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7.2. ENVIRONMENT

HYDROSPHERE RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE GROUP

Presentation of the RI group
The Carpathian Basin as a catchment area plays a major role in the water management and environmental protection
of Central Europe. The research and development activities of existing infrastructures in the region are coordinated by
DANUBIUS-RI, a forming pan-European initiative.
Several Hungarian institutions perform world-class research on continental surface waters. This work includes the mea-
surement of water quality; the routine execution of complex research ensuring water security; environmental and nature
protection focused expert support for social interventions affecting aquatic habitats and wetlands; multilevel examina-
tion of aquatic invertebrates and cold blooded vertebrates; chemical and biological qualification of surface waters; ex-
amination of sediments; characterisation of chemical and microbiological health risks of drinking water, bathing water
and therapeutic water. Important research areas: sustainable water and river basin management; geothermal energy
utilisation; hydrogeochemistry; karst hydrogeology; ground water-related disaster management issues; research on
basin water flow systems to better understand the processes of shallow and deep water resources; biological and min-
eralogical research on epigenic and hypogenic karts, caves and precipitations; and natural radioactivity in waters and
precipitations.
Research tasks especially include the processing and interpretation of measured and archive data; stationary and transient
fluid and heat transport modelling; time series research; hydrodynamic and transport modelling; development of mon-
itoring systems; and environmental risk analysis.

National coordinator of the RI group: Background information
Eötvös Loránd University, Cooperative Research Centre for Environmental Széchenyi István University, Eötvös Loránd University, Institute
Sciences of Geography and Earth Sciences and Centre for Ecological Re-
search, Hungarian Academy of Sciences ,Duna Research Institute
Contact: Gyula Záray take part in the preparatory stage of the DANUBIUS-RI project.
Email: zaray@chem.elte.hu DANUBIUS-RI brings together research infrastructures dealing
Website: http://kkkk.elte.hu/ with European river–sea systems by developing them and estab-
lishing new analytical, monitoring and data modelling centres.
Partners: Centre for Ecological Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences,
Balaton Limnological Institute; and Danube Research Institute; National Aim of the RI group
Institute of Environmental Health; Hungarian Mining and Geological Ser- Participation in the development of methods for the evaluation of
vice, Hydrogeology Department; Eötvös Loránd University, Institute of Ge- ecological conditions and in the evaluation of the ecological con-
ography and Earth Sciences; University of Szeged, Hydrogeology and dition of our waters in line with the EU VKI River Basin Manage-
Geothermal Research Group; University of Miskolc Institute of Environ- ment Plan, and participation in the Joint Danube Survey projects.
mental Management; Széchenyi István University; Budapest University of To keep track of the biological and chemical changes in the water
Technology and Economics, Department of Hydraulic and Water Resources ecosystem, the currently highly fragmented infrastructure needs
Engineering to be further developed. To this end, we need to provide central
laboratories for hydrology research groups engaging in surface
ESFRI connection: DANUBIUS-RI water and ground water research at national level, where they can
address issues in hydrogeology, hydrobiology, water and sediment
Status of the RI group: under implementation chemistry, by using large research equipments such as scanning and
transmission electron microscopes, mass spectrometers, high pres-
sure permeabimeters, infrastructure for molecular biological in-
vestigations, etc.

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