Welcome to the website of the Chair of Hydrology and River Basin Management (HFGM) at the Technical University of Munich (TUM)!
The mission of our Chair is the analysis of hydrological data and processes as well as the development of applied hydrological models for the sustainable management of water resources in Bavaria, Germany and worldwide.
Efforts in this direction have been made in the last 10 years through research in different areas, mainly focusing on hydrological extremes (floods and droughts), Integrated Water Resources Management, Alpine Hydrology, Urban Hydrology, mixing processes in groundwater systems, water quality, remote sensing and hydrological digitization.
Internationalization has become one of the strengths of our chair. Scientific collaborators from all over the world contribute to support our team here in Munich. This internationality provides us with useful experience, which we also use for the education of our environmental engineering students.
You can find more information about our chair, our research and our teaching on this website. You are cordially invited to browse our web pages. Visit us again soon!
MicroDrink project Kick-off meeting
The Department of Hydrogeology and Engineerging Geology of the Croatian Geological Survey (HGI-CGS) successfully convened the Kick-off meeting of the MicroDrink project as scheduled from March 6th - 8th, 2024, in Zagreb, Croatia. This meeting, marking the commencement of the project, saw active participation from all 11 partner institutions from 8 countries (Croatia, Austria, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Czechia, Hungary, Germany, Slovenia and Serbia).
Day 01 of the meeting commenced with a presentation by the Joint Secretary representative Mr. Gusztáv Csomor on the Danube Region Programme, highlighting the approval of the MicroDrink project. Subsequent lectures by representatives from The International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR), Adam Kovacs, and The EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR), Diána Heilmann, focused on the challenges of plastic pollution in the Danube River Basin and measures to address microplastics contamination, respectively. The lead partner, HGI-CGS, delivered an introductory project presentation outlining the project's objectives, timeline, financial aspects, and partner-specific matters. Additionally, each of the eleven project partner institution was introduced. Dedicated sessions facilitated discussions on Specific Objective 1 „Developing transnational knowledge base on microplastics in Danube region drinking water resources“ and Specific Objective 2 „Occurrence of microplastics in the water environment used for drinking water supply“.
Day 02 featured an excursion to the Croatian pilot area situated in Gorski kotar region (part of the Kupa River catchment area), providing participants with practical insights into the pilot action context related to sampling of microplastics within the waterwork facility.
On Day 03, representatives of project partners presented lectures on their respective pilot actions, furthering discussions on Specific Objective 2 and Specific Objective 3 „Capacity building for management of microplastics in drinking water facilities (from source to tap)“. The day concluded with a project communication session led by the Communication Manager the Faculty of Mining and Geology from the University of Beograd, focusing on visual identity, branding, and initial communication tasks.
The Kick-off meeting served as a platform for fruitful discussions, fostering collaboration among project partners and laying the groundwork for the successful implementation of the MicroDrink project.
Loccumer Tagung
Dienstag, 21. November 2023
Wasser – wie managen wir diese knappe Ressource? Den Landschaftswasserhaushalt nachhaltig bewirtschaften
Wasser ist auch in Deutschland keine allzeit und allerorten unbeschränkt verfügbare Ressource mehr.
Interview by Prof. Disse on Climate Change: Drought an increasing problem
Water is becoming scarcer, even more in north Bavaria, where it rains less than in the south. The Bavarian Ministry of the Environment secures the supply with long-distance pipelines.
More Info
Boston High School Students Explore Chair of Hydrology and River Basin Management, TUM
On Thursday, May 4th, the Chair of Hydrology and River Basin Management welcomed 11th-grade students from the German International School Boston, a bilingual high school in the US that also awards the German International Abitur. The visit was part of their tour of German universities, during which they learned more about the German higher education system, studied various programs in different fields, and gained insights into university life.
After a campus tour at TUM, the students met several members of the Chair of Hydrology. The visit began with the talk “What do Hydrologists Do?”, delivered by Dr. Mónica Basilio Hazas, who presented various aspects of hydrology: from laboratory experiments and field campaigns to global scale analyses. She considered not only engineering aspects but also social implications. Afterwards, Prof. Markus Disse, head of the chair, introduced some of the scientific projects in collaboration with doctoral candidates and postdoctoral researchers.
Following a lunch break, the students had the opportunity to attend a part of the lecture on Environmental Remediation Strategies, presented by Prof. Gabriele Chiogna. They then toured the facilities of our new soil laboratory.
Revitalizing Forests and Combating Climate Change: Tony Rinaudo's Inspiring Talk on Farmer-Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR)
On Monday, May 08, Tony Rinaudo, Principal Climate Action Advisor of World Vision Australia, Right Livelihood Award Laureate (2018) and Commandeur de Merite, Agricole, Rep. du Niger, gave a talk named “The Power of the Forest Underground” at our chair.
He presented the FMNR method (Farmer-managed natural regeneration) and the extraordinary success of this measure for water conservation and food security. FMNR is a low-cost, sustainable land restoration technique used to combat poverty and hunger amongst poor subsistence farmers in developing countries by increasing food and timber production, and resilience to climate extremes. It involves the systematic regeneration and management of trees and shrubs from tree stumps, roots and seeds. In his 17 years in Niger, Tony Rinaudo, discovered an embarrassingly simple and affordable method of regreening land by reviving damaged trees rather than planting new ones. It’s a technique that not only alleviates poverty and soaks up carbon, but also costs almost 36 times less than planting trees from scratch.
The chair of Hydrology plans to cooperate with Tony and the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) to extend the research and work on the Great Green Wall of Africa. Prof. Dr. Yang YU, a former PhD student of the chair, and Vice Director of Pan-African Great Green Wall Research Center, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography (CAS) has already shown his interest in a mutual collaboration.
Fieldtrip to the Adige River Basin in the italian alps!
Frau Basilio Hazas, Mónica
Impact of hydropeaking on groundwater mixing: from laboratory experiments to field scale observations
Datum: 06.03.2023
Vorsitzende*r:
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Markus Disse, CEE - Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering - L.f.Hydrologie u. Flussgebietsmanagement
Prüfer*innen:
1. PD Dr. rer. nat. habil. Gabriele Chiogna, CEE - Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering - L.f.Hydrologie u. Flussgebietsmanagement
2. Prof. Dr. Massimo Rolle, ZExtern - Technische Universität Darmstadt
3. PD Dr. rer. nat. habil. Arno Rein, CEE - Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering - L.f.Hydrogeologie
Frau Perosa, Francesca
Decision-Making Integrating Ecosystem Services for Floodplain Management in the Danube River Basin
Datum: 10.02.2023
Vorsitzende*r:
D Dr. rer. nat. habil. Gabriele Chiogna, CEE - Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering - L.f.Hydrologie u. Flussgebietsmanagement
Prüfer*innen:
1. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Markus Disse, CEE - Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering - L.f.Hydrologie u. Flussgebietsmanagement,
2. Dr.-Ing. Stephan Pauleit, Zweitmitglied CEE, Life Science Systems - L.f.Strategie u. Management d. Landsch.
DWA awards badge of honor
Eleven distinguished scientists honored
The German Association for Water, Wastewater and Waste (DWA) is honoring eleven water management experts this year: Dipl.-Ing. Gert Bamler (Dresden), Dipl.-Ing. Jürgen Bolder (Freiburg im Breisgau), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Markus Disse (Munich), Dr. sc. agr. Hartwig Drechsler (Göttingen), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Bernhard Falter (Münster), Dipl.-Ing. Ulrich Fitzthum (Nuremberg), Wastewater Master Albrecht Hamm (Bönnigheim), Dipl.-Ing. Andreas Jessen (Bamberg), Dr.-Ing. Martin Keding (Rheinbach), Dipl.-Ing. Dipl.-Wirtsch.-Ing. Marq Redeker (Düsseldorf), Wastewater Master Josef Uhl (Pleinfeld) will be awarded the honorary pin. The awards will be presented on September 27, 2022, during the General Meeting in Berlin. The honorary pins will be presented on various occasions. "DWA thrives on the honorary commitment of its members and those active in water management in practice and science. The fundamental importance of water management is demonstrated by the catastrophic events of last year's summer with floods and the summer of 2022 with drought and water shortages as a result of climate change," emphasizes DWA President Prof. Dr. Uli Paetzel. With the honorary pin, the association honors members who have promoted the DWA through intensive activity. Those to be honored were selected by the DWA Honorary Commission chaired by DWA Vice President Dr.-Ing. habil. Uwe Müller (Dresden).
Markus Disse, holder of the Chair of Hydrology and River Basin Management at the Technical University of Munich, is co-founder of the Fachgemeinschaft Hydrologische Wissenschaften in der DWA (FgHW), twice organized the Hydrology Day with several hundred participants each time, was editor of the Hydrobrief of the aforementioned professional association for more than eight years, and is the originator of the Siegfried Dyck Award, the knowledge transfer award of the FgHW, which honors outstanding work in research and teaching that demonstrably makes a special contribution to the further development or application of hydrological methods and procedures in practice. In addition, Markus Disse is involved in many ways in the technical committees of the DWA, for example, he was chairman of the main committee on hydrology and water management and was a member of the board of the DWA for many years in this function and as chairman of the FgHW.
Teilnahme des Lehrstuhls für Hydrologie am 36. DNT 2022 Deutschen Naturschutzring im Hamburg
FORUM II - Landnutzung und Biodiversität: Wasserhaushalt: zwischen Dürre und Hochwasser
Current doctorate graduations at our chair
Several doctoral projects have been successfully completed in recent weeks and we are pleased to once again congratulate the doctoral students on their achievements and competition for the doctoral degree:
Mr. Lin, Qing
Multistep Flood Inundation Forecast with Artificial Neural Network
Date: 10.10.2022
Chairman:
PD Dr. rer. nat. habil. Gabriele Chiogna, CEE - Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering - L.f.Hydrologie u. Flussgebietsmanagement
Examinators:
1. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Markus Disse, CEE - Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering - L.f.Hydrologie u. Flussgebietsmanagement
2. Univ.-Prof. Dr. phil. Jorge Leandro, ZExtern - Universität Siegen
Mr. Arias Rodriguez, Leonardo Francisco
Monitoring Water Quality of Inland Waters by Remote Sensing and Machine Learning: From Local to Global Applications
Date: 06.10.2022
Chairman:
PD Dr. rer. nat. habil. Gabriele Chiogna, CEE - Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering - L.f.Hydrologie u. Flussgebietsmanagement
Examinators:
1. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Markus Disse, CEE - Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering - L.f.Hydrologie u. Flussgebietsmanagement
2. Assoc. Prof. Zheng Duan, ZExtern - Lund University
3. Apl. Prof. Dr. rer. nat. habil. Brigitte Helmreich, CEE - Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering - L.f.Siedlungswasserwirtschaft
Mr. Adla, Soham
Low-cost soil moisture measurement and parsimonious crop modeling to assist agricultural water management
Date: 04.10.2022
Chairman:
Prof. Dr. phil. Nils Rüther, CEE - Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering - L.f.Hydraulic Engineering
Examinators:
1. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Markus Disse, CEE - Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering - L.f.Hydrologie u. Flussgebietsmanagement
2. PD Dr. rer. nat. habil. Gabriele Chiogna, CEE - Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering - L.f.Hydrologie u. Flussgebietsmanagement
3. Ass.-Prof. Saket Pande, ZExtern - Technische Universität Delft, Niederlanden
Mr. Ismail, Muhammad Fraz
Snow and glacier melt runoff forecasting under current and climate change scenarios and improved degree-day factor estimation
Date: 22.09.2022
Chairman:
PD Dr. rer. nat. habil. Gabriele Chiogna, CEE - Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering - L.f.Hydrologie u. Flussgebietsmanagement
Examinators:
1. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Markus Disse, CEE - Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering - L.f.Hydrologie u. Flussgebietsmanagement
2. Prof. Dr. Lucas Menzel, ZExtern - Universität Heidelberg
Successful defence of the doctoral thesis of Mr. Pablo Merchán-Rivera
Congratulations to Pablo Merchán-Rivera for the successful defence of his doctoral thesis on "Uncertainties due to river boundary conditions during extreme events" on 24 June 2022. Dr.-Ing. Pablo Merchán passed the dissertation examination with "Summa Cum Laude".
The doctoral project was supervised by Prof. Dr. Gabriele Chiogna and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Markus Disse (both TUM) and by Prof. Dr. Giovanni Porta (Politecnico di Milano). Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Michael Manhart (TUM) acted as chairman.
Press Release | Three years long activities on establishing the transnational strategy for attenuating the emerging contaminants in drinking water are getting to an end
[2022.04.07] The boDEREC-CE project was aimed to define an integrated management strategy for waterworks that guarantees the increased quality of drinking water
Fieldtrip to the Adige River Basin, Italy | Information meeting and registration
Water Management at the Catchment Scale
To all interested master's students, we invite you to the information meeting about the Field Trip to the Adige River Basin in the Italian Alps.
The field trip is part of the seminar Water Management at the Catchment Scale offered in the Summer Semester, and it is worth 3 ECTS. The field trip, together with the seminar, will take place from the 28th to the 30th of September 2022, and it has a cost of 75 €.
The informative meeting will be held on May 3rd, 2022 at 13:00 in Room 2601. We will cover information regarding the activities and program of the trip, as well as scientific topics and assignments for the participants.
Registration and payment for the field trip will be possible right after the meeting. Since the seminar is an elective of the Master in Environmental Engineering in the Field of Study 2 (Water Resources Management), students of this program will have priority.
Further information:
gabriele.chiogna@tum.de
monica.basilio@tum.de
Tag der Hydrologie 2022
Im Wandel – Klima, Wasser und Gesellschaft Prozesse – Methoden – Kommunikation
Die rasch fortschreitenden klimatischen Veränderungen zeigen besonders anhand der Extremereignisse der letzten Jahre, vor welchen neuen Herausforderungen die hydrologische Forschung und Praxis steht. In diesem Zusammenhang widmet sich der Tag der Hydrologie 2022 den neuesten Erkenntnissen aus der hydrologischen Prozessforschung und informiert über methodische Fortschritte im Bereich des hydrologischen Monitorings und der Modellierung. Im Fokus stehen auch neue Wege der Kommunikation, mit der die Schnittstelle von hydrologischer Wissenschaft zu Praxis, Politik und Gesellschaft effizienter und effektiver gestaltet wird.
Programmübersicht hier!
Press release | FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED TO MITIGATE CLIMATE EXTREMES
[2021.12.10] Interreg Danube Floodplain project closed this November 2021
Bucharest, 4 December 2021 - The Danube Floodplain project, which was launched to examine how to reduce flood risk with the restoration of floodplains in the Danube River Basin, came to an end this November. The project partners presented the results of the project at a closing conference which was held online on 3-4 November 2021.
More details here.
Handover of expert opinion on water
[2021.10.21]
The water expert commission set up by the state government has submitted its final report to Bavaria's Environment Minister Thorsten Glauber. The core of the report are scientific evaluations and suggestions for the future water supply in Bavaria.
The expert commission consists of the following eight members: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jörg Drewes, Prof. Dr. agr. Karl Auerswald, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Markus Disse, Prof. Dr. rer. silv. Annette Menzel, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Stephan Pauleit, Prof. Dr. sc. tech. Peter Rutschmann, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Theodor Strobl, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Silke Wieprecht.
Successful doctoral defense of Mr. Michael Neumayer
Congratulations to Michael Neumayer for the successful defense of his doctoral thesis entitled „Gebietsübergreifende Retentionspotenzialanalyse einer naturnahen Gewässer- und Auengestaltung als Beitrag zum dezentralen Hochwasserrückhalt“ on July 27, 2021. Dr.-Ing. Michael Neumayer passed the dissertation examination with distinction.
The PhD project was supervised by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Markus Disse and Prof. Dr. Gabriele Chiogna (both TUM) and Prof. Dr. Robert Jüpner (TU Kaiserslautern).
Recent flood events in Germany / July 2021
Interviews by Prof. Disse on the recent flood events in Germany
Declining glaciers endanger sustainable development of the oases along the Aksu-Tarim River (Central Asia)
Tobias Bolch, Doris Duethmann, Michel Wortmann, Shiyin Liu & Markus Disse (2021)
Tarim River basin is the largest endorheic river basin in China. Due to the extremely arid climate the water supply solely depends on water originating from the glacierised mountains with about 75% stemming from the transboundary Aksu River. The water demand is linked to anthropogenic (specifically agriculture) and natural ecosystems, both competing for water. Ongoing climate change significantly impacts the cryosphere. The mass balance of the glaciers in Aksu River basin was clearly negative since 1975. The discharge of the Aksu headwaters has been increasing over the last decades mainly due to the glacier contribution. The average glacier melt contribution to total runoff is 30–37% with an estimated glacier imbalance contribution of 8–16%. Modelling using future climate scenarios indicate a glacier area loss of at least 50% until 2100. River discharge will first increase concomitant with glacier shrinkage until about 2050, but likely decline thereafter. The irrigated area doubled in the Aksu region between the early 1990s and 2020, causing at least a doubling of water demand. The current water surplus is comparable to the glacial runoff. Hence, even if the water demand will not grow further in the future a significant water shortage can be expected with declining glacial runoff. However, with the further expansion of irrigated agriculture and related industries, the water demand is expected to even further increase. Both improved discharge projections and planning of efficient and sustainable water use are necessary for further socioeconomic development in the region along with the preservation of natural ecosystems.
Successful doctoral defense of Ms. Sonja Teschemacher
Congratulations to Sonja Teschemacher for the successful defense on April 27, 2021 of her doctoral thesis entitled "Gebietsübergreifende Retentionspotenzialanalyse agrarwirtschaftlicher und konstruktiver Maßnahmen des dezentralen Hochwasserrückhalts"!
KliMoBay - Potentials of climate protection and adaption in Bavarian peatlands
A website of our Project “KliMoBay - Potentials of climate protection and adaption in Bavarian peatlands” is available now (in German). An English version will be released soon. www.klimobay.de
New Publication!: Sustainable Management of River Oases along the Tarim River/China (SuMaRiO)
By Bernd Cyffka; Markus Disse and Florian Betz (2021)
This book discusses approaches to sustainable management of river oases along the Tarim River located in Xinjiang (northwest China).
The Tarim Basin is one of the most arid regions in the world. Surrounded by the high mountain of Tian Shan, Kunlun and Pamir, the Taklamakan Desert dominates the landscape. The Tarim River originating from the snow and glacier melt in the mountains is the only relevant source of freshwater in this extreme environment – both for anthropogenic needs in agriculture Sustainable Management of River Oases and urban areas and the natural ecosystems of the Tarim River floodplains.
Since the 1960s, the Chinese government has been promoting the development of the western provinces of China. Demographic development and socio-economic changes led to a rapid change of land use, which has substantially affected the quantity and quality of arable land, surface and ground water and impaired natural ecosystems and their ability to provide relevant ecosystem services. In particular, presently there is a conflict between water demand for agricultural irrigation and natural riparian vegetation – a conflict that might intensify in future due to climate change.
Against this background, 11 German and 6 Chinese universities and research institutes have formed the SuMaRiO consortium (Sustainable Management of River Oases along the Tarim River) to investigate sustainable water- and land-management strategies for the region.
Here, the authors of the SuMaRiO project summarize the key results of 5 years of interdisciplinary research conducted by this consortium within the ‘Sustainable Land Management’ program of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. They present specific results from the different work packages on climatology, hydrology, ecology, agricultural sciences, social sciences and economics. Furthermore, this book introduces the interdisciplinary research approach of the entire consortium, which has resulted in comprehensive policy recommendations for sustainable water- and land management and a decision support system, which is based on the results of the study. The authors present an example of how interdisciplinary aspects and international cooperation are able to contribute to sustainable development in complex socio-ecological environments.
Activities for students
Please feel free to visit our section of student activities where you may find interesting thesis topics related to our research.