Background Image

Thomas Wöhling

Senior Research Scientist

Thomas Wöhling

Dr.rer.nat., Dipl.-Hydrol., TUD, Germany

Thomas worked at Lincoln Agritech’s Hamilton office from 2006 to 2010, focusing on water and contaminant fluxes through the vadose zone at the unique ‘Spydia’ facility near Lake Taupo. Since relocating to Germany, he continues to contribute part‑time to Lincoln Agritech’s research while leading several programmes as Professor of Stochastic Hydrology at Dresden University of Technology (TUD), Germany.

An internationally recognised specialist, Thomas focuses on (Bayesian) modelling techniques, uncertainty quantification and best-practice modelling methods for hydrosystems. His work advances integrated modelling of complex environmental systems, particularly groundwater – surface water systems and soil-plant-atmosphere systems.

Thomas’s research strengthens the scientific foundations of environmental modelling, improving how data informs policy and practice. His contributions help ensure that models are robust, efficient, