World Water Day: Dresden hydrologist Niels Schütze receives an award for developing software that optimizes water use in agriculture

Water resource management is the crux of the National Water Strategy recently introduced by the federal government. There is a difficult task behind this: supplying enough water for people, industry, agriculture and forestry despite the shifts effected by climate change. Increasing aridity poses particular challenges to agriculture and forestry, as the need for water is growing at the same time.

Prof. Niels Schütze, computer scientist and Chair of Hydrology at TU Dresden, has developed open-source software that can be used to optimize the irrigation of agricultural areas in times of water scarcity. This helps to increase the harvest while restraining excessive use of the limited water available.

For developing the Deficit Irrigation Toolbox, Prof. Niels Schütze was honored with the Siegfried Dyck Award by the special sub-committee for hydrological science (FGHW) of the German Association for Water, Wastewater and Waste (DWA). The award is endowed with EUR 2,500.

The FGHW substantiated the award with the assertion that the toolbox is an important resource for conserving water and helps to guarantee food security.

“I am absolutely delighted by this honor and would like to use the prize money to improve tutorials, online documentation and the user friendliness of the toolbox, making it easier to use,” comments award-winner Niels Schütze.

The Siegfried Dyck Award

With the Siegfried Dyck Award, the FGHW honors outstanding work in research and teaching that makes a particular contribution to the development or application of practical methods and processes.

The FGHW dedicates its knowledge transfer award to Professor Siegfried Dyck for his work and in commemoration of his lifetime achievements. Dyck taught at TU Dresden from 1967 to 1991. He established the Dresden School of Hydrology, which has followed an interdisciplinary approach since its conception.

Contact:
Prof. Niels Schütze
Chair of Hydrology
TU Dresden
+49 351 463-36380