Department Surface Waters - Research and Management

Current Projects

Research on surface water processes

Arctic rivers transport vital nutrients as well as potential toxins to the coastal ocean. We aim to understand and quantify their fluxes.
Microbes can ‘breath’ metals, and metals can also serve as records of Earth’s past. This project investigates these roles of metals in anoxic lakes.
Biological cycling alters metal stable isotope ratios. We explore how isotope ratios may be used as proxies to reconstruct biological productivity.
Wastewater is a source of antibiotic resistant bacteria. We study their dissemination in the aquatic environment, and strategies to remove them.
We investigate how the origin of the organic material determines methane production.
We try to understand the bulk and compound specific carbon and nitrogen isotopic compositions in food chains.
How bacteria-driven convection affects bacterial community physiology
We study the ecological stability of anammox biofilms, which are responsible for the autotrophic Nitrogen removal in mixed nitritation-anammox systems.
Buoyancy driven nearshore transport in lakes
Mineralization of organic matter in sediments produces reduced substances that consume oxygen in the bottom waters. Comparison of nutrient-rich and nutrient-poor lakes.
Niches and traits of methanotroph bacteria in stratified lakes are studied with the ultimate goal to improve process models.

Anthropogenic influences, revitalization & remediation

How does the fish community change in a widening? And how does the riparian vegetation react after deculverting?
Collaborative learning for hydropeaking mitigation
We assess the environmental impacts of hydropower plants to support a sustainable development of this energy resource.
Wastewater is a source of antibiotic resistant bacteria. We study their dissemination in the aquatic environment, and strategies to remove them.
We use Switzerland’s unique record of historical maps for studying landscape change over the past 150 years.
Arctic rivers transport vital nutrients as well as potential toxins to the coastal ocean. We aim to understand and quantify their fluxes.
The PALEOFARM project investigates sediments from 3 lakes across Switzerland, Russia and Greenland to search for traces of early farming impact.
The MACRO project investigates lake and swamp sediments from Pacific Islands to search for traces of the settlement of Polynesians and Melanesians.

Climate

Tapping the potential of one decade of annual repeat altimetry to study glacial and periglacial processes (TapRep).
Investigating the preservation potential of the 2013 Super Typhoon Haiyan overwash deposits in Leyte and Samar islands, Philippines
IsoTalk - Isochrysidales bloom dynamics in Swiss lakes: Towards an alkenone paleothermometer for mid latitude lakes.
Pilot project for continuous monitoring of temperatures in Swiss lakes.
How do stream and lake water temperature change in Switzerland
Climate change affects lake ecosystems. We investigate the complex interactions in the lake-climate system with global data analysis and local case studies.
Formation, evolution, and monitoring of glacial lakes in Switzerland
We search for and sample peat-forming wetlands in remote areas of Colombia to inform more reliable carbon mapping and modelling efforts.
This project contributes to the Blue Green Biodiversity Research Initiative – an Eawag-WSL collaboration focusing on Biodiversity at the interface of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.
Biological cycling alters metal stable isotope ratios. We explore how isotope ratios may be used as proxies to reconstruct biological productivity.
Microbes can ‘breath’ metals, and metals can also serve as records of Earth’s past. This project investigates these roles of metals in anoxic lakes.
Eastern Thailand freshwater-marine transitional environment responses to changes in sea level and monsoon intensity over the Holocene.
Lipid biomarkers record past changes in biogeochemical cycles. This project will identify lipid biomarkers to study methanotrophs in the past.

Energy

We assess the environmental impacts of hydropower plants to support a sustainable development of this energy resource.
Lakes store large amounts of heat. To what extent can this heat be used to replace the use of fossil fuels or electricity for heating and cooling purposes?
The intricacies of Lake Kivu and of the methane stored in its deep waters could easily keep an entire research institute busy. Our research aims at creating the knowledge needed to support a sustainable and safe exploitation of the methane resource.
Watercourses are among earth's most biodiverse ecosystems. However, they are also under severe pressure from construction work and hydropower generation, among other things.

Data Collection, Remote Sensing & Analytics

How can water quality parameters from satellite remote sensing be used for lake monitoring?
Lémanscope: How boat owners measure colour and visibility in Lake Geneva as reference data for satellite remote sensing.
How can Earth observation be used to estimate the safe operating space for water management in a changing climate
Can we use the newest environmental satellites to monitor primary production in Swiss lakes?
A new multidisciplinary research platform for Lake Geneva
How to investigate the spatial variability in lakes?
Pilot project for continuous monitoring of temperatures in Swiss lakes.
Can we retrieve phytoplankton taxa in lakes using satellite remote sensing?

Modeling

How can Earth observation be used to estimate the safe operating space for water management in a changing climate
The chemistry and biology of lakes is strongly influenced by physical transport processes. We use coupled physical-geochemical models to understand these complex interactions.
A one-dimensional physical lake model that can be coupled to biogeochemical models
A tool for modelling diagenetic processes in lake sediments.
A user-friendly software for the calculation of chemical equilibria was developed at Eawag and can be downloaded for free including a manual.