Research and Development
This part answers questions such as: Which projects are in process? How can students actively support us?
Flood protection and the associated flood risk management is one of the most important social tasks of water management. Hydrological events in 2016 caused approx. 5000 fatalities and damages of approx. € 46 billion worldwide. The flood of 2013 on the Elbe and Danube caused a damage of approx. € 7 billion. Saxony-Anhalt had damages over € 10 million because of the flood in 2017. These numbers demonstrate the regional, national, and international relevance of this topic. The flood events in summer 2021, especially in western Germany and neighbouring countries, shows clearly that no country is protected from severe flood damage and related tragedies.
The primary goal of our research work will be to develop methods and tools that contribute to improve flood protection as well as support an adaptive and sustainable flood risk management. We focus on the approach of a complete system analysis at the catchment area. In the risk analysis it is important to include hydrology, hydraulics, reliability of flood protection structures, and the consequences for people, environment, culture, economy, critical infrastructures, and society. We would like to develop this approach.
Water management is also influenced by the increasing digitalization of society: keyword water management 4.0. Software development is one focus of our work, which is the basis of digitalization. That is why we are further developing the free software package ProMaIDes.
Regional, national, and international cooperation is mandatory for our work. If you are interested in collaborations or interested in our research, please contact us.
A new research area is the low flow risk management. There are some similarities but also differences to flood risk analysis. You can find more information here.
