-
Video: How we analyse our soil samples

In my blog-post from February I showed how we take soil samples. Here is how we measure them:
-
Conquering Droughts Part 1: Artificial Aquifer Recharge

Preface: Climate change adaptation is only effecive when also commiting to climate change mitigation Definitions: aquifer = groundwater body Droughts and Climate Change Droughts are among the most devastating consequences of climate change, affecting millions of people around the world. Droughts occur when there is unusually low rainfall or water scarcity over an extended period…
-
WaterWednesday will become a newsletter

In the last few weeks I realized that I really enjoy communicating water science, so I decided to make #waterwednesday a bi-weekly newsletter. This newsletter will focus on the water-climate change nexus and their solutions. I believe that climate change and water resources are intricately linked and that addressing these issues together is critical. I…
-
Meterological Drought in Southwest Germany

Recently we have heard a lot about the current drought in Spain and Italy. Rainfalls are missing and rivers are dry. But how are we doing in Baden-Wurttemberg? While its definitely not as severe as in other parts of Europe, some areas are also missing lots of winter precipitation. The plot shows how much water…
-
Why climate change matters for Hydrology

In July 2021, my grandmother’s house was affected by the massive Eifel/Ahr flood. In the following week, I spent the whole day from getting up in the morning to going to bed at night in the mud masses that were in the basement and first floor. At my grandmother’s house alone, in the days after…
-
Preferential flowpaths change soilwater isotopic composition

A review by Mathias Sprenger and others in 2016 described how preferential flowpaths alter the iotopic seasonality signature in soils. When these pathways exist (see my post on macropores), young, topsoil water is directly added to soil layers which have a different or dampened signature. This causes sharp deviations which stick out of the otherwise…
