Project description
A recent study (McCormick et al., 2021) quantified the extent to which woody plants use water from pores and fractures in bedrock. This process has important implications for local hydrology, as it may reduce surface runoff, alter evapotranspiration rates, and influence snowmelt dynamics. This can result in changes in flood peaks and discharge timing. These effects of the uptake of water by woody plants of water from bedrock still need to be quantified. Therefore, this masters project will aim to investigate the role of vegetation on bedrock is within the hydrological cycle. In order to achieve this, different areas with and without vegetation will need to be analyzed using hydrological parameters such as run-off, snow melt, floods and evaporation. The analysis will focus on sites in Norway, where large, publicly available environmental and hydrological datasets are accessible. The analyses will be conducted using Python and GIS software (QGIS/ArcGIS).
ReferenceMcCormick, E.L., Dralle, D.N., Hahm, W.J. et al. Widespread woody plant use of water stored in bedrock
Proposed course plan during the master's degree (60 ECTS)
 Hydrogeology (10 ECTS, course is still to be formally registered) - Spring
 Hydrology, Ground Water and Geohazards (10 ECTS) - Fall
 Geohazards (10 ECTS) - Fall
 Data analysis in earth science (10 ECTS) – Spring
 Environmental geochemistry (10 ECTS) - Fall
 Practical Skills in Remote Sensing and Spatial analysis (10 ECTS) - Spring
°¿±è³Ù¾±´Ç²Ô²¹±ô:Ìý Scientific writing and communication in Earth Science (5 ECTS) - Fall
Student
Henrik Lien
Supervisors
Elco Luijendijk (main supervisor)
Jesse van den Berg, ºÚÁϳԹÏ×ÊÔ´-GEO