Section 4.4 | Hydrology

Flood 2013 in Saxony
Flood 2013 in Saxony (Foto: Astrid Krahn, GFZ Potsdam)
Flood in Saxony Anhalt- Fischbeck
Flood in Saxony Anhalt - Fischbeck (Foto: Jens Wolf)
Solar Cube
Solar Cube (Foto : Stephan Schröder, GFZ Potsdam)
Evening groundwater monitoring in the TERENO study area
Evening groundwater monitoring in the TERENO study area (Foto : Markus Morgner, GFZ Potsdam)
Mass Balance Measurement of the Pakhtor Glacier in Uzbekistan during an expedition.
Mass Balance Measurement of the Pakhtor Glacier in Uzbekistan during an expedition. (Foto : Abror Gafurov, GFZ Potsdam)
Installation of observation wells to identify subsurface stormflow in the black forest study area.
Installation of observation wells to identify subsurface stormflow in the black forest study area. (Foto : Theresa Blume, GFZ Potsdam)
[Translate to English:] Hillscape
Cloud-filled valley in the forefield of the Gries glacier at Klausenpass. (Foto: Anne Hartmann, GFZ Potsdam)
[Translate to English:] Hillscape
[Translate to English:] Hillscape (Foto: Theresa Blume, GFZ Potsdam)
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In many regions of the world, there is a lack of sufficient water in terms of quantity and quality to provide drinking water and meet other needs such as irrigation. At the same time, humans are massively changing the global water cycle, while climate change is also influencing it. The impact of these factors on the water cycle, particularly on hydrological extremes such as floods and droughts, remains unclear. Our research focusses on improving the quantification of the hydrological cycle and its changes in space and time. We also analyse hydrological extremes in order to derive recommendations for disaster management and climate adaptation.

A solid quantitative description of the global water cycle is still lacking today. The aim of our work is to understand the spatial distribution of water fluxes, water storage and residence times in catchment areas. We develop innovative methods for observing hydrological variables such as soil moisture and runoff, as well as models that allow for more precise quantification and more reliable prediction of these variables. 

Climate change and societal transformations are increasing the risk of hydrological extremes. We develop methods for quantifying risk and managing these natural hazards. We consider the entire process chain, from the meteorological causes to the processes in catchment areas and rivers to the effects of hydrological extremes. To this end, we develop simulation models to estimate occurrence probabilities, intensities, and impacts on people and their environment.

Research groups in our section

In the working groups, we focus on the following research areas.....

Name of the Working  Group: "Hydrological extremes"
Group Leader: Bruno Merz
Researchers involved: Heiko Apel, Li Han Viet Dung Nguyen  Sergiy Vorogushyn   Nivedita Sairam Heidi Kreibich  Julian Haas  Guan Xiaoxiang 
Projects of the Working Group:

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Name of the Working  Group: "Hydrogravimetry and large-scale hydrology"
Group Leader: Andreas Güntner
Researchers involved: Marvin Reich Mehedi Hasan  Julian Haas Daniel Rasche Abror Gafurov  Stephan Schröder  Heiko Thoss 

Projects of the Working Group:

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Name of the Working  Group: "Hochwasserrisiko und Klimaanpassung"
Group Leader: Heidi Kreibich
Researchers involved: Nivedita Sairam Thi Thu Trang Pham  Nadja Veigel  Philipp Bautz Yamile Mariel Salame Villafani  Ravikumar Guntu, Siqi Deng Zixin Hu Kristina Koronaci

Projects of the Working Group:

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Name of the Working  Group:"Landschaftshydrologie"
Group Leader: Theresa Blume
Researchers involved: Anne Hartmann Gijs Vis 

Projects of the Working Group:

FAQs

Highlights

2024

Sairam, Dr. Nivedita, 4.4: Deputy President of EGU „Division on Natural Hazards“, April 2024
Rafiezadeh Shahi, Dr. Kasra, 4.4: EGU Science Officer of the “Remote Sensing, AI, Data Science & Hazards Subdivision”, April 2024
Kreibich, PD Dr. Heidi, 4.4: IHP Volker prize medallist 2024, 2024 Volker medal, Florianopolis, Brazil, November 2024

