Dr. Daniel Altdorff

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(Hydrogeophysics, University of Basel Switzerland)

Investigating of soil moisture at different scales by near surface geophysical methods (EMI, GPR); measuring and simulation of hydrological processes under different climate and land use conditions (EMI and GPR supported), noninvasive investigation of peatland properties using GPR and EMI; processing and visualization of various geophysical data sets at different scales.

May 2021 – present, Senior scientist UFZ Leipzig – Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research GmbH Department of Computational Hydrosystems, Leipzig, Germany / Universität Potsdam Institute of Environmental Science and Geography Subsurface Hydrology: Large Scale Soil Moisture Mapping and Monitoring using mobile Cosmic-Ray Neutron Sensing (CRNS), Establishment of a CRNS network in Brandenburg, Head of the Department Prof. Sabine Attinger / Prof. Sascha E. Oswald

May 2020 – April 2021, Team Leader Ground Penetrating Radar Group, Drilling Technology Lab, Department of Process Engineering Memorial University of Newfoundland St. John’s NL, Canada: Developing and evaluation of semi-directional borehole radar system; GPR imaging and 3D interpolation, project planning and team lead, conducting and managing the research of Highly Qualified Personnel, liaising with industrial collaborators, contributing to the development of budgets and research activity schedules/milestones, and procurement and requisitions for project purchases and research activities, Head of the Lab Prof. Steve Butt

Feb 2020 – May 2020, Transition from Grenfell Campus to the Department of Process Engineering Memorial University of Newfoundland St. John’s NL, CanadaJune 2015 – April 2020 2nd Postdoctoral position Boreal Ecosystem Research Initiative, Grenfell Campus, Memorial University, Corner Brook NL, Canada: Investigating of soil moisture at different scales by near surface geophysical methods (EMI, GPR); measuring and simulation of hydrological processes under different climate and land use conditions (EMI and GPR supported), noninvasive investigation of peatland properties using GPR and EMI; processing and visualization of various geophysical data sets at different scales, Supervision Prof. Adrian Unc, Prof. Lakshman Galagedara

March and April 2020, Guest scientist at the Natural Resources Institute Finland – Luke, Finland: Preparation of a research – industry – project: ILLIAS – Instrumented Levitate LIght Area Surveys: a project towards overcoming the limitations of surface-based soil property mapping (using EMI and GPR) and preparation of further project proposals as intercontinental connected project between EU member states and Canada

March and April 2019, Guest scientist at the Natural Resources Institute Finland – Luke, Finland: Expertise transfer and preparation of a proposal for the European Cooperation in Science and Technology – COST Action “Boreal Land-Use Change and Agricultural Adaptation Network”

May 2012 – May 2015, 1st Postdoctoral position Helmholtz Association Forschungszentrum Jülich, Agrosphere (IBG-3) Institute of Bio and Geosciences, Germany: Investigation of hydrological processes and properties (e.g. soil moisture content and organics) at various scales using hydrogeophysics (EMI, GPR, ERT); remote sensing (UAV) geophysics, high resolution tree root detection by GPR; EMI inversion, Supervision Prof. Jan Van der Kruk, Prof. Sander Huisman

March 2012, PhD defense in Hydrogeophysics, University of Basel, Switzerland: Thesis: “Combination of hydro-geophysical methods for delineation of characteristic structures in subsoil” (magna cum laude), Reviewer: Prof. Peter Huggenberger University Basel, Switzerland, Prof. Anthony Endres, University Waterloo, Canada

Feb – Nov 2011, Visiting PhD student, University of Waterloo, Department Earth and Environmental Science, Canada: Time lapse near surface geophysics (EMI, ERT) for hydrological process characterization. Supervision  Prof. Anthony Endres

Jan 2008 –  Dec 2011, PhD student, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Department Monitoring and Exploration Techniques, Germany (training post) in cooperation with the Applied and Environmental Geology Department of Environmental Sciences, University Basel,  Switzerland (University): Near surface geophysics, hydrogeophysics and hydrogeological field methods for process characterization, numeric groundwater flow simulations, several drilling techniques for groundwater and soil sampling; Supervision Prof. Peter Dietrich, University Tubingen / Germany and Prof. Peter Huggenberger University Basel / Switzerland

