Hydrological Modelling of Water and Solute Transport in the Interacting Vadose Zone-Saturated Zone

A prerequisite for sustainable and integrated catchment management is the numerically sound description of the interacting vadose – groundwater zones. The development of reliable predictive models in this domain is essential for addressing the important questions related to climate change, changes in land use and management policies in a considered catchment. To tackle this challenging issue, we will combine the expertise of all collaborators to set up tailored models for the stochastic simulation of the mutually dependent and highly non-linear water flow processes. The results of these simulations (i.e. future transient states as a result of the impacts of changes in land use, farming practice, or climate factors) are a reliable input for risk assessment tools for long-term planning and management decisions. Thus, the project is a valuable contribution towards achieving the objectives addressed by the EU’s 7th research framework programme.

Duration:            2007-2008
Financed by:       BMBF

Cooperation

• Lincoln Ventures Ltd – Hamilton (New Zealand)
• Institute of Groundwater Management (TU Dresden)

Project team

Prof. Gerd H. Schmitz, Dr. Niels Schütze