Under the leadership of Dr. Ivo Baselt, the research group deals with various aspects of watercourses in alpine regions and the associated natural hazards. Alpine watercourses are an important interdisciplinary field of research due to their function as a link between alpine mass movements and watercourses. The spectrum of scientific research covers the following disciplines in particular:
- Geology, geography and geophysics: geological properties in the catchment area, hydrogeological properties of the soil, topography, land use
- Hydrology in the catchment area: seasonal climate, weather and temperature events, precipitation events and runoff formation
- Hydrodynamics in the torrent channel: measuring, analysing and forecasting water volumes, flow velocities and flow depths, deriving the relevant bed shear stresses
- Flood forecasting and management: development of methods for forecasting flood events in torrents, planning of flood protection and management measures
- Geomorphology and hydromorphodynamics: morphological characteristics of torrents, shape of the river bed and banks, investigation of sediment transport processes, erosion and sedimentation
- Torrent control: investigation and design of control and protection structures to prevent or mitigate natural hazards, river bed and bank stabilisation, river regulation, combined technical-biological protection measures, nature-based solutions, instream river training
- Ecology, aquatics and biodiversity: assessment of the impact of torrents on the surrounding ecology and biodiversity, research into the adaptation of plants and animals to the specific conditions of torrents
- Climate change adaptation: analysing the effects of climate change on alpine torrent catchment areas and developing adaptation strategies