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New scientific officer part of ICWRGC

Robert Reinecke joined the ICWRGC team on 01.01.2020. As Research Scientist, he represents the scientific tasks of Dr. Marianela Fader during her parental leave.

Robert was awarded a bachelor and a master degree in computer science by the Technische Universität Darmstadt. At the end of 2019, he completed his thesis with the distinction “Summa Cum Laude” in geography at the Universität Frankfurt. He specialized in the topics global groundwater, modelling and sensitivity analysis. His PhD was funded by a scholarship from Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. An essential outcome of Robert Reinecke’s thesis is the groundwater model G³M. Further information on the model is available at globalgroundwatermodel.org. Robert is currently working on the uncertainty analysis of global hydrological models, the impact of climate change on groundwater recharge and groundwater within the context of the SDGs.

Internship work: The Importance of Cooperation Between Transboundary River Countries

Internship work: The Importance of Cooperation Between Transboundary River Countries – 2019

This work was composed during an internship at the International Centre for Water Resources and Global Change (ICWRGC), during a span of 3 months, from May to August in 2019. Taking up the publication from Molnar, Kata, et al. (2017), this internship work focuses on cooperation between countries. It points out the importance of cooperation especially within transboundary river countries using the Nile and the Rhine River as examples where cooperation has developed over time.

Download (PDF, 2019, 14 S., 1MB)
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URSACHEN Project

Kickoff Meeting URSACHEN Project

On 02.12.2019, the Kickoff Meeting of the URSACHEN project took place at the ICWRGC. This collaborative project between the ICWRGC and the Federal Institute of Hydrology has a duration of 3 years and focuses on the spatial and temporal uncertainties in river load calculations.

The URSACHEN project specifically concentrates on the uncertainties in suspended sediment loads, chemical substances (e.g. heavy metals) and nutrients. Besides a case study in the Rhine river, the project will deal with the uncertainties in global load estimations, i.a. based on the data in the GEMStat database. The project team comprises 6 postdoctoral and doctoral students with expertise in sediment transport and water chemistry. Planned products include an analysis tool for the uncertainty estimation of loads in rivers and a “best practice” report.

Iran’s Regional UNESCO Centre on Urban Water Management (RCUWM) launched its 3rd phase

 

The 3rd period of RCUWM’s activities (2019 to 2024) was launched on the occasion of its 10th Governing Board (GB) meeting in Tehran, at the Iran International Conference Center on 5 December 2019. The GB consists of representatives at the state level, from 15 countries in the wider region: Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tajikistan and Turkey. Germany was invited in addition, to serve as a permanent GB member to support solutions for water problems. Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schultze nominated Harald Köthe, the director of the German UNESCO Category 2 Water Centre ICWRGC in Koblenz, to be the German representative. Several international organizations were also present and will contribute to the GB and RCUWM´s programme.

The broad and high level composition of the GB offers a big opportunity to promote and expand relations on transboundary water- related issues among the countries in the region. Climate change, water scarcity, severe drought trends and water quality are main drivers in all these countries. Led by the GB’s chairman, the Iranian Minister for Energy Dr. Ardakanian, the GB agreed on three main themes for long-term activities of the Centre (2019-2024): 1. Training and Capacity Development, 2. Joint Research and Technology Transfer, and 3. Networking and Information Sharing.

For the Centre’s medium-term programme (2019-2021), the following main themes were concluded: 1. Publishing Books and Producing Multimedia Presentations, 2.Joint Scientific Research on Water Issues in the Region, 3. Sharing Information and Technology Transfer, 4. Documenting Best Practices and Lessons Learned, 5. Conducting Training Courses and Technical Workshops and 6. Utilizing Information and Communication Technology. 11 projects were concluded within the scope of this programme.

Along with the GB meeting, a water and wastewater exhibition was held at the Iran International Conference Center, which was well received by the attendees of the GB meeting. The GB also met with H.E. Mr. Jahangiri, the Vice President of the Islamic Republic of Iran at Saadabad Palace, to discuss water-related issues and options for mutual cooperation.

The next GB meeting of RCUWM will be hosted by Tajikistan on 17 June 2020 in Dushanbe.

Foto 1: 10. VR-Sitzung im Iran International Conference Center, Teheran, 5.12.2019 (Quelle: RCUWM)

Photo 1: 10th GB meeting at the Iran International Conference Center, Tehran, 5th December 2019 (source: RCUWM)

Foto 2: ICWRGC-Direktor Harald Köthe gratulierte dem Direktor des RCUWM, Ali Chavosian, zu einem sehr gut organisierten und erfolgreichen Start der 3. Phase von RCUWM

Photo 2: ICWRGC director Harald Köthe congratulated RCUWM director Ali Chavosian for a very well organized and successful launch of the 3rd phase of RCUWM (soucre: RCUWM)

Uncertainty Quantification Framework for Nutrient Load Estimation

Bruno Bezerra Bluhm from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) stayed at the ICWRGC from 13 May – 12 November 2019 to write his master’s thesis on the topic “Uncertainty Quantification Framework for Nutrient Load Estimation”. He successfully defended his thesis at TUM on 5 December 2019.

