LIST Catchment and eco-hydrologists at TERENO 2018

On 8-12 October 2018, as part of its environmental research activities, the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) participated in the 2nd international TERENO conference which took place in Berlin (DE) and was organised by the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ, Leipzig).

LIST was represented by catchment and eco-hydrologists Laurent Pfister and Christophe Hissler. Laurent was invited for a keynote lecture on 'Catchment storage estimation, dynamics and controls - Insights gained from a long-term monitoring programme in the nested catchment set-up of the Alzette River basin (Luxembourg)' in the session 'Measuring and modeling water storage dynamics'. Christophe presented his latest results on 'Chemical and isotopic variability in tree sap in temperate forests during the leaf-out period: a case study in the experimental Weierbach catchment, Luxembourg' in the session on 'Biogeochemical processes in soil-plant-atmosphere systems'.

TERENO 2018 provided a platform for young scientists and international experts and highlights the main facets of TERENO research. It was a good opportunity for LIST researchers to do some networking, to present LIST’s main research challenge in the field of catchment and eco-hydrology – which is to integrate research, technology and education for ensuring sustainable water availability and quality – and to present the related activities. 

As explained by Laurent Pfister: “During the conference we have been approached for having LIST's network of hydro-meteorological stations joining various communities of experimental research catchments. One of them is the European Network of Hydrological Observatories (ENOHA). This network includes the TERENO (DE), HOAL (AT), HOBE (DK), UARC (IT) and PHO (GR) observatories. Joining this type of network stands high on the agenda of LIST's Observatory for climate and environment and prospective work in this respect is currently carried out. Most of the work that we have presented in Berlin is actually based on rather unique datasets of discharge, precipitation and environmental tracer data - all collected in our set of nested catchments that cover a wide range of bedrock geology, soil types, land use and topography." Pfister concludes "This configuration of catchments is rare and allows insights into dominating controls on fundamental hydrological functions of water collection, storage and release. Investigating related research questions are of immediate applied relevance for quantitative and qualitative management of water resources.”

> For more information on this topic, send an email to Laurent Pfister or Christophe Hissler.