FRIEND Project 5

CATCHMENT HYDROLOGICAL AND BIOGEOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
IN CHANGING ENVIRONMENT

The focus of the project is to bring together specialists, techniques and methods from a wide range of catchment studies in countries across Europe, and to combine more efficiently detailed experimental data and mathematical modeling techniques.

Objectives:
to build greater understanding and synthesis of the processes and mechanisms responsible for streamflow generation, variation in flow components and cycling of the main nutrients in different physiographic and climatic conditions. Combined effects of e.g. land use changes and atmospheric inputs on nutrient cycles are regarded important.

Approaches:
Participants are encouraged to carry out intensified field observations of internal catchment variables (saturated areas, soil moisture, groundwater), apply environmental or artificial tracer techniques, physically based catchment models, detect links between hydrology and biogeochemical cycles. Streamside wetlands, floodplains or riparian zones are the focal point in non-point source loading of nutrients to streams. Effort should be given to study processes in these environments.

Expert meetings, researcher exchange and visits in other institutes will be encouraged in order to co-ordinate the project and change experiences and ideas.

Participants:
Currently, scientists from the Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Germany, Netherlands and Slovakia actively participate in the work of group.

Project coordinator:

Laurent Pfister
Centre Recherche Public Gabriel Lippmann
Luxembourg
E-mail: pfister@lippmann.lu

Updated: 10.09.2008