Nutrient loads, such as phosphorus and nitrogen, are a key indicator of water quality monitoring, management and assessment, particularly regarding eutrophication. Although flow data is commonly available in continuous forms, monitoring programs often sample concentration following low-frequency policies, which hinders flux calculations. This consequently limits purposes of load estimations, since, in order for the metric to be used in evaluations, its uncertainty must be within an expected threshold. This Master’s thesis conceives an uncertainty quantification framework to be used by an existing load estimation algorithm from GEMStat. The framework calculates expected errors by matching a target station, i.e. scarce data, and a reference station, i.e. continuous data. Brazil, a major GEMStat partner, has been selected as a case study to define the target station baseline. By performing Monte Carlo Simulations and credibility-based assessments, the framework evaluates which estimation algorithm is most suitable and what are the expected levels of uncertainty, given in three forms: credible interval, relative absolute error, and classification (under or overestimation). Expanding the current database to include a greater range of reference stations is the main challenge to improve the framework’s usability in the future.

If you are interested in reading the entire pdf of the master thesis, you may contact Mr. Bluhm at:

Germany re-elected: four more years in the Council of UNESCO’s IHP Water Programme

The 40th General Conference of UNESCO from 12 – 27.11.2019 in Paris, passed decisive resolutions. The composition of the IHP Intergovernmental Council, among other things, has been newly resolved. The IHP was launched in 1974. Membership in the limited group of participants of the IHP Intergovernmental Council automatically ends after 4 years. This year, this was the case for Germany and a number of other states. Germany counts among Region 1 of the six UNESCO regions.

The re-election is an appreciation of Germany’s active role in the technical and political support of the IHP. The content of Phase 9 of IHP (IHP IX), with a term from 2022 to 2029, is just being prepared and agreed.

New UNESCO Chair “Human-Water-Systems“ at the University of Bonn

Prof. Dr. Mariele Evers from the Institute of Geography of the University of Bonn has received the UNESCO’s approval to establish the UNESCO Chair for “Human-Water-Systems“. Aside from the UNESCO Chair for Hydrological Change and Water Resources Management held by Prof. Dr. Heribert Nacken at RWTH Aachen University, it is the only UNESCO Chair in the field of hydrology in Germany. As Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of the IHP/HWRP National Committee, Prof. Dr. Evers is closely linked to the ICWRGC and familiar with its work. On the occasion of the participation of Prof. Dr. Evers and her students in a presentation organized by the ICWRGC, the teams of ICWRGC, GRDC and IKSR congratulated her on this outstanding award.

New scientific officer at the ICWRGC

Ms. Renee van Dongen joined the ICWRGC team as a scientific officer and project coordinator of the URSACHEN project on November 1st.. URSACHEN is a joint project of the Federal Institute of Hydrology and the ICWRGC.

Renee received both her Bachelor and Master degree from Wageningen University in the Netherlands. She specialized in the fields of soil science, geomorphology and hydrology. Renee’s Master thesis focuses on gully erosion in the Awach-Kano region in Kenya. Within the scope of her thesis, she worked closely together with the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF).

After obtaining her Master degree, Renee started her doctoral studies at the German Research Institute for Geosciences (GFZ) in Potsdam, Germany. Her PhD-project was part of a German-Chilean research initiative called “EarthShape”, an interdisciplinary project focusing on Earth Surface Shaping by Biota. In her PhD, Renee investigated the way in which vegetation and soils modulate catchment hydrology, and the effects on long-term river incision. The study areas were located on a climatic gradient in Chile.

Renee will be part of the ICWRGC team for the next three years. The URSACHEN project will focus on the spatial and temporal uncertainties in the monitoring of water quality and sediment transport parameters. Renee’s tasks include project coordination, applying the project results to the GEMStat database and developing a tool for the uncertainty calculation of GEMStat data.

Contribution to GEO Ministerial Summit

 

The world data centres for precipitation and discharge, together with GTN-H, contribute to the GEO Ministerial Summit.

Ministers from GEO’s 105 member governments, business leaders, heads of international non-profit organisations and passionate experts will meet in Canberra, Australia for GEO Week 2019 and the GEO Ministerial Summit, 4-9 November.

Moreover, the United Nations Science-Policy-Business Forum on the Environment will convene organisations from across sectors in Australia on the topic of Big Data and Frontier Technologies.

Jointly with the Global Precipitation Climatology Centre (GPCC) and the Global Runoff Data Centre (GRDC), the Global Terrestrial Network for Hydrology (GTN-H) shows some examples of innovative integrated data products, such as observations of the global freshwater fluxes into the oceans. The e-poster is located at the German booth, in the zone of the European Commission.

www.earthobservations.orgMapping the future: UN-SPBF to hold high-level meetings at GEO Week 2019The Global Runoff Data CentreGlobal Precipitation Climatology Centre (GPCC)The Global Terrestrial Network – Hydrology (GTN-H)

2nd Meeting of the World Water Quality Alliance

 

Ispra, Italy, 16-19 September 2019

Organised by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission, the 2nd Global Workshop of the World Water Quality Alliance (WWQA) was held in Ispra, Italy between 16-19 September 2019.

Aim of the alliance is to provide governments and other stakeholders with relevant evidence-based assessments, scenarios, solutions and services on water quality issues. The meeting was attended by participants of more than 50 organisations to provide a mutual overview of their work as well as to set the future working focus of the Alliance.

At the meeting, the ICWRGC was represented by the team of the GEMS/Water Data Centre.

Vertreter von mehr als 50 Organisationen nahmen an dem Workshop der World Water Quality Alliance (WWQA) in Ispra teil.

Link to the official press release:

https://www.unenvironment.org/

Current news on the Alliance at Twitter:

https://twitter.com/UN_WWQA