PIs: Christian Salles, Pierre Marchand

This research action focuses on the development and application of models to understand how the sources and fluxes of chemical and microbiological react to land use and climatic changes.

This is achieved by identifying those human activites that contribute to contaminant generation and assessing the role of urban structures and schemes on contaminant storage via appropriate modelling. In a second phase, contaminant accumulation and mobilization within urban watercourses and hydraulic structures will be characterized. This requires the development of in situ observation protocols for dissolved and suspended matter during rainfall events and the characterization of physico-chemical processes such as sorption and degradation.

Littoral conurbations are a typical application example, with watershed hydrology and dynamics exerting a strong influence on bathing water quality.