hydrology and water resources management group · chair of hydrology and water resources management...

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Chair of Hydrology and Water Resources Management

Hydrology and Water Resources Management Group

Master Theses Topics

SS 2018 http://www.hyd.ifu.ethz.ch/ 1

Maggia Valley, Switzerland



Research Fields:

Hydrological processes in Alpine environments

Fluvial systems and riverine processes

Ecohydrology

Hydrological extremes and natural hazards

Climate change impacts

Water resources management

Sustainable water use

Research Methods:

Numerical watershed modelling

Lab and Field measurement and monitoring

Stochastic processes

Statistical data analysis and interpretation


Hydrology and Water Resources Management Group Prof. Paolo Burlando, hydrology and water resources management

Prof. Peter Molnar, hydrology and fluvial systems



It should address a scientifically and societally relevant problem in hydrology

and water resources management in Switzerland or globally.

It should formulate research hypotheses and exercise methodologically

appropriate investigations from which conclusions are drawn.

It should use advanced state-of-the-art analysis methods (models, data) and

in-depth interpretation to advance knowledge in the field.

It should provide an engineering-relevant synthesis addressing how the

results can be used in practice.

It should foster skills of independence, innovation, interpretation, and

professional presentation.


Aims of Master Theses in HWRM

What should your MS Thesis aim to achieve?



1. Each slide here presents one MS Thesis topic. Select a topic and meet the

indicated supervisor for a more detailed description. Do this early in the

selection process. Variations in the proposed topics are permitted and your

own input invited and encouraged.

2. Prepare a 2 page MS Thesis research plan which broadly outlines: (a) the

definition of the problem; (b) the methods which will be used to address it;

(c) the expected results. Discuss/improve this document with the supervisor.

3. Once you have the agreement of the supervisor sign up in ETH MyStudies

for the Thesis with a supervising professor and upload your research plan.

4. Start date: Spring Semester beginning (with flexibility 1 week)

Duration: 6 months (excl. holidays), i.e. to beginning of September

Presentation: in the last 2 weeks (end of Aug to beginning of Sept)

Poster and Report: due at the end of the assigned Thesis window

For further information contact the Teaching Assistant.


Process of Selecting a MS Thesis


Chair of Hydrology and Water Resources Management SS 2018 http://www.hyd.ifu.ethz.ch/ 5

Goals (several Theses possible):

Quantification of physical habitat alterations by

numerical simulation (BASEMENT 2d)

Analysis of morphological change, gravel bar

mobility and sediment transport

Investigation of conditions for riparian

vegetation establishment by modelling

Requirements: BASEMENT 2d, GIS, data analysis

Hydro-morphological assessment of Alpine rivers

(Maggia, Ticino) and their ecosystem services

Since the 1950s, the natural streamflow regime of the Maggia and

Ticino rivers has been strongly affected by streamflow regulation

due to hydropower operation. This research will aim at quantifying

the impacts of regulation on river ecosystem services, changes in

aquatic habitat, sediment transport, riparian vegetation, etc.

Supervisors: Peter Molnar ([email protected]),

Annunziato Siviglia ([email protected])

Temporal evolution of alternate bars (Patrissi, 2018)

mailto:[email protected]




Goals:

Date and map gravel bar age from oldest riparian

plans (salix) in the Maggia River.

Analyze change in vegetation cover from aerial

photography over the last 70 years.

Determine the return periods of channel forming

floods from daily streamflow records.

Requirements: basic GIS skills, data analysis skills

Supervisor: Peter Molnar ([email protected])

Hydromorphological river bed stability from

dendrochronology

Riparian vegetation is commonly established on gravel bars in braided

Alpine. The maximum age of the vegetation is an indicator of stability

and can be used to map minimum gravel bar age. This is important

information to better understand the return periods of channel forming

floods.



Goals:

Calibrate and validate Topkapi-ETH on the Thur

catchment.

Quantify shifts in the pdf of streamflow from

station data and simulations along the river.

Conduct uncertainty analysis to quantify

the sensitivity to climate (precip., temp.).

Requirements: basic GIS skills, modelling,

data analysis skills


Attribution of changes in streamflow by hydrological

simulation (Thur R.)

Shifts in the probability distributions of daily (hourly) streamflow are often visible in

hydrological data and attributed to environmental changes (climate, landuse, etc.).

Watershed modelling provides us a tool by which we can quantify the uncertainty in such

assessments by simulation (example Thur R.).



Goals:

Analyze the WSL landslide inventory database and

select rainfall triggered events with timing.

Develop hourly rainfall products using a

combination of gauge-radar-grid data.

Fit rainfall ID threshold curves and conduct a

regionalization of the thresholds.



Rainfall triggering of shallow landslides in Switzerland

Shallow landslides in Alpine catchments are often generated

by rainfall which saturates the soil and leads to slope failure.

The triggering conditions may be described by rainfall

intensity-duration (ID) curves. In this research we will

estimate the rainfall ID curves for a landslide inventory of

WSL.



Goals:

Analyze statistics of African lake level fluctuations

from hydroweb (Theia).

Collect hydrological remote sensing data for the

lake watersheds.

Build a water balance model and quantify the

contributions of timescales of variability.



Water balances of large African lakes and their temporal

variability

The Rift Valley Lakes in Africa are unique ecosystems,

containing one of the highest biodiversity worldwide. The levels

in these lakes fluctuate significantly, in response to longer term

climatic cycles as well as dry-wet seasons. It is important to

know the contribution of all factors to this variability.



Identify contributions to discharge by end-member mixing analysis

We will use hydrogeochemical programs (e.g. PHREECQC) to

evaluate the contribution from different groundwater sources

(variable geology / lithology) to surface discharge. End-member

mixing analysis will allow quantify the contribution of each

source, as well as to perform hydrograph separation by water

chemistry.

Goals:

calculate saturation for different mineral species in water

samples from a database for Alpine catchments

perform water mixing calculations to separate contributions

from different sources and reduce uncertainty in end-

member concentration

( - sampling campaign in an high Alpine catchment)

Requirements: interest in: geochemistry, transport processes,

hydrological processes

Supervisors: Marius Floriancic ([email protected])

Joaquin Jimenez-Martinez ([email protected])

Peter Molnar ([email protected])



Quantitative evaluation of relations in low flow statistics and geodata

Prediction of low flows is critical as the controlling

mechanisms and landscape settings of catchments are not

well understood. Using a Swiss scale dataset of discharge

timeseries and various available geodata we will evaluate

the connection of statistical parameters characterizing low

flows and the differences / similarities in relevant physical

catchment properties.

Goals:

calculate statistic variables characterizing low flows

evaluate quantities of various geodata features for

multiple catchments in CH

apply statistical tools to relate low flow statistics and physical catchment settings

Requirements: data analysis skills with Matlab R or Python, understanding of

hydrological processes, ArcGIS





Water balance modelling for low flow / recession prediction

We will evaluate the influence of precipitation and

evapotranspiration on low flow magnitude and timing by

using simple water balance models. Large scale datasets all

over CH will be used to learn about the relevant variables, in

a second step we will formulate and test different extreme

scenarios for various Swiss regions.

Requirements: data analysis skills with Matlab R or

Python, understanding of hydrological processes



Goals:

evaluating the influence of precipitation on low flows

calculate evaporation rates and adopt water balances

formulate extreme scenarios and evaluate their impact for

various Swiss regions



Goals: Different main Topics can be analysed.

The assignment of tasks will be done individually.

Possible topics are:

Analysis of soil temperature behaviour in different

depth, dependent on agricultural crop, soil tilling etc.

Soil water balance. Analyse Tensiometer- and FDR Data.

Dew formation and its relevance in the water balance.

Correlation of evapotranspiration and dendrometer

measurements.

Requirements: Some basic MATLAB knowledge is helpful.

Supervisors: Peter Molnar ([email protected]),

Luzia von Känel ([email protected]), Volker Prasuhn (ART Reckenholz)

Analysis of lysimeter data (ART Reckenholz) with

different soils and agricultural crops

The Lysimeter station at Agroscope Reckenholz offers,

with its 72 Lysimeter whereas 12 are weighable, a huge

database for different questions in the field of hydrology

and environmental science.



Goals:

Use data mining and machine learning techniques to

relate dominant processes and initial conditions to

optimal hydrological model parameters.

Evaluate model performance for assumed ungauged

mountain catchments in China

Requirements: data analysis and programing skills

Supervisors: Silvan Ragettli ([email protected]),


Modelling flash floods in ungauged mountain basins of

China: parameter identification based on data mining

Summer flash floods are a common and serious threat in many

mountainous regions of China. Hydrosolutions Ltd. has set up a

rainfall-runoff model to simulate these events in 35 basins. In this

project the student is exploring the possibility to use data mining

techniques and a dataset containing more than 600 calibrated

parameter sets to identify hydrological model parameters.



Goals:

Generate a validation data set for land cover

classification (irrigated/non-irrigated).

Systematically map irrigation activities and changes

over time on the national scale.

Requirements: data analysis and programing skills

Supervisors: Silvan Ragettli ([email protected]),


Remotely-Sensed Mapping of Irrigation Area in Central

Asia with Google Earth Engine

Google Earth Engine (GEE) is a powerful tool to swiftly process

petabytes of high resolution remote sensing data. Hydrosolutions

Ltd. has implemented a method in GEE to automatically map

irrigation area based on Landsat 7 and MODIS satellite data and

to track changes over time. Our results for the Chu-Talas basins in

Kazakhstan/Kyrgyzstan reflect the gradual rehabilitation of the

existing irrigation systems that were partly abandoned after the

demise of the Soviet Union. In this project the student is upscaling

the method to national level for several countries in Central Asia.



Exploring hydro-meteorological uncertainties in flash

flood forecasting

Goals:

Generating an ensemble of precipitation nowcasts (short-time

forecast) to represent measurement and forecast uncertainties.

Studying the propagation of these uncertainties in the hydrological

flood response.

Requirements: Matlab, Python

Supervisors: Daniele Nerini ([email protected]),

Nadav Peleg ([email protected])

Meteorological offices, such as MeteoSwiss, produce very short-time

precipitation forecasts known as nowcasting. Nowcasting is mainly

used to issue warnings for extreme events such as flash floods.

However, these warnings are also affected by important sources of

uncertainty that are related to the estimation and the forecasting of

precipitation, as well as to uncertainties in the hydrological model.

The radar-based precipitation estimates at

1400 UTC (upper panel) and a 50-member

nowcast ensemble for the Sihl catchment in

Zurich (lower panel).

Average rain rate over the catchment

50 members

observation

14:00 13:00 15:00 16:00

rain

rate

[m

m h

-1]




Estimating groundwater recharge in Mediterranean

environments: the role of vegetation

Groundwater recharge is a critical issue for water management

in Mediterranean regions. An estimate of recharge can be

computed using eco-hydrological models that simulate the

hydrological budget including evapotranspiration and vadose

zone dynamics allowing to compute recharge at sub-daily

temporal resolution.

Tethys-Chloris model

(Fatichi et al., 2012, JAMES).

Goals:

Test the Tethys-Chloris eco-hydrological model for a specific

location in the Mediterranean climate of Israel.

Estimate rainfall-groundwater recharge curves from sub-daily

to annual scales.

Estimate historical trends of groundwater recharge.

Requirements: Matlab, previous experience with computer

models is an advantage

Supervisors: Nadav Peleg ([email protected]),

Simone Fatichi ([email protected]), Theodoros

Mastrotheodoros ([email protected])



Goals:

analyses and pre-processing of eco-hydrological data

for tropical savannas, grasslands, pastures and oil

palm plantations;

Application of an eco-hydrological model to evaluate

water/carbon fluxes under different climate and land

cover change scenarios

Requirements: data analysis skills, Matlab

Supervisors: Simone Fatichi ([email protected]),

Gabriele Manoli ([email protected])

Eco-hydrological impacts of tropical savanna

conversion to oil palm plantations

Oil palm plantations are one of the principal drivers of

tropical land-use change and deforestation. Oil palm

provides economic benefits for countries, corporations

and smallholders, but also environmental and social

impacts. This project aims at assessing the effects of oil

palm on changes in water/carbon fluxes in the tropics.

H2O CO2

Yield





Goals:

review parameterizations of ground evaporation (soil

resistance) in state-of-the-art hydrological,

ecohydrological and land surface models.

Compare different methods with laboratory

experiments and field measurements of soil

evaporation and identify the best method (if any).

Requirements: Matlab, data analysis skills

Supervisor: Simone Fatichi ([email protected])

Review of methodologies to calculate ground

evaporation and soil resistance in hydrological models

Evaporation from soil is an important component of the

hydrological cycle. A correct evaluation of soil evaporation

is also fundamental for not introducing compensatory

effects in the calculation of transpiration and therefore

wrong estimates of both fluxes.

Or et al. 2013, VZJ




Goals:

Evaluating the ecohydrological model T&C in

reproducing energy and water fluxes against

lysimeter and flux-tower observations.

Analyzing simulated and observed trends in

evapotranspiration (ET) in response to increasing

CO2 and temperature and to decadal changes in

solar radiation.

Requirements: Matlab, data analysis skills

Supervisor: Simone Fatichi ([email protected])

Comparing observed and simulated ET trends at the

Rietholzbach catchment

Rietholzbach is a small experimental catchment

located in northeastern Switzerland. Hourly observations

of meteorological variables and runoff in the catchment

started in 1975, and they were successively

complemented with a weighing lysimeter, soil moisture

probes and flux-tower observations of energy fluxes,

representing a unique dataset for model testing.

Seneviratne et al. 2012, WRR

Fatichi et al. 2012, JAMES




Modeling the effect of vegetation on urban micro-

climate

Goals:

Set up and run CFD simulations for a specific urban

case study

Investigate the impact of different vegetation

characteristics and/or patterns on local micro-climate

Requirements: numerical modelling and coding skills (e.g.

OpenFOAM)

Supervisors: Gabriele Manoli ([email protected]),

Simone Fatichi ([email protected])

Vegetation can provide a beneficial cooling effect in cities

and green infrastructures are promoted worldwide to

improve local thermal comfort and mitigate the Urban Heat

Island (UHI) effect. However, to understand the impact of

vegetation on urban microclimate, a detailed modeling of

vegetation properties and mass and energy fluxes at the

neighborhood scale is required. Allegrini et al. (2016)

www.stefanoboeriarchitetti.net





Understanding the impacts of cities on local

precipitation

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/

Ashley et al. (2012)

Goals:

Collect and process data from weather radar and remote

sensing for a number of selected cities

Investigate how the urban environment modifies the

dependence between rainfall intensity and temperature

and identify spatial differences across cities

Requirements: data analysis skills, Matlab

Supervisors: Gabriele Manoli ([email protected]),

Nadav Peleg ([email protected]),

Simone Fatichi ([email protected])

Despite the rapid urbanization of our planet, our

understanding of anthropogenic effects in the urban micro-

climate are still limited. In particular, it is difficult to quantify

how city size, properties and functioning modifies the

spatio-temporal patterns of temperature, rainfall, and

surface energy fluxes






Modeling hydropower-induced flow alterations in an

Alpine catchment

Goals:

Investigate the effects of the operations of a complex Alpine

hydropower system, the Maggia river system (Tessin, CH), on

natural streamflow regime by simulating the catchment hydrology

pre and post dam construction.

Methods: time series analysis, hydrological modeling (Topkapi-ETH),

simulation of Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration (IHA) .

Requirements: skills in data analysis, Matlab programming, GIS,

hydrological modelling.

Supervisors: Daniela Anghileri ([email protected]).

Alpine hydropower operations is threatened by increasingly uncertain and

variable boundary conditions due to undergoing climate change and

increased energy production from renewables.

More flexible operations of hydropower reservoirs may expose

downstream riverine ecosystems to increased threats, thus exacerbating

the everlasting conflict between hydropower generation and environment

conservation.

Seasonality of monthly streamflow in the

Maggia catchment in pre-dam conditions

(natural) and in post-dam conditions

(from Molnar et al., 2008)

Luzzone reservoir

(photo: Claudio Bader)




Improving hydropower operations by using streamflow

forecasts

Goals:

Generate streamflow forecasts using meteorological forecasts

provided by MeteoSwiss and one or more hydrological models.

Test different bias correction methods to improve the forecast

accuracy in reproducing actual streamflow conditions.

Use the forecasts to inform the operations of a pumped-storage

hydropower system (Mattmark hydropower system, Valais).

Methods: time series analysis, hydrological modeling, water

resources management via optimization.

Requirements: skills in data analysis, Matlab programming,

knowledge in hydrological modeling and optimization techniques for

water management.

Supervisors: Daniela Anghileri ([email protected]), Paolo Burlando

([email protected])

Hydropower reservoir operations can be improved by considering

streamflow forecasts. The quality of the forecasts, i.e., the accuracy in

predicting the actual streamflow, significantly affects the decisions that can

be taken, thus determining the success or failure of the hydropower

reservoir management.

Precipitation forecasts.

Mattmark reservoir

POSSIBILE INTERNSHIP AT AXPO AG (BADEN)

For more info: see pdf.



https://cms-author.ethz.ch/content/dam/ethz/special-interest/baug/ifu/hydrology-dam/documents/master-theses/Thesis_internship_description_Axpo_2018.pdf



Methodology and implementation of hydropower

operation for power system simulation of Switzerland

Goals:

Compare methodologies for modeling and simulation of hydropower generators in a power system

Develop suggestions for computationally efficient methods that enable accurate simulation of

hydropower in Switzerland.

Requirements: experience in both power system simulation and hydrological systems operation, data

analysis skills, Matlab.

Supervisors: Joint supervision between the Chair of Hydrology and Water Resources Management and

the Research Center for Energy Networks.

For more info: see pdf and write to Daniela Anghileri ([email protected]).

The operating behaviors of hydropower generators often follow decisions based on a longer-term

outlook than all other generators in a power system. This behavior is based on limitations involving the

finite amount of water inflows available and an optimization to store these inflows over the year so that

electricity generation can occur during months with higher electricity prices.

https://cms-author.ethz.ch/content/dam/ethz/special-interest/baug/ifu/hydrology-dam/documents/master-theses/MA_2018_FS_02_Draft_v3.pdf


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