2023

Agarwal, Ankit Dr., 4.4: Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award für 2023 der Abteilung Naturgefahren der EGU, April 2023
Agarwal, Ankit Dr., 4.4: Fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society (RMetS), Mai 2023
Kreibich, Heidi Dr. PD, 4.4: Präsidentin “International Commission on Human-Water Feedbacks (ICHWF)”, IAHS, Juli 2023
Kreibich, Heidi Dr. PD, 4.4: Präsidentin der EGU „Division on Natural Hazards“ für die Amtszeit 2025 – 2027 wiedergewählt, Dezember 2023
Merz, Bruno Prof. Dr., 4.4: WRR Editors’ Choice Award 2022 for paper: Merz, B., Basso, S., Fischer, S.  Lun, D., Bloeschl, G., Merz, R. Guse, B., Viglione, A., Vorogushyn, S., Macdonald, E., Wietzke, L., Schumann, A.: Understanding Heavy Tails of Flood Peak Distributions. Water Resources Research, 58, e2021WR030506. doi.org/10.1029/2021WR030506; Dezember 2023  

2022

Merz, Prof. Dr. Bruno, 4.4: Article features as an Editor's Highlight on Eos:https://eos.org/editor-highlights/nine-reasons-why-extreme-floods-may-be-worse-than-expected. August 2022
Merz, B., Basso, S., Fischer, S., Lun, D., Blöschl, G., Merz, R., et al. (2022). Understanding heavy tails of flood peak distributions. Water Resources Research, 58, e2021WR030506. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021WR030506.
Guse, PD Dr. Björn, 4.4: Chair of the Catchment Hydrology  subdivision HS2 of EGU, January 2022
Ganguli, Poulomi Dr., 4.4: “IGSTC Women Involvement in Science and Engineering Research (WISER)” for project “CRA Floods: Compound Risk Assessment of heat-stress induced pluvial floods” (https://www.igstc.org/home/wiser); October 2022

2021

Güntner, Prof. Dr. Andreas, 4.4: Selected as the featured article in Volume 65, Issue 13: Kenea, T. T., Kusche, J., Kebede, S., Güntner, A. (2020): Forecasting terrestrial water storage for drought management in Ethiopia. - Hydrological Sciences Journal - Journal des Sciences Hydrologiques, 65, 13, 2210-2223, September 2021
Kreibich, PD Dr. Heidi, 4.4: Chair of Panta Rhei, an initiative of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences for the biennium of 2021-2023, Juni 2021
Kreibich, PD Dr. Heidi, 4.4: President EGU Division Natural Hazards, Dezember 2021
Merz, Prof. Dr. Bruno, 4.4: NPG Paper of the Month - Banerjee, A., Goswami, B., Hirata, Y., Eroglu, D., Merz, B., Kurths, J., Marwan, N. (2021): Recurrence analysis of extreme event-like data. - Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics, 28, 2, 213-229.

2020

Blume, Dr. Theresa, 4.4: Chief Executive Editor von HESS (Hydrology and Earth System Sciences), 2020
Guse, Dr. Björn, 4.4: Editor of Journal “Hydrological Processes”, 2020 
Merz, Prof. Bruno, 4.4: IAHS-UNESCO-WMO International Hydrology Prize - Volker medal 2020 
Merz, Prof. Bruno und Digital Earth 4.4: Auszeichnung des Projektes “Digital Earth“ mit dem Sonderpreis „Digital Science Award“ beim Digital Leader Award, 10.09.2020 
Sairam, Nivedita, 4.4: 2. Platz - Allianz Climate Risk Research Award, 28. October 2020

Internship

Workshop :
Indo-German Workshop ‘Unconventional Perspectives on Flood Risk: Opportunities and Motivating Narratives’

Date :
5-7 May 2025

Venue :
GFZ, Telegrafenberg, House H, 14473 Potsdam

Program : coming soon

 

All GFZ job offers
Possible doctoral and master's theses as well as all student internships offered at the GFZ can also be found under the link above.

The opportunities specifically offered in our section are listed separately below:

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