NRP 02 "Fundamental Problems of Swiss Hydrologic Cycle"

​The National Research Programme "Fundamental Problems of Swiss Hydrologic Cycle" (NRP 02) was divided into a range of sub-programmes:

• Part A: "Problems of lake stratification and flow" – obtaining deeper understanding of mixing and hydraulic effects in lakes to underpin planning of water inlets and outlets.
• Part B: "Quantitative and qualitative aspects of groundwater supply" – development of methods to determine the productivity of groundwater sources and to record changes in quality as a result of infiltration processes.
• Part C: "Assessment of riparian outflows at locations with no direct measurement" – in particular in relation to torrent control, river engineering, water pollution control, recent times have revealed an increased need for information on extreme outflows into smaller and larger waterbodies and understanding of the outflow behaviour in catchment areas.
• Part D: "Use of natural heat from groundwater sources" – the energy crisis and the resulting research into renewable energy sources turned attention to the heat available in groundwater sources. The high level of interest in the capacity of groundwater sources to provide heat generated questions in response to which there was a lack of key decision-making information at both national and cantonal levels. To close this knowledge gap, there was an urgent need for special scientific and practical approaches.

Final programme reports

• Programme Part A: Schichtungs- und Strömungsverhältnisse in Seen, Projektschlussberichte in "Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Hydrologie" Vol. 45, Nr. 1, 1985
• Programme Part B: Grundwasserdargebot: quantitative und qualitative Aspekte, Projektschlussberichte in "Gas, Wasser, Abwasser"; Nr. 9/83 und Nr. 5/1984/5
• Programme Part C: Abschätzung der Abflüsse in Fliessgewässern an Stellen ohne Direktmessung, Projektschlussberichte in den Beiträgen zur Geologie; Schweiz-Hydrolgie Nr. 33/1986, VerlagKümmerly+Frey, Bern
• Programme Part D: Nutzung der natürlichen Wärme von Grundwasservorkommen. Dieser Schlussbericht ist 1989 erschienen.