U. Scherer
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
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Publication
Featured researches published by U. Scherer.
Science of The Total Environment | 2017
Marc Schwientek; Hermann Rügner; U. Scherer; Michael Rode; Peter Grathwohl
The contamination of riverine sediments and suspended matter with hydrophobic pollutants is typically associated with urban land use. However, it is rarely related to the sediment supply of the watershed, because sediment yield data are often missing. We show for a suite of watersheds in two regions of Germany with contrasting land use and geology that the contamination of suspended particles with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) can be explained by the ratio of inhabitants residing within the watershed and the watersheds sediment yield. The modeling of sediment yields is based on the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE2015, Panagos et al., 2015) and the sediment delivery ratio (SDR). The applicability of this approach is demonstrated for watersheds ranging in size from 1.4 to 3000km2. The approach implies that the loading of particles with PAH can be assumed as time invariant. This is indicated by additional long-term measurements from sub-watersheds of the upper River Neckar basin, Germany. The parsimonious conceptual approach allows for reasonable predictions of the PAH loading of suspended sediments especially at larger scales. Our findings may easily be used to estimate the vulnerability of river systems to particle-associated urban pollutants with similar input pathways as the PAH or to indicate if contaminant point sources such as sites of legacy pollution exist in a river basin.
Archive | 2014
Axel Kleidon; Erwin Zehe; Uwe Ehret; U. Scherer
Planet Earth is a thermodynamic system far from equilibrium and its functioning—obviously—obeys the second law of thermodynamics, at the detailed level of processes, but also at the planetary scale of the whole system. Here, we describe the dynamics of the Earth system as the consequence of sequences of energy conversions that are constrained by thermodynamics. We first describe the well-established Carnot limit and show how it results in a maximum power limit when interactions with the boundary conditions are being allowed for. To understand how the dynamics within a system can achieve this limit, we then explore with a simple model how different configurations of flow structures are associated with different intensities of dissipation. When the generation of power and these different configuration of flow structures are combined, one can associate the dynamics towards the maximum power limit with a fast, positive and a slow, negative feedback that compensate each other at the maximum power state. We close with a discussion of the importance of a planetary, thermodynamic view of the whole Earth system, in which thermodynamics limits the intensity of the dynamics, interactions strongly shape these limits, and the spatial organization of flow represents the means to reach these limits.
Hydrology and Earth System Sciences | 2014
Erwin Zehe; Uwe Ehret; Laurent Pfister; Theresa Blume; Boris Schröder; Martijn Westhoff; Conrad Jackisch; Stanislaus J. Schymanski; Markus Weiler; Karsten Schulz; Niklas Allroggen; Jens Tronicke; L. van Schaik; Peter Dietrich; U. Scherer; Jana A. Eccard; Volker Wulfmeyer; Axel Kleidon
Hydrology and Earth System Sciences | 2013
Uwe Ehret; Hoshin V. Gupta; Murugesu Sivapalan; S. V. Weijs; Stanislaus J. Schymanski; Günter Blöschl; Alexander Gelfan; Ciaran J. Harman; Axel Kleidon; Thom Bogaard; Dingbao Wang; Thorsten Wagener; U. Scherer; Erwin Zehe; Marc F. P. Bierkens; G. Di Baldassarre; Juraj Parajka; L.P.H. van Beek; A. van Griensven; Martijn Westhoff; H. C. Winsemius
Hydrology and Earth System Sciences | 2013
Axel Kleidon; Erwin Zehe; Uwe Ehret; U. Scherer
Hydrology and Earth System Sciences | 2013
Erwin Zehe; Uwe Ehret; Theresa Blume; Axel Kleidon; U. Scherer; Martijn Westhoff
Water Science and Technology | 2003
U. Scherer; Stephan Fuchs; H. Behrendt; Thomas Hillenbrand
Archive | 2008
U. Scherer
Catena | 2012
U. Scherer; Erwin Zehe; Klaus Träbing; Kai Gerlinger
Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions | 2014
Erwin Zehe; Uwe Ehret; Laurent Pfister; Theresa Blume; Boris Schröder; Martijn Westhoff; Conrad Jackisch; Stanislaus J. Schymanski; Markus Weiler; Karsten Schulz; Niklas Allroggen; Jens Tronicke; Peter Dietrich; U. Scherer; J. Eccard; Volker Wulfmeyer; Axel Kleidon