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GeoForschungsZentrum (GFZ)
GFZ Potsdam was founded in 1992 after the reunification of Germany as one of the three new “Großforschungseinrichtungen” in Eastern Germany. The interdisciplinary structure combining all geoscientific disciplines has been the outstanding characteristic of the GFZ from the beginning. The GFZ employs a broad spectrum of methods and technologies ranging from satellites for earth observation to geophysical deep sounding, to sophisticated laboratory experiments under in-situ conditions and mathematical concepts for modelling of natural processes. The GFZ currently has about 620 employees. Most of the GFZ research is carried out in broad national and international collaboration. Natural hazards like earthquakes, volcanism, landslides and floods are one of the main research fields of the GFZ, with the focus on mitigation especially in densely populated areas.
Since 2000 the GFZ has been heading the German Research Network Natural Disasters (DFNK, dfnk.gfz-potsdam.de) where valuable expertise in the field of multi-risk assessment has been gained. This research is continued on a Germany-wide level within the Centre for Disaster Management and Risk Reduction Technology (CEDIM) which was set up by the GFZ and the University of Karlsruhe. The GFZ has also played a central role in recent research projects on a global scale. For example, within the framework of the Global Seismic Hazard Assessment Program (GSHAP), a UN-IDNDR initiative of ILP, the GFZ has been chosen as the regional centre for Europe. Within this project uniform seismic hazard maps for Europe and the whole world have been obtained. With the organization of the “International IDNDR-Conference on Early Warning Systems (EWC 98)” and through being represented in the Early Warning Working Group of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR), the GFZ has taken over a leading function internationally, in the field of early warning systems for natural disasters.
The Section 5.4 Engineering Hydrology develops methods for the assessment of geo-risks, like floods, mass movements and erosion. These assessments are based on the characterization of hydrological processes by linking monitoring (hydrometric, remote sensing, geophysical and geochemical observations and analyses) and hydrological simulation. In this context, one research focus of the section is on regional-scale and global-scale hydrological modelling of the terrestrial water balance and of water storage by use of complementary remote sensing data.
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