28 May 2026

Photo: Privat

On May 28, Annika Nolte has successfully completed her PhD thesis with the title "Global Coastal Groundwater Dynamics and Predictive Modeling Based on Harmonized In Situ Groundwater Level Observations."

The research draws on globally harmonized groundwater level data from around half a million coastal monitoring locations to generate comparable evidence on coastal groundwater systems worldwide. It assesses risks of seawater intrusion, identifies recurring patterns of groundwater level behavior, and evaluates the potential of deep learning for large-scale groundwater level prediction. The findings demonstrate how observation-based data can advance our understanding of groundwater dynamics from regional to global scales — while also revealing where current data limitations remain a challenge.

The dissertation was supervised by Prof. Dr. Jens Hartmann (UHH), with co-supervision by Dr. Laurens Bouwer and Apl.-Prof. Dr. Steffen Bender (Gerics/Hereon).

We congratulate Dr. Annika Nolte on this outstanding achievement and wish her all the best for the next chapter!