Hydrological Forecasts

The research group «Hydrological Forecasts» investigates the spatio-temporal distribution and variability of the available natural water resources in mountainous basins and in larger alpine river systems.

A particular focus will be put on the analysis of extreme situations such as floods and persisting droughts. This is achieved by both analysis of previous events (e.g. the flood of August 2005 in Switzerland) and investigations with simulations and statistical evaluation of long term data series.

The group develops models and operational system for flood warning in gauges and ungauged basins. Thereby we try to improve the quality of hydrological forecasts by assimilation of updated observations (e.g. snow cover maps and runoff volumes).

Furthermore distributed hydrological simulations are adopted for estimating possible hydrological impacts of climate change.

In addition WSL updates since more than 40 years a database containing a detailed description of the major damages triggered by hydrological hazards. These records could represent an important source of information for the assessment of hydrology related hazards maps.

The Research Group contributes to studies to optimize the prediction of snow and water resources for hydro-power plants.

Projects

Services and products

Staff

Hydrological Forecasts

Hanna Ingrid Baumann

Temporary employee

Luzi Bernhard

Computational Scientist

Konrad Bogner

Scientific staff member

Annie Yuan-Yuan Chang

Visiting scientist

Max Andreas Hurni

Temporary employee

Elena Leonarduzzi

Scientific staff member

Käthi Liechti

Scientific staff member

Arianna Manente

Master student

Michael Margreth

Scientific assistant

Mohid Fayaz Mir

PhD student

Noah Nydegger

Master student

Ryan Sebastian Padrón Flasher

Scientific staff member

Michael Schirmer

Visiting scientist

Tobias Wechsler

Scientific staff member

Ruben Wisskott

Scientific assistant

Massimiliano Zappa

Group leader