About us

Our research activity on alpine fluvial variability started in 2001 with a Feodor-Lynen Postdoc Fellowship funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. Despite of a previous collaboration network for years, in December 2006 the FluVAlps Research Group has been established for the understanding of fluvial and geoecological dynamics of high mountain environments and for the contribution of data, particularly from natural archives, to the field of potential effects of climate change.

Macroscopic description and sampling of coarse-grained channel deposits and fine-grained overbank deposits of the Lombach fan delta (Berner Oberland, Switzerland; 09.09.2007, © by M. Oliva)

Figure 2: Macroscopic description and sampling of coarse-grained channel deposits and fine-grained overbank deposits of the Lombach fan delta (Berner Oberland, Switzerland; 09.09.2007, © by M. Oliva).

Today our multidisciplinary research group of physical geographer, geoecologists, geologists, historians, physics and climatologists integrates project full-members and associated members from Spain, Switzerland, Austria and Germany. Project coordination is hosted at the Department of Physical and Regional Geography of the University of Barcelona [schulte@ub.edu].

The present core activity is the FluVAlps-plus Project (Sensitivity of alpine rivers to Global Change: High-resolution palaeoenvironmental records and modelling of extreme flood events in the Swiss Alps) funded by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science. However, several group members coordinate or participate in other research projects on paleoclimate, paleoenvironment, Quaternary science, human-environment interactions and natural hazards in a broad range of mountain regions (e.g. Alps, The Andes, Pyrenees, Sierra Nevada) just as in lowlands (e.g. Neogene Betic basins, Ebro basin, Mediterranean coast).

The following institutions and enterprises participate in the FluVAlps-plus Project and related research activities:

  • University of Barcelona, Spain
  • University of Berne, Switzerland
  • Catalan Meteorology Survey, Spain
  • University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), Austria
  • Archaeological Survey Canton Berne, Switzerland
  • ICREA at the Rovira i Virgili University (Tarragona), Spain
  • Institute of Earth Science Jaume Almera, Barcelona, Spain
  • Ofiteco S.A., Madrid, Spain
  • Schmidt Information- and Webdesign, Düsseldorf, Germany
Relevant publications

Schulte, L. et al. 2019.

Integration of multi-archive datasets towards the development of a four-dimensional paleoflood model in alpine catchments.

Global and Planetary Change 180, 66-88.


Peña, J.C.; Schulte, L., 2020.

Simulated and reconstructed atmospheric variability and their relation with large Pre-industrial summer floods in the Hasli-Aare catchment (Swiss Alps) since 1300 CE.

Global and Planetary Change 190, 103191.


Schulte, L. et al., 2019.

Pluridisciplinary analysis and multi-archive reconstruction of paleofloods: societal demand, challenges and progress.

Global and Planetary Change 177, 225-238.


Blöschl, G. et al. 2020.

Current European flood-rich period exceptional compared with past 500 years.

Nature 583, 560–566 (2020).


Sánchez-García et al. 2019.

500-year flood history in the arid environments of south-eastern Spain. The case of the Almanzora River.

Global and Planetary Change, 102987.


Schulte, L. et al. 2015.

A 2600-year history of floods in the Bernese Alps, Switzerland: frequencies, mechanisms and climate forcing.

Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 19, 3047-3072.


Peña, J.C. et al. 2015.

Influence of solar forcing, climate variability and atmospheric circulation patterns on summer floods in Switzerland.

Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 19, 3807-3827.

Universitat de BarcelonaICREA - Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis AvançatsUniversität BernServei Meteorològic de CatalunyaGobierno de España - Ministerio de Educación y CienciaAlexander von Humboldt Foundation