Research objectives: Development of concepts, methods and models to deepen understanding of the functioning of aquatic ecosystems, of hydrological processes and of their interplay in delivering ecological services and goods. Incorporation of these findings into new or improved water management strategies.
Ecology
Present research on the stability and resilience of ecosystems has a high profile and remains an important line of research. Theoretical analyses and studies developing new mathematical theories will be complemented by experimental testing of hypotheses in laboratories.
The development of remote sensing techniques and GIS systems to quantify ecological effects in water systems (cooperation with CGI) will be introduced as a new line of research.
Hydrological modelling and data assimilation
Research in this theme can be distinguished in three areas: process research, research developing and applying models for problems of policy and management, and the development of integrated models.
Process research focuses on flow- and transport phenomena of water and solutes in the unsaturated zone including the interaction with ground-and surface water and on catchment-scale hydrological models for water, sediment and solute transport. Advanced observation methods and data-assimilation procedures to establish hydrological parameters and fluxes at a range of spatial and temporal scales are developed, validated and implemented.
The second area includes the hydrological synthesis on scales ranging from field plots to catchments with special attention to land use, urbanization, spatial planning and hydrological extremes (droughts and floods). The coupling of hydrological and socio-economic models and the development of decision support systems are studied for the optimization of integrated land- and water management.
In the third area, mathematical concepts and models are investigated to analyze and predict the development of ecological parameters on local and regional scales as function of abiotic factors. Models for the unsaturated zone are extended to predict and analyze exchange processes of (greenhouse) gasses at the land-atmosphere boundary. In a new, ambitious research program, the development of an operational system for short- and mid term prediction of water availability in the context of weather- and climate variability will be set up. This program will entail the coupling of information on land use and basin characteristics (GIS), remote sensing data, hydrological models and numerical models for weather prediction (NWP, operational at the ECMWF) with the addition of regional and global models for the prediction of weather to extend the prediction-horizon.
Biodiversity, ecosystems and ecosystem services
Research will be conducted to develop the function analysis into a more generic method for ecosystem services incorporating different valuation and monetization techniques. The new methodology is to be incorporated in a decision support system to facilitate the identification and quantification of trade-offs and synergies and the formulation of appropriate responses.