The overall objective of the research unit is to provide a new framework for building hydrological models that allows a much more realistic representation of the surface and especially subsurface architecture of catchments at the lower mesoscale (10–200 km2).

The key methodology is to combine:

a) recent observation and exploration technology from soil physics, geophysics, remote sensing and (tracer) hydrology.

b) our understanding of landscape formation and soil structure formation.

c) physically based process models as learning tools to assess novel information on surface and subsurface structures as well as on distributed process dynamics.

Key theoretical objective is to develop a model and mathematical framework that allows better integration of this information into the model identification process and thus facilitates communication between experimentalists and modellers. Research will be conducted in the hydrological observatory “Attert basin” that has been operated by the Gabriel Lippmann Research Institute in Luxemburg since 2003 and is among the best investigated basins in the World.

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Subproject A

Interpreting dominant processes at the mesoscale with a top-down approach using flexible model structures for hypothesis testing

Subproject B

Dynamic pattern of land-surface characteristics related to water/energy fluxes at the hillslope and small catchment scale using remote sensing

Subproject C

Quantitative Precipitation Estimation (QPE) by exploiting the potential of advanced radar observations and high-resolution data assimilation

Subproject D

Thermodynamics and soil-vegetation-atmosphere transfer processes

Subproject F

From structures to parameters: geophysical exploration at the hillslope and catchment scale

Subproject G

Linking internal pattern dynamics and integral responses - Identification of dominant controls with a strategic sampling design

Subproject H

Residence times across scales: from plot to catchment scale

Subproject I

From subsurface structures to functions and texture - linking virtual realities and experiments at the plot and hillslope scales

Subproject J

Biogenic soil structures: feedbacks between bioactivity and spatial heterogeneity of water storage and fluxes from plot to hillslope scale

The Attert basin is located in the midwestern part of the Grand-duchy of Luxembourg and has a total surface area of 288 km² at the outlet in Bissen. It constitutes a major sub-basin of the Alzette River basin (1176 km²). The Attert basin lies in the contact zone between the schistous Ardennes massif (northern part, called Oesling) and the sedimentary Paris Basin (southern part, called Gutland).