Honorary Lecture - Prof. D. Andrew Barry
Date: 12 December 2023
Time: 18:00 - 19:00
Introduction by Dean Claudia R. Binder, lecture by Prof. D. Andrew Barry, conclusion by President Martin Vetterli. Followed by an Apero.
Place: CO1
Zoom link
Title:
“Up, Down and Around: How Hydrodynamics Controls Lake Geneva’s Water Quality in a Warming Climate”
Abstract
Basic physics explains the warming surface waters of the 309-m-deep Lake Geneva (le Léman) – warming increases buoyancy so that heat is trapped in the lake’s surface layer. However, the lake’s cold, less buoyant bottom layers are also warming. This observation is not anomalous, but rather exemplifies the complexity of the often-hidden hydrodynamic processes that govern the heat content and water quality of large lakes. Indeed, Lake Geneva is an archetype of temperate zone lakes, as was recognized well over 100 years ago by François-Alphonse Forel, the founder of limnology. Forel identified, measured and explained a type of subtle basin-scale motion (seiches) using the iconic Lake Geneva as an outdoor laboratory. And, to this day, Lake Geneva is an ideal example to showcase major hydrodynamic processes affecting large, deep lakes, including potential effects of climate warming.
About the speaker
D. Andrew Barry is an Australian whose career path included academic appointments in Australia, the US, and the UK. He joined EPFL in 2005, and led the Ecological Engineering Laboratory in the Institute of Environmental Engineering until 2023. His research fields traverse diverse aspects of environmental science and engineering, including soil science, vadose zone hydrology, surface hydrology, soil erosion, soil and groundwater contamination and physical limnology.
Time: 18:00 - 19:00
Introduction by Dean Claudia R. Binder, lecture by Prof. D. Andrew Barry, conclusion by President Martin Vetterli. Followed by an Apero.
Place: CO1
Zoom link
Title:
“Up, Down and Around: How Hydrodynamics Controls Lake Geneva’s Water Quality in a Warming Climate”
Abstract
Basic physics explains the warming surface waters of the 309-m-deep Lake Geneva (le Léman) – warming increases buoyancy so that heat is trapped in the lake’s surface layer. However, the lake’s cold, less buoyant bottom layers are also warming. This observation is not anomalous, but rather exemplifies the complexity of the often-hidden hydrodynamic processes that govern the heat content and water quality of large lakes. Indeed, Lake Geneva is an archetype of temperate zone lakes, as was recognized well over 100 years ago by François-Alphonse Forel, the founder of limnology. Forel identified, measured and explained a type of subtle basin-scale motion (seiches) using the iconic Lake Geneva as an outdoor laboratory. And, to this day, Lake Geneva is an ideal example to showcase major hydrodynamic processes affecting large, deep lakes, including potential effects of climate warming.
About the speaker
D. Andrew Barry is an Australian whose career path included academic appointments in Australia, the US, and the UK. He joined EPFL in 2005, and led the Ecological Engineering Laboratory in the Institute of Environmental Engineering until 2023. His research fields traverse diverse aspects of environmental science and engineering, including soil science, vadose zone hydrology, surface hydrology, soil erosion, soil and groundwater contamination and physical limnology.
Links
Practical information
- Informed public
- Registration required
Organizer
- SSIE - Christina Treier
Contact
- SSIE - Christina Treier