Naef, Felix, Dr.

Dr. Felix Naef is a senior research associate at the institute of Hydromechanics and Water Resources Management. Born in 1947, he earned his diploma in Civil Engineering in 1971 and his Ph.D. degree in 1977 both from ETH Zurich. The title of his Ph.D. thesis is “Comparison of mathematical rainfall runoff models”. His professional career took him to Uganda and Kenya as a consultant for UNDP/WMO, to Ecuador, Pakistan, and Baghdad among others. A prominent project was the evaluation, development, installation and instruction of a mathematical model for the upper Indus river in the UNDP/WMO project "Improvement of the flood forecasting and flood warning system for the Indus river basin in Pakistan (1977-1979). From 1980 to 1983 he served as head of the Hydrological Models and Operational Forecasts section in the Laboratory of Hydraulics, Hydrology and Glaciology at ETH Zurich. He was responsible for developing software and issuing operational forecasts for the Rhine River and different Alpine catchments. His major research subject is runoff formation and its implications for modelling. He has been overseeing a number of Ph.D. theses and is author of many articles in international journals. He serves on two committees of the VSS and VSA on surface runoff.

Research Projects

• Development of a hydro-pedological information system
• The relevance of subsurface storm flow for runoff generation
• Hydrological modelling of floods based on the mosaic of dominant runoff processes

Recent Publications

Naef, F. (2003) Unterschiedliche Regendatenauswertungen? Stellungnahme der VSS-Expertenkommission Entwässerun, Gas, Wasser, Abwasser, 12.

Scherrer, S. and Naef, F. (2003) “Decision scheme to indicate dominant hydrological flow processes on temperate grassland”, Hydrological Processes, 17(2), 391-401.

Weiler, M. and Naef, F. (2003) “An experimental tracer study of the role of macropores in infiltration in grassland soils”, Hydrological Processes, 17(2), 477-493.

Weiler, M. and Naef, F. (2003) “Simulating surface and subsurface initiation of macropore flow”, Journal of Hydrology, 273(1-4), 139-154.

Naef, F. (2002) Kapitel "Hydrologische Grundlagen und Hinweise zur Retention", Regenwasserentsorgung, Richtlinie zur Versickerung, Retention und Ableitung von Niederschlagswasser in Siedlungsgebieten, Verband Schweizer Abwasser- und Gewässerschutzfachleute.

Naef, F. (2002) Chapt. 2.2 "The potential of land use changes and floodplain retention to reduce flood peaks in the Rhine River", In: Development of Methodologies for the Analysis of the Efficiency of Flood Reduction Measures in the Rhine Basin on the Basis of Reference Floods, Main results of the IRMA SPONGE research program. NCR-publication 18-2002, pp. 31, ISSN 1568-234X.

Naef, F.; Scherrer, S. and Weiler, M. (2002) “A process based assessment of the potential to reduce flood runoff by land use change“, Journal of Hydrology, 267(1-2), 74-79.

Naef, F.; Thoma, C. (2002) Dämpfung von Hochwasserspitzen in Fliessgewässern, Blatt 5.9 Hydrologischer Atlas der Schweiz.

Scherrer, S., Naef, F., 2002: A decision scheme to identify dominant flow processes at the plot-scale for the evaluation of contributing areas at the catchments-scale. Hydrological Processes, Vol. 17, Issue 2, p. 391-401.

Weiler M., Naef F., 2002: Verification of flow processes in soils with combined sprinkling and dye tracer experiments. Hydrological Processes, Vol. 17, Issue 2, p. 477-493.

Scherrer, S. and Naef, F. (2001) A Decision Scheme to identity dominant flow processes for the evaluation of contributing areas at the catchment scale, Freiburger Schriften zur Hydrologie 13, 11-16.

Weiler M., Scherrer S., Thoma C., Fackel P., Naef F., 2000: The potential to influence runoff processes by changes in land-use. In: Bronstert A., Bismuth Ch., Menzel L. (ed.): Proceedings of European conference on advances in flood research, Vol.1, Potsdam Institute for climate impact research, 286-295.

Naef, F., Scherrer, S., Thoma, C., Weiler, W., Fackel, P., 2000: Die Beurteilung von Einzugsgebieten und ihren Teilflächen nach der Abflussbereitschaft unter Berücksichtigung der landwirtschaftlichen Nutzung - aufgezeigt an drei Einzugsgebieten in Rheinland-Pfalz. Untersuchung im Auftrag des Landesamts für Wasserwirtschaft, Rheinland Pfalz. IHW Bericht B 003.
Publications of group.

Naef, F., Scherrer, S., Fackel, P., (1999) Abflussprozesse – wichtige Bausteine bei der Abflussmodellierung. In: Koehler, G. (edit.), Bemessungsabflüsse für kleine Einzugsgebiete, Berichte 9, Universität Kaiserslautern, S. 253 - 266.

Weiler M., Scherrer S., Naef F., Burlando P., 1999: Hydrograph separation of runoff components based on measuring hydraulic state variables, tracer experiments, and weighting methods. IAHS Publ. No. 258, 249-256.

Weiler M., Naef F., Leibundgut Ch., 1998: Study of runoff generation on hillslopes using tracer experiments and a physically-based numerical hillslope model. In: Hydrology, Water Resources and Ecology in headwaters, IAHS Publ. No. 248, 353-360.

Faeh, A.O., Scherrer, S. and Naef, F., 1997: A combined field and numerical approach to investigate flow processes in natural macroporous soils under extreme precipitation. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 4, 787-800.

Faeh, A.O., Scherrer, S. and Naef, F., 1996: Bodenwasserhaushalt und Hochwasserbildung – Resultate von Beregnungsversuchen. Interpraevent 1996, Bd. 1, 113-124.

Naef, F., Scherrer, S. and Faeh, A. 1994: Wie reagiert ein Einzugsgebiet auf extreme Niederschläge? Alte und neue Ideen und Experimente. In: Beiträge zur Hydrologie der Schweiz, Nr. 35, Gedenkschrift Hans Keller, 111-119.

Naef, F. and Faeh, A., 1992: Hochwasser. Herausgegeben von der Programmleitung NFP31, Klimaänderungen und Naturkatastrophen, 35 S.