (Instituto Español de Oceanografía (A Coruña)) ; Odunuga, Shakirudeen (University of Lagos) ; Schulz, Kai G. (Southern Cross University (Australia)) ; Ziveri, Patrizia (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Biologia Animal, de Biologia Vegetal i d'Ecologia)
Coccolithophores are calcifying unicellular phytoplankton at the base oxf the marine food web, playing a key role in pelagic calcium carbonate production. While their sensitivity to environmental change is well established, their ecological importance in tropical coastal systems remains underexplored, particularly along the African coastline. [...]
2025 - 10.5194/bg-22-7865-2025
Biogeosciences, Vol. 22, Num. 23 (December 2025) , p. 7865-7880  
2026-01-08
20:28
20 p, 10.3 MB Impact of Submarine Groundwater Discharge on Microbial Communities in a Highly Anthropized Coastal Lagoon (Mar Menor, SE Spain) / Romano-Gude, Daniel (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Genètica i de Microbiologia) ; Dordal-Soriano, Júlia (Institut de Ciències del Mar) ; Rodriguez Puig, Julia (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals) ; Bravo, Andrea G. (Institut de Ciències del Mar) ; Alorda-Montiel, Irene (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Física) ; Alorda-Kleinglass, Aaron (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Física) ; Diego-Feliu, Marc (Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya) ; Romera Castillo, Cristina 1982- (Institut de Ciències del Mar) ; Mallenco-Fornies, Rebeca (Institut de Ciències del Mar) ; Gilabert, Javier (Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena) ; García Orellana, Jordi (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals) ; Rodellas, Valentí (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Física) ; Ruiz González, Clara (Institut de Ciències del Mar)
Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) supplies large quantities of nutrients and other terrestrial elements to coastal ecosystems, impacting marine biota and ecosystem functioning. Despite the relevance of prokaryotes for marine biogeochemistry, little is known about their responses to groundwater inputs. [...]
2025 - 10.1111/mec.70201
Molecular ecology, Vol. 34, Num. 24 (December 2025) , art. e70201  
2025-12-19
18:10
13 p, 6.4 MB Vulnerability to climate change, depopulation and the global food regime : An index-based approach for rural Spain / Villamayor Tomás, Sergio (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Ciència Política i de Dret Públic) ; Gaitan Cremaschi, Daniel (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals) ; Corbera, Esteve (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Geografia) ; Pierri-Daunt, Ana Beatriz (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals) ; Santos de Lima, Letícia (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Rural regions in Europe currently face multiple interacting stressors, including climate change, depopulation, and the deepening of a global a food regime. Research on the overlapping impact of these climate, demographic and socio-economic phenomena on rural livelihoods is mounting, yet efforts to identify larger-scale patterns at country level are still scarce. [...]
2025 - 10.1016/j.envsci.2025.104254
Environmental science & policy, Vol. 174 (December 2025) , art. 104254  
2025-12-18
18:10
37 p, 406.4 KB Particulate organic carbon export across the Antarctic Circumpolar Current at 10°E : Differences between north and south of the Antarctic Polar Front / Puigcorbé, Viena (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals) ; Roca Martí, Montserrat (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals) ; Masqué Barri, Pere (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Física) ; Benitez-Nelson, Claudia (University of South Carolina. Department of Earth & Ocean Sciences) ; Rutgers v. d. Loeff, Michiel (Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research. Alfred Wegener Institute) ; Laglera, Luis Miguel (Universitat de les Illes Balears. Departament de Química) ; Bracher, Astrid (University of Bremen. Institute of Environmental Physics) ; Cheah, Wee (Academia Sinica. Research Center for Environmental Changes) ; Strass, Volker H. (Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research. Alfred Wegener Institute) ; Hoppema, Mario (Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research. Alfred Wegener Institute) ; Santos-Echeandía, Juan (Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas - CSIC) ; Hunt, Brian P.V. (University of British Columbia. Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences) ; Pakhomov, Evgeny A. (University of British Columbia. Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences) ; Klaas, Christine (Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research. Alfred Wegener Institute)
The vertical distribution of 234Th was measured along the 10°E meridian between 44°S and 53°S in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) during the austral summer of 2012. The overarching goal of this work was to estimate particulate organic carbon (POC) export across three fronts: the Sub-Antarctic Front (SAF), the Antarctic Polar Front (APF) and the Southern Polar Front (SPF). [...]
2017 - 10.1016/j.dsr2.2016.05.016
Deep-Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, Vol. 138 (April 2017) , p. 86-101  
2025-12-18
14:10
17 p, 3.1 MB Distributions of total and size-fractionated particulate 210Po and 210Pb activities along the North Atlantic GEOTRACES GA01 transect : GEOVIDE cruise / Tang, Yi (City University of New York. Graduate Center) ; Castrillejo, Maxi (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals) ; Roca Martí, Montserrat (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Física) ; Masqué Barri, Pere (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals) ; Lemaitre, Nolwenn (ETH Zurich) ; Stewart, Gillian (City University of New York)
Vertical distributions of total and particulate polonium-210 (210Po) and lead-210 (210Pb) activities in the water column were measured at 11 stations in the North Atlantic during the GEOTRACES GA01 transect: GEOVIDE cruise in May-June 2014. [...]
2018 - 10.5194/bg-15-5437-2018
Biogeosciences, Vol. 15, Num. 17 (September 2018) , p. 5437-5453  
2025-12-18
19:10
45 p, 33.9 MB A methods assessment and recommendations for improving calculations and reducing uncertainties in the determination of 210Po and 210Pb activities in seawater / Rigaud, S. (University of Delaware) ; Puigcorbé, Viena (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals) ; Cámara Mor, Patricia (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals) ; Casacuberta, N. (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Física) ; Roca Martí, Montserrat (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals) ; García Orellana, Jordi (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals) ; Benitez-Nelson, Claudia (University of South Carolina. Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences) ; Masqué Barri, Pere (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals) ; Church, T. (University of Delaware)
In marine systems, 210Po and 210Pb disequilibria are being increasingly used to examine oceanic particle formation and export. Here, an updated assessment of current methods for determining 210Po and 210Pb activity in marine samples is provided and includes a complete description of the vast number of calculations and uncertainties associated with Po and Pb loss, decay, and ingrowth during sample processing. [...]
2013 - 10.4319/lom.2013.11.561
Limnology and Oceanography: Methods, Vol. 11, Num. 10 (October 2013) , p. 561-571  
Focus on:
The Barcelona Lab for Urban Environmental Justice and Sustainability (56)
Environmental and Climate Economics (ECE) (88)
Integrated Assessment: Sociology, Technology and the Environment (IASTE) (65)
Integrated Earth System Dynamics Laboratory (IESD) (27)
Observatori de la Tordera (15)
Sustainability and Environmental Protection (Sostenipra) (148)