Newsletter 05/2015
Research
Approval of BMBF-project „Managing Water for Urban Catchments“
The joint proposal „Urban Catchments“ of UFZ and TU Dresden was approved by the BMBF in the thematic area of BMBF “International Partnerships for Sustainable Technologies and Services for Climate Protection and the Environment” (CLIENT) under the “Research for Sustainable Development” framework programme.
Within the CAWR-project (coordination: UFZ) the scientists of both institutions are jointly developing sanitary and environmental engineering system solutions for sustained water quality improvement in the city of Chaohu and Lake Chao – one of the five large freshwater lakes in China. Especially during summer the discharge of waste water and diffuse inputs from agriculture is resulting in a massive increase of blue-green algae, which is having an enormous impact on the drinking water supply of the population. Within the CAWR-project the innovative approach “Urban Water Resources Management (UWRM)” is involved, that provides efficient sanitary systems in urban and rural areas as well as needs of natural aquatic ecosystems. The Kick-Off-Workshop took place from 10.-12.05.2015 at the project region Chaohu with the participation of CAWR-scientists and Chinese partners. The approval of the project is an important milestone for the development of the Sino-German cooperation in the water sector.
DFG-Project start “Laser-Bathymetry”
CAWR-Scientist of TU Dresden attracted funding for a DFG-project in the field of Airborne Laserscanning Bathymetry. Airborne Laserscanning Bathymetry is a method for the determination of the topography of river beds within water bodies with low till middle water depths and low turbidity level. The technique enables a seamless monitoring and mapping of water bodies as well as conclusions to be drawn in terms of sediment transport and water quality. The goal of the project is the development of geometric-stochastic models for the consideration of wave effects within the field of Laserscanning Bathymetry. Those models enable an improved geometric correction of refraction effects and a significant higher accuracy potential.
CAWR-Scientists of the professorship of photogrammetry from the TU Dresden will start with their work in May 2015. More information here.
Extension of BMBF-Project SMART for third project phase
The project SMART was extended for three years in february 2015 (coordination: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen). Scientists of the CAWR are investigating the development of adapted water technologies and integrative management strategies in Israel, Palestine and Jordan within a subproject of SMART-MOVE (Management of Highly Variable Water REsources in semi-arid Regions). More information here.
Approval BMBF- Project BOOT-Monitoring
CAWR-Scientists of the TU Dresden are developing within the project BOOT-Monitoring a sensor-based monitoring system with which it’s possible to record and visualize data continuously with regard to water quality, flow characteristics and morphologic properties of the water body. The overall goal of the project is a better process understanding how matter is transported and mobilized within the water, but also how these properties of water impacts water quality. The novel monitoring system technology should be used in rivers in Saxony and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Within the funding acticity ReWaM two more projects of TU Dresden (In_StröHmunG and CYAQUATA) were supported. More information here.
Events
CAWR at WasserBerlin and at Blue Planet Forum
From 24.-27.03.2015 researchers of the UFZ and TU Dresden represented the CAWR at WasserBerlin. The Blue Planet Forum was a platform to organize a session with the topic „Resilient Water infrastructures for the city of the future“ (Coordination: BDZ - Bildungs- und Demonstrationszentrum für dezentrale Abwasseranlagen e.V. and UFZ). Another scientific contribution was a presentation on the topic of „Good chemical water quality“. More informationen here.
CAWR at Dresden Nexus Conference 2015
Photo: UNU-FLORES
From 25.-27.03.2015 the Dresden Nexus Conference took place organized by United Nations University (UNU-FLORES) in collaboration with TU Dresden and Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development (IÖR). The conference focused on the topic „Global Change, SDG’s and the Nexus Approach“. The emphasis was on the three thematic topics of global change – climate change, urbanisation and population growth. CAWR was presented to scientists, stakeholders and representatives of different NGOs from 65 countries at a booth. CAWR-researchers organized a session with the topic “Regional land-use dynamics, water security and the nexus approach”. More information here.
Water Research Horizon Conference 2015
The 6th Water Research Horizon Conference is taking place on 17/18 June 2015 in the Botanical Garden and Museum Berlin. The event is organized by the Water Science Alliance – an initiative for bundling and strengthening the German water research community. This year’s conference is focusing on “water interfaces” as a key feature of the water cycle, the relevant processes between its compartments and ecosystems as well as the interactions between natural and technical systems and the human influences in general resp. two main themes are set: „Hydrosphere and biosphere“ as well as „hydrosphere and anthroposphere“. Further aspects of the program are the Bode foundations’ award ceremony and the 3rd general meeting of the Water Science Alliance. More information and details for the registration here.