Department Environmental Chemistry

Modelling is an essential tool in environmental research. On the one hand, we use models to analyze data from laboratory and field studies. The main question here is whether the environmental behaviour models that we have developed correspond to what we observe. On the other hand, we use models to make quantitative predictions of the occurrence of organic pollutants and their transformation products in aquatic ecosystems.

The models and simulation tools vary greatly depending on the research question. For example, rule-based cheminformatics models (Eawag-PPS) are used to predict microbial degradation of a wide variety of chemicals, while  GIS-based hydrological models are used for the spatial analysis of chemical pollution in watersheds.