Water Management: Researching the Spread of Drought

Climate change is leading to more frequent droughts, which can affect water management, such as agriculture. Our customer and partner WSL/SLF analyzed data from 70 river catchment areas to understand how drought simultaneously influences river levels and groundwater levels.

They examined whether precipitation deficits lead to runoff deficits and ultimately groundwater deficits, with a focus on spatial extent. Their study found that 30 percent of precipitation deficits lead to low river levels, which in turn have a negative impact on groundwater in 40 percent of cases. The expectation that droughts would become more widespread with increasing duration did not hold true for groundwater, which surprised the researchers. This can be explained by differences in soil structure. In addition, aquifers can store large amounts of water. Even when rivers dry up, neighboring groundwater reservoirs may still be partially filled.

Sensors such as Decentlab's DL-MBX, DL-PR26 and DL-PR36 can be effectively used for water management such as river and groundwater levels.

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