HRH the Grand Duke Henri visits LIST's Hydro-Climatological Observation network in Luxembourg

On 20 May 2025, His Royal Highness Grand Duke Henri paid a field visit to the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) to inspect a flagship research observatory which studies the impacts of climate change on the water cycle and forest ecosystems. The Grand Duke was welcomed at the Weierbësch forest cemetery in Flatzbour by Minister for Research and Higher Education Stéphanie Obertin, LIST’s ad interim CEO Dirk Fransaer, Chair of LIST’s Board of Directors Étienne Jacqué, and Scientific Director Lucien Hoffmann.

Accompanied on site by Laurent Pfister, head of the Environmental Sensing and Modelling unit, and Jean François Iffly of the Luxembourg Eco hydrology Observatory,the Grand Duke visited three key locations within LIST’s hydro climatological observatory network:

• The experimental Weierbach catchment near Flatzbour
• A forest plot within the Weierbach watershed
• The meteorological reference station at Roodt
• The Huewelerbach experimental catchment near Hovelange

At each site, LIST researchers demonstrated state of the art measurement systems. Installed from the mid 1990s onwards, these real time hydro climatological instruments have transformed understanding of rainfall runoff processes, canopy interception effects, and flash flood dynamics.

This network was established in response to devastating floods across Luxembourg’s alluvial plains in the early 1990s and the more recent sudden floods around Larochette in 2016 and 2018. Today, the Attert basin stands as an open air laboratory that attracts international collaborators to work alongside LIST scientists on hydrological process studies, regional climate‐impact modelling, and innovative sensing techniques such as satellite remote sensing and thermal imaging.

This visit was the first of two planned by the Grand Duke as part of his expressed interest in discovering and supporting the wide range of scientific and technological activities carried out by LIST.