Welcome to the Chair of Hydrology and Water Resources Management
The Chair of Hydrology and Water Resources Management has been established in January 1997, by appointment of Prof. Paolo Burlando. He was joined by Prof. Peter Molnar as adjunct professor in 2013.
The Chair focuses on teaching and research activities in the field of surface water hydrology and water resources management. Key activities are the analysis and modelling of hydrological processes, their importance in catchments, and their interactions with human and environmental systems, with the aim of providing the basis for modern water resources assessment and sustainable planning and management. Read more
HYDROL Highlights
Soil heterotrophic respiration is a large unknown in the carbon budget of Earth and at the same time an important flux affecting CO2 in the atmosphere and the role of soil as a carbon sink or source. A recent new modelling perspective on soil heterotrophic respiration from our group by Dr Alon Nissan, an ETH Postdoctoral Fellow, quantifies the global changes in respiration that may be expected in a future climate. The research results were highlighted by external pageSWISSINFOcall_made and ETH News.
Nephelometry is a method to measure turbidity of water based on measuring a light reflection in water. Jessica Droujko of HYDROL is developing a new sensor based on this technique that is cheap, accurate, and can be deployed at many locations along river networks to understand the activation of sediment sources. Her first prototypes have been lab tested and are available for try-outs.
Mosisa defended his Doctoral Thesis Understanding the impacts of climate change on rainfed crop production in Ethiopia in the HYDROL group on 29.02.2024. Congratulations!
A new modelling perspective on soil heterotrophic respiration from our group by Dr Alon Nissan quantifies the changes in global respiration that may expected under a future climate, with dramatic consequences in the Arctic.
Renewable energies are not the main driver of biodiversity loss. It is rather the other way round: renewables can limit climate change in order to preserve biodiversity. Cyril Brunner contextualises the trade-offs from a scientific perspective.
ETH Zurich’s new BSS teaching and research building on the Schällemätteli life science campus in Basel will officially open its doors today. The building will host ETH researchers from the fields of experimental biology, bioinformatics, and bioengineering as they work together with outside partners on innovative medical solutions.
Medical students at ETH Zurich build a gripper hand for elbow exoskeletons in a crash course lasting just one week. This course has now been honoured with the 2024 Kite Award, the ETH prize for particularly innovative teaching.
Instead of burning coal or oil to produce cement or steel, in the future solar energy could be used for this purpose. Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a thermal trap that can absorb concentrated sunlight and deliver heat at over thousand degrees Celsius.