August 2007, Diploma thesis in hydrogeology, University of Leipzig / Germany in cooperation with Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Leipzig, Department Hydrogeology: Thesis: “Detection and assessment of nitrogen and phosphorous inflow by groundwater into the urban freshwater lake” (in German). Numeric groundwater flow simulations using soil and groundwater samples for model parametrization. Supervision Prof. Walter Glaeser (University Leipzig), Dr. Gerhard Strauch (Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Leipzig)

Oct 2002 – Sep 2007, University of Leipzig / University of Halle, Germany, study of geology, hydrogeology and applied geophysics

Publications

https://www.uni-potsdam.de/de/umwelt/institut/alle-mitarbeiterinnen/altdorff-daniel

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Daniel-Altdorff

Blog

project

Initial assessment of a new research farm: Pye Farm, Labrador

Labrador (the mainland portion of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador) is a sparsely populated but actively growing region of Canada. Like Yukon and northern Ontario, Labrador offers a snapshot…

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Expansion of Agriculture in Northern Cold-Climate Regions: A Cross-Sectoral Perspective on Opportunities and Challenges

Unc A, Altdorff D, Abakumov E, Adl S, Baldursson S, Bechtold M, Cattani DJ, Firbank LG, Grand S, Guðjónsdóttir M, Kallenbach C, Kedir AJ, Li P, McKenzie DB, Misra D, Nagano H,…

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Agriculture in boreal and Arctic regions requires an integrated global approach for research and policy

Altdorff D, Borchard N, Young EH, Galagedara L, Quideau S, Unc A. 2021. Agronomy for Sustainable Development 41:23. doi:10.1007/s13593-021-00676-1 (link to article) Under food security concerns and accelerated global warming, northern regions are becoming new…

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Depth Sensitivity of Apparent Magnetic Susceptibility Measurements using Multi-coil and Multi-frequency Electromagnetic Induction

K. Sadatcharam, D. Altdorff, A. Unc, M. Krishnapillai and L. Galagedara, Journal of Environmental and Engineering Geophysics, 2020 Vol. 25 Issue 3 Pages 301-314 https://doi.org/10.32389/JEEG20-001 Apparent magnetic susceptibility (MSa) as…

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Comparison of Multi-Frequency and Multi-Coil Electromagnetic Induction (EMI) for Mapping Properties in Shallow Podsolic Soils

D. Altdorff, K. Sadatcharam, A. Unc, M. Krishnapillai and L. Galagedara Sensors 2020 Vol. 20 Issue 8  DOI: 10.3390/s20082330 Electromagnetic induction (EMI) technique is an established method to measure the…

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Effect of Biochar Application Rates on the Hydraulic Properties of an Agricultural-Use Boreal Podzol

D. Altdorff, L. Galagedara, J. Abedin and A. Unc, Soil Systems 2019 Vol. 3 Issue 3, https://doi.org/10.3390/soilsystems3030053 Boreal agriculture struggles with soils of lower agronomic value, most of which are…

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Northward shift of the agricultural climate zone under 21st-century global climate change

King M, Altdorff D, Li P, Galagedara L, Holden J, Unc A. 2018. Scientific Reports 8: 7904, doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-26321-8 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-26321-8 As agricultural regions are threatened by climate change, warming of high latitude regions and increasing food…

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Effect of agronomic treatments on the accuracy of soil moisture mapping by electromagnetic induction

D. Altdorff, L. Galagedara, M. Nadeem, M. Cheema and A. Unc, CATENA 2018 Vol. 164 Pages 96-106, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2017.12.036 Electromagnetic induction (EMI) is an established method for mapping field-scale soil water…

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Impact of projected land conversion on water balance of boreal soils in western Newfoundland

D. Altdorff, L. Galagedara and A. Unc, Journal of Water and Climate Change 2017 Vol. 8 Issue 4 Pages 613-626, https://doi.org/10.2166/wcc.2017.016 Conversion of boreal forest into agricultural land is likely…

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Organic Waste in Newfoundland and Labrador: A Review of Available Agriculture, Fishery, Forestry and Municipal Waste Literature.

Butler, Lesley, Altdorff, Daniel, Young, Erika, Galagedara, Lakshman, Hawboldt, Kelly, Helleur, Robert J., Unc, Adrian (2017)  Research Report. Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador; https://www.mun.ca/harriscentre/media/production/memorial/administrative/the-harris-centre/media-library/reports/UNC_WASTE_15-16.pdf Re-­utilisation of organic waste is globally widely employed to maximize…