Hydrological Processes

Dr. Luisa Hopp

The focus of this research topic are runoff generating processes at the hillslope and small watershed scale, in natural as well as engineered systems (e.g. at former mining sites).

We try to answer questions like: Where does water go when it rains? How long does it take infiltrating precipitation to reach the stream? Which flowpaths in the subsurface does water take?

Measurements of precipitation, soil moisture, groundwater dynamics and stream runoff allow us to explore how water moves through a landscape.

The application of tracers, such as geochemical tracers, stable isotopes of water and temperature, helps us to better understand the mixing of water in the subsurface, the sources of stream water and the mean residence time of water in a hydrological system. These experimental approaches are combined with hydrological modeling (HYDRUS-2D/3D) to gain a better understanding of the factors controlling runoff generation and to be able to link physical processes to biogeochemical function.