Connecting Surface Processes to landscape and global environments
The Physical Geography and Environmental Change Research group at the University of Basel explores the processes that shape and change Earth surface and their impacts on local regional and the global environment. To achieve this aim, experiments, monitoring, and remote sensing are combined to effectively link surface processes to global change by providing complementary data across different scales:
![[Translate to English:] 1](https://pguw.duw.unibas.ch/fileadmin/_processed_/7/7/csm_Puzzle_2_fa93dd50d4.jpg)
- Experiments (in labs or in the field) help scientists understand specific physical processes—like soil erosion or sediment transport—under controlled conditions.
- Monitoring with ground-based instruments offers continuous, high-resolution data over time (e.g., river flow rates, glacier movement), capturing how landscapes respond to environmental changes.
- Remote sensing (from satellites or drones) provides broad spatial coverage and frequent observations, allowing scientists to track large-scale changes like deforestation, glacial retreat, or urban expansion.
Together, these methods allow researchers to test hypotheses, observe real-time changes, and scale up local observations to regional and global levels, strengthening our understanding of how Earth’s surface processes contribute to and are affected by global change.