Laboratories and testing facilities

The Department of Geography has various laboratories and testing facilities that are used for research and teaching. The laboratories are located in the department’s basement, while other testing facilities such as the laboratory flume, a weather station and a hydrological measuring weir are based at the Frankenforst research site.

Laboratories

Analyses for research projects or (doctoral) theses in the fields of soil physics, soil chemistry and water chemistry are conducted in the Department of Geography’s laboratories. Besides its main chemistry laboratory, the department also has a laboratory for soil physics as well as other laboratories used by the various working groups.

Students can familiarize themselves with a variety of laboratory methods in methodological and project seminars and analyze water, soil and sediment samples independently. The laboratories can also be used to process samples for bachelor’s or master’s theses.

A student in lab clothes stands in the lab and conducts an experiment
© Friederike Pauk/GIUB

More on the laboratories

Soil chemical analyses:

  • Carbonate analyses (Scheibler)
  • Cation exchange capacity
  • Metals with AAS
  • Anions with IC
  • pH
  • Electric conductivity
  • Orthophosphate (with Photometer)
  • Soil organic content (glow residue)

Water chemical analyses:

  • pH
  • Electric conductivity
  • Acid and alkali capacities
  • Anions with IC (NO3, NO2, SO4, Cl)
  • Total and orthophosphate
  • Metals with AAS

Room: 042

Technical assistant: Camilla Kurth

Soil physical analyses:

  • Grain size analyses (Laser Horiba L950)
  • Analysis of saturated hydraulic conductiviy
  • Pore volumes
  • Soil water content
  • Analysis of soil suction (on demand only)
  • Microplastic of sediments (density separation, digital microscope)

Room: 033

Technical assistant: Gabriele Kraus

Dendroecology laboratory

Landscape ecology laboratories

Two students work with climatic measuring devices in the field. They hold up the anemometers to measure the wind speed.
© Friederike Pauk/GIUB © Friederike Pauk/GIUB

Frankenforst research site

Since 1999 the Frankenforst agricultural teaching and research site is used for research and teaching conducted by the Department of Geography. Various hydrological and climatological measuring stations have been set up for teaching and research purposes. Also open-profile pits for soil analysis can be found there. The Frankenforst research site situated on the right bank of the Rhine, around 10 km south-east of Bonn.

Departmental weather station

The departmental weather station is mainly used for teaching purposes and measures various climate parameters such as temperature, humidity, precipitation, sunlight and wind direction/speed. Soil sensors are also installed to record the temperature and moisture content of the soil.

Climate station in front of the department
© Antonia Hoffmann/GIUB

Contact

Avatar Giertz

Dr. Simone Giertz

Head of Laboratories, Research Site Frankenforst

0.034 (110)

Meckenheimer Allee 166

53115 Bonn

Avatar Schoch-Baumann

Dr. Anna Schoch-Baumann

Head Equipment Pool, Climate Station Department

0.035 (109)

Meckenheimer Allee 166

53115 Bonn

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