Education

• 10/2014 – 01/2018 | Master’s degree in Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Munich | Master’s Thesis: Hydraulic Investigation of a flood polder intake structure with OpenFOAM | Study Project: Benchmarking of a 2D Shallow Water Equation Model for Urban Flooding
• 08/2016 – 12/2016 | Semester abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark, DTU Kopenhagen
• 10/2011 – 09/2014 | Bachelor studies of Environmental Engineering, TU Munich | Bachelor Thesis: Modelling the spring flow of a karstic spring in north Jordan

Research Experience

• Since 2021 | PhD Student at the Chair of Hydrology and River Basin Management, Technical University of Munich | Projects: FURIFLOOD, UAWOS
• 2018 – 2021 | Research assistant at the Chair of Hydrology and River Basin Management, Technical University of Munich | Projects: ProNaHo, KNU Donau, WaterD2D

Publications

Journal Publications

• Janzen, S., Balzer, J., Merk, F., Eberle, C., Chabi, C., Walz., Y. (2024). “Moving towards a comprehensive evaluation of ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction: The example of agroforestry for flood risk reduction”. Nature-Based Solutions, Volume 5, 2024, 100104, ISSN 2772-4115. doi.org/10.1016/j.nbsj.2023.100104.
• Schaffhauser, T., Tuo, Y., Hofmeister F., Chiogna, G., Huang, J., Merk, F. & Markus Disse. 2024. “SWAT-GL: A New Glacier Routine For the Hydrological Model SWAT”. JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association 00 (0): 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.13199.
• Merk, F., Schaffhauser, T., Anwar, F., Tuo, Y., Cohard, J.-M., and Disse, M.: The significance of the leaf area index for evapotranspiration estimation in SWAT-T for characteristic land cover types of West Africa, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 5511–5539, doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-5511-2024, 2024.
• Schaffhauser, T., Hofmeister, F., Chiogna, G., Merk, F., Tuo, Y., Machnitzke, J., Alcamo, L., Huang, J., and Disse, M.: Merits and Limits of SWAT-GL: Application in Contrasting Glaciated Catchments, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss. [preprint], doi.org/10.5194/hess-2024-89, in review, 2024.
• K. B. Enu, F. Merk, H. Su, M. Rauch, A. Zingraff-Hamed, K. Broich, K. Förster, S. Pauleit, M. Disse (2025): “A Scenario-Based Analysis Of Wetlands As Nature-Based Solutions For Flood Risk Mitigation Using The TELEMAC-2D Model”. Nature-Based Solutions, Volume 7, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nbsj.2025.100236.
• D. J. Afféwé, F. Merk, M. Rauch, M. Bodjrenou, M. N. Usman, T. Allagbé, J. Hounkpè, J. Bliefernicht, F. Guédjé, A. B. Akpo, M. Disse, J. Adounkpè (2024): “Evaluation of the impact of precipitation ensembles on flood hazards in the Ouémé river basin in Benin Republic”. Hydrological Sciences Journal, [in review].
• E. Annan, F. Merk, W. Amponsah, K. Amaning Adjei, M. Disse, W. Agyei Agyare (2024): “Impact of Land Use and Land Cover Changes on Water Balance in the Ouémé River Basin, West Africa”. Hydrological Sciences Journal, [in review].

Conference Contributions

• Merk, F., Schaffhauser, T., Anwar, F., Cohard, J.M., Tuo, Y. & Disse, M. (2024): The Role of Plant-Growth Modelling on the Evapotranspiration Estimation in SWAT-T for Characteristic Land Cover Types of Western Africa. In: 2024 Strasbourg, France SWAT Conference Book of Abstracts.
• Merk, F., Jalan, I., Disse, M. (2022): Gegenwärtige und zukünftige Hochwasserrisiken in urbanen und ländlichen Regionen in West Afrika. In: Tag der Hydrologie 2022 Programmbuch
• Merk, F., Disse, M., Cohard, J.M. & Mamadou, O. (2022): Evaluation of Data-Driven Estimates of Evapotranspiration for Physically-Based Water Balance Assessment in a West African Region. In: AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts, vol. 2022, pp. H25R–1320.
• Merk, F., Schaffhauser, T., Anwar, F., Cohard, J.M., Tuo, Y. & Disse, M. (2023): A modelling framework based on evapotranspiration and plant growth for a robust water balance assessment in a sub-tropical and data-scarce region in West Africa. In: 2023 Aarhus, Denmark SWAT Conference Book of Abstracts.
• Merk, F., Schaffhauser, T., Anwar, F., Cohard, J.M. & Disse, M. (2023): Simple ET methods are sufficient when detailed LAI modelling is applied: benchmark testing the SWAT-T model with eddy covariance data in Western Africa. In: AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts, vol. 2023, pp H33H-1890.
• Merk, F., Schaffhauser, T., Anwar, F. & Disse, M. (2024): Plants and Climate Impact Assessment: Exploring the Role of Vegetation for Eco-Hydrological Models in Western. In: AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts, vol. 2024, pp. H11O-0886.