HELMHOLTZ Research for grand challenges
HELMHOLTZ Research for grand challenges is a association that is part of the pulse of the water sector. Here we bring together everything it publishes on Smart Water Magazine: its news, its blogs and the events it takes part in.
Iran’s groundwater crisis and subsidence come to a head
Large parts of Iran are affected by groundwater loss and land subsidence. This is shown by a study by Mahmud Haghshenas Haghighi and Mahdi Motagh, which has just been published in the journal Science Advances. The two authors from Leibniz University Hannover and the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences evaluated data from radar satellites […]
How nitrogen has been underestimated in lake ecosystems
An ecological imbalance in a lake can usually be attributed to increased nutrient inputs. This results in increased phytoplankton growth, oxygen deficiency, toxic cyanobacterial blooms and fish deaths. Until now, controls in lake management have focused primarily on phosphorus inputs to counteract this effect. Now, this dogma is shaken by a study performed by the […]
As dry and hot as never
Periods of drought have always existed. In recent years, however, they have been much more extreme than before, both in Germany and worldwide. Researchers expect this trend to continue. One reason for this is climate change.
With AI against drought and pest infestation
Climate change also poses major challenges for agriculture. In an interview, biologist Ulrich Schurr reveals what needs to be done, what role artificial intelligence plays in this, and how a new research cooperation with researchers from Israel could also help German farmers. Mr. Schurr, this year people in the northern hemisphere experienced the hottest summer […]
Climate change presents new challenges for the drinking water supply
The Rappbode Reservoir in the Harz region is Germany's largest drinking water reservoir, supplying around one million people with drinking water in areas including the Halle region and the southern part of the state of Saxony-Anhalt. Water temperatures in the reservoir now have the potential to increase significantly due to climate change. If average global […]
Artificial intelligence learns continental hydrology
The complex distribution of continental water masses in South America has been determined with a new Deep-Learning-Method using satellite data. Changes to water masses which are stored on the continents can be detected with the help of satellites. The data sets on the Earth’s gravitational field which are required for this, stem from the GRACE […]
Monitoring groundwater changes more precisely
Researchers from Potsdam and the USA combine measurement methods.
New satellite data show severity of past drought summers in Central Europe
Measurements by the GRACE-FO satellite mission show a decline in water storage in Central Europe by up to 94 percent compared with seasonal fluctuations. The GRACE-FO (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment-Follow-On) satellites launched in May 2018 are able to quantify the water mass deficit in Central Europe. Relative to long-term climate development, the water mass […]
Warmer winters are changing the makeup of water in Black Sea
Warmer winters are starting to alter the structure of the Black Sea, which could foreshadow how ocean compositions might shift from future climate change, according to new research.