Département Eaux de surface

Eaux de surface – Recherche et gestion (Surf)

Nous étudions aussi bien les différents processus isolés dans les systèmes aquatiques que des systèmes entiers d’eaux naturelles. En plus de la recherche fondamentale et de l’analyse système interdisciplinaire, l’accent est mis particulièrement sur des projets de recherche appliquée.

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News

Double attribution du prix Otto Jaag pour 2025

La fonte des glaciers modifie les réseaux alimentaires dans les eaux, comme ici au Groenland, mais aussi dans les régions alpines. (Photo : Coralie Moccetti)
13 mars 2026 –

Utiliser des marqueurs isotopiques pour décomposer les réseaux trophiques et leurs modifications ainsi que suivre les voies et l'accumulation de polluants dans les organismes aquatiques - le prix Otto-Jaag pour la protection des...

Utiliser des marqueurs isotopiques pour décomposer les réseaux trophiques et leurs modifications ainsi que suivre les voies et l'accumulation de polluants dans les organismes aquatiques - le prix Otto-Jaag pour la protection des eaux a été décerné en 2025 pour deux thèses de doctorat passionnantes et très actuelles sur le plan thématique.
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Plus d'actualités

Dernières publications

Koch, T. L., Hobi, M. L., Morsdorf, F., Damm, A., Weber, D., Rüetschi, M., … Waser, L. T. (2025). Assessing intraspecific variation of tree species based on sentinel-2 vegetation indices across space and time. Remote Sensing, 17(12), 2094 (20 pp.). doi:10.3390/rs17122094, Institutional Repository

Forest ecosystems are vital for biodiversity, climate regulation, and ecosystem services. Their resilience depends not only on species diversity but also on intraspecific variation—the genetic and phenotypic differences within species—which underpins adaptive capacity to environmental change. However, large-scale, continuous monitoring of intraspecific variation remains challenging. Here, we present a remote sensing approach using Sentinel-2 time series of five vegetation indices as proxies for pigment content, canopy structure, and water content to detect intraspecific variation in seven tree species across a broad environmental gradient in Switzerland. Using pure-species plot data from the Swiss National Forest Inventory, we decomposed variation into spatial, temporal, and spatiotemporal components. We found that spatial variation dominated in evergreen species (48–86%), while temporal variation was more pronounced in deciduous species (56–82%), reflecting their stronger seasonality. These findings demonstrate that species-specific Sentinel-2 time series can effectively track intraspecific variation, providing a scalable method for forest monitoring. This approach opens new pathways for studying forest adaptation, informing management strategies, and guiding species selection for conservation under changing climate conditions.
Carrea, L., Merchant, C. J., Woolway, R. I., Creatux, J. F., Dokulil, T. M., Dugan, H. A., … Verburg, P. (2025). Lake surface water temperature [in "State of the climate in 2024"]. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 106(8), S29-S31. doi:10.1175/2025BAMSStateoftheClimate.1, Institutional Repository
Hauser, L. T., Damm, A., & Santos, M. J. (2025). Corporate biodiversity and water impact and risk: seven key principles for leveraging insights from satellite remote sensing. Earth's Future, 13(3), e2024EF005474 (28 pp.). doi:10.1029/2024EF005474, Institutional Repository

Amid unprecedented biodiversity loss and water scarcity, calls for corporate responsibility are becoming louder and have led to emerging non-financial disclosure frameworks with demanding data needs. While the role of satellite remote sensing (RS) is highly anticipated to address data needs and boost transparency, critical thought on what is feasible and how to strategically integrate its insights for ambitious corporate biodiversity and water disclosure is lagging behind. To address this, we propose applying a systems perspective to represent the complex, multi-scale interactions between biodiversity, water systems, and corporate operations, and to guide how to integrate RS contributions to analyze the full spectrum of impacts and risks—ranging from direct and concurrent to cascading, cumulative, and emergent. We highlight seven guiding (non-exhaustive) principles for leveraging satellite RS data to assess corporate biodiversity and water impacts and risks. This process requires an effective system boundary (1) set spatially, temporally, and process-wise. Within which, biodiversity and water's multi-dimensionality (2) needs to be addressed to monitor the spatio-temporal dynamics (3) that characterize ecosystem responses. To attribute risk and impact of detected changes, interactions need to be defined by causality (4) and directionality (5), and ultimately consider compound impacts (6) across commodities, supply chains and portfolios, as well as cross-system interactions (7), for example, between climate change, water and biodiversity. We review each of these principles and related challenges individually, providing a system theory definition, relevant RS capabilities, and research directions. Addressing these seven principles will be crucial to harness satellite RS's potential for comprehensive biodiversity and water disclosure for strong corporate accountability.

Séminaires de surf

Weitere
23.03.​2026,
13h00
Eawag Kastanienbaum, Seminar room Seeheim & online via Zoom
Introducing the ‘Public Health, Infrastructure and Climate’ research group

Kastanienbaum Seminar

30.03.​2026,
13h00
Eawag Kastanienbaum, Seminar room Seeheim & online via Zoom
A research journey to the essence of the water-energy-food nexus across continents and cultures

Kastanienbaum Seminar

Weitere

Graduate Studies dans notre département

[Translate to Français:] Video über Graduate Studies in der Abteilung Oberflächengewässer

Video sur les Graduate Studies dans le département Eaux de surface

 

Projets de recherche

How does the fish community change in a widening? And how does the riparian vegetation react after deculverting?

Evaluating the outcome of river restoration
Climate change affects lake ecosystems. We investigate the complex interactions in the lake-climate system with global data analysis and local case studies.

Lakes in changing climates
Une nouvelle plateforme de recherche multidisciplinaire pour le lac Léman.

Lac Léman Exploration
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.

Biogeochemical cycling at oxic-anoxic boundaries
We try to understand the bulk and compound specific carbon and nitrogen isotopic compositions in food chains.

Ecology of food chain in freshwater systems
Abwasser ist mit antibiotikaresistenten Bakterien belastet. Wir untersuchen ihre Ausbreitung in die Umwelt und Gegenmassnahmen.

Antibiotikaresistenzen als Umweltkontamination
IsoTalk - Dynamik der Isochrysidales Blüte in Schweizer Seen: Auf dem Weg zu einem Alkenone-Paläothermometer für Seen in den mittleren Breiten.

Dynamik der Isochrysidales Blüte in Schweizer Seen
How can Earth observation be used to estimate the safe operating space for water management in a changing climate

Safe operating space in water resource management

Autres projets de recherche