Utrecht University

Fluvial morphology and hydrological processes

The Physical Geography department of Utrecht University has many years of experience in river studies. Research themes focus on fluvial morphology and hydrological processes at different spatial and temporal scales.

Age of the Holocene Channel belts in the Rhine-Meuse delta, The Netherlands

At the scale of the river delta the focus is on the dynamics of sedimentation. Using a database containing detailed information from 200,000 boreholes, a reconstruction of the Holocene paleogeograohy of the Rhine-Meuse delta has been established. Research on contemporary processes includes sediment transport within the river channel, channel morphology, overbank sedimentation and the deposition of pollutants on the floodplain.

GIS-embedded models

At the river basin scale, the discharge of water, sediment, nutritients and pollutants, and the boundary conditions controlling these processes are studied using GIS-embedded models. The River Rhine functions as a laboratory river for research, but other rivers in Europe and in various other parts of the world are studied as well.

Related Projects

Duration	#Research	Name	Status	Details	View
2012 - 2017	2	Delta Engineering: Drowning or Emerging	Finished	Details × Delta Engineering: Drowning or Emerging Duration From 2012 to 2017 Research Positions 2 Domains Description Long-term development of sedimentation in the 'Biesbosch' View project Close	View
2016 - 2021	2	Piping in practice	Active	Details × Piping in practice Duration From 2016 to 2021 Research Positions 2 Domains Geology Geosciences Hydrology Description Developing a generic method to predict piping hazard in a range of natural substrates with realistic heterogeneity, at the site and delta scale, using combined 3D subsurface View project Close	View
2015 - 2020	2	Floods of the Past, Design for the Future	Active	Details × Floods of the Past, Design for the Future Duration From 2015 to 2020 Research Positions 2 Domains River Studies Water Management Description Validation of GRADE using numerical studies of historical floods View project Close	View
2017 - 2021	18	All Risk	Active	Details × All Risk Duration From 2017 to 2021 Research Positions 18 Domains ecosystem-based flood management flood risk management Interdisciplinary Description All-Risk aims at supporting the ambitious Dutch Flood Protection Programme (HWBP) objectives when it comes to implementing new flood safety norms, which as of January 2017 are incorporated in the Water Law. The programme consists of 14 PhD research positions, and 4 postdoc research positions. It is set up as an interdisciplinary endeavour, bringing together researchers from engineering, geotechnical, spatial planning and social sciences disciplines. This will yield detailed, technical findings(e.g. 70% of time investment) and insights in integration and stakeholder collaboration (e.g. 30% of time investment). International collaboration with universities in Houston, Tokyo and Berlin will also take place. View project Close	View
2014 - 2019	21	RiverCare	Active	Details × RiverCare Duration From 2014 to 2019 Research Positions 21 Domains Interdisciplinary Water Management Description Rivercare is a research programme in which the partners of NCR with several other public and private parties collaborate to monitor the consequences of measures which 4re now constructed in the Room for the River programmeand the Delta Programme. The monitoring data will be used to improve the fundamental understanding of the behaviour of rivers, map the consequences of the measures for hydraulics, morphology and ecology and to improve the current models. The data, knowledge and models will be used to improve the design and maintenance of measures and cut costs of river management. View project Close	View

Related publications

ID	Year	Title	Authors	Details	View
34-2010	2010	NCR DAYS 2010 Book of Abstracts	E. Stouthamer (Ed.)	Details × NCR DAYS 2010 Book of Abstracts ID 34-2010 Year 2010 Authors E. Stouthamer (Ed.) Domains Abstract The book of abstracts for the NCR DAYS 2010, organised by Utrecht University View publication Close	View
40-2016	2016	RiverCare Knowledge Dissemination Days October 31 - November 2016	S.J.M.H. Hulscher, R. Schielen and D.C.M. Augustijn (Eds.)	Details × RiverCare Knowledge Dissemination Days October 31 - November 2016 ID 40-2016 Year 2016 Authors S.J.M.H. Hulscher, R. Schielen and D.C.M. Augustijn (Eds.) Domains Abstract This document contains a brief summary (the so-called two-pagers) of all the subprojects in RiverCare and serves as background information for the knowledge dissemination days on October 31 and November 1, 2016 and the mid-term review on November 2, 2016. RiverCare is a 5.7 million-euro research programme, in which universities, government, knowledge-institutes and high-end consultancy firms work together on the challenges in river research and river management. RiverCare was granted in 2013 by the Technology Foundation (STW) of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO), started effectively in 2014 and will end in December 2019. There are 16 PhD-students, 3 postdocs and 2 junior researchers working in RiverCare at 5 different universities in The Netherlands. View publication Close	View