Climate / Water / Soil

Abstract

Lectures, exercises and excursions serve as an introduction to atmospheric sciences, hydrology and soil science. Students gain a broad vision of the cutting edge topics that are being researched and studied at the Department of Environmental Systems Science at ETH, Eawag, WSL a.o. This will be the base for a future dialog between the field of landscape architecture and the field of sciences.

Objective

Students acquire basic knowledge in atmospheric sciences, hydrology and soil science: - Understanding basic chemical and physical processes in the atmosphere that influence weather and climate - Knowledge of water balance, principles of integral water management and climatic factors in the field of hydrology - Fundamentals about the classification of soils, soil-forming processes, physical and chemical soil properties, soil biology and ecology, soil degradation and protection Students develop an understanding of the relevance of these topics in the field of landscape architecture. Temporal and physical scale, research methods, units of measurement, lexicon, modes of representation and critical literature form the framework for the joint discourse.

Content

The course unit consists of the three courses "Climate", "Water" and "Soil", which are organized in modules. Module 1 “Climate”, 19.–23.09.2022 - Atmospheric dynamics: weather conditions, precipitation formation, weather forecast - Climate physics: past and future changes in global climate and scenarios for Switzerland - Land-climate dynamics: interaction between the land surface and the climate system - Hydrology and water cycle: extreme precipitation, influence of climate change on the cryosphere Module 2 “Water”, 26.09.–30.09.2022 Basics: - Water supply: water balance, groundwater, water quality (water protection) - Hydrological hazards: floods and drought - Water use: drinking water, hydropower, ecology - External influencing factors: human influence in the historical dimension, global change - “Hydrology of drought” and its impact on water resources. Hydrological profile of the northern side of the Alps: - Alpine region (Grimsel area): dominate role of snow and ice, dangerous processes, liquefaction of the water balance in the wake of climate change, uses (hydropower) and conflicts of use, new images of the Alpine region - From the Alps to the Mittelland (locations along the Aare): Lake Thun (role of lakes in the water cycle, river and lake shore planning), Uttigen (conflicts of use between groundwater use, flood protection, revitalization and modes of transport) & Seeland (Jura water correction, conflicts of use in the Seeland) - Jura (Reigoldswil region): Jurassic landforms, water in the karst, water supply in the karst Module 3 “Soil”, 3.10.–7.10.22 - Introduction to soils: definition, function, formation, classification and mapping - Soil physics: soil texture, soil structure, soil water potentials, hydraulic conductivity - Soil chemistry and fertility: clay minerals and oxides, cation exange capacity, soil pH, essential plant nutrients - Soil biology and ecology: soil fauna and microflora, fungi, bacteria, food web, organic matter - Soil degradation and threats to soil resources: erosion, compactation, sealing, contamination, salinization - Practical aspects of soil protection

Resources