Applied Physical Geography and Environmental Modeling Group
Workgroup

Workgroup
Prof. Dr. Ralf Ludwig's Applied Physical Geography and Environmental Modelling working group deals with the modeling of hydrological systems and regional effects of climate change. The modeling is supported by globally distributed measurement networks. Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is also firmly rooted in the working group with the el mundo program.
In environmental modeling, numerical computer models are used to describe complex natural systems and their interactions. This serves both to improve our understanding of processes and to investigate anthropogenic activities and their impact on our environment. Projections of future changes based on scenarios are an essential tool to provide a basis for decision-making on mitigation and adaptation. The focus of the working group is on investigating the effects of land use changes, management strategies and climate change on the water cycle and integrated water resource management.
Physically based models are used for hydrological modeling (especially WaSiM-ETH; http://www.wasim.ch), which operate at a high spatial and temporal resolution. This makes it possible to analyze the effects of land use change and climate change on the water balance of river catchment areas, as well as changes in extreme hydrological events such as floods and low water. In addition to physically-based models, alternative model approaches are also being tested with the help of machine learning.
We use regional climate models with a high spatial resolution for our analyses of the effects of climate change. Compared to global climate models, these offer a significantly higher level of detail and can therefore better depict processes and regional effects at the interface between the land surface and the atmosphere. Such a finer representation of the topography is particularly important in the Alpine region. Our focus is on ensemble approaches, in particular single-model initial-condition large ensembles (SMILEs). These allow us to estimate the natural variability of the climate system. In terms of content, we analyze hydro-meteorological extreme events such as heavy precipitation and floods, compound events such as the simultaneous occurrence of heat and drought, and the relationship between large-scale circulation and regional extreme events.
Further methodological research focuses on remote sensing, which is used, for example, to record the dynamics of the land surface in permafrost regions, to monitor forest regeneration strategies, to describe the development of (renewable) energy systems or to provide model parameters for hydrological modeling.
In addition to Europe-wide applications, the working group focuses on regional applications in Bavaria and the Alps, in the Mediterranean region and in Central and North America.
The el mundo program is dedicated to sustainability in studies and teaching and firmly anchors education for sustainable development (ESD) in the university landscape and schools through innovative teaching and learning opportunities. With el mundo, LMU student teachers can study the interdisciplinary certificate program “Education for Sustainable Development in Teaching”. This will enable them to register for the state examination in the ESD extension subject as soon as the LPO amendment has been completed (expected in 02/2025). el mundo focuses on participatory learning methods that actively involve students in the design process. With this focus, el mundo is responding to the growing demand from science, politics and society to establish sustainability as an overarching educational goal. The eLearning courses from el mundo DIGITAL can be completed asynchronously and offer all university members the opportunity to deal with various sustainability topics asynchronously and with their own focus: https://www.geo.lmu.de/elmundo/en/
Professor of Applied Physical Geography, Dean of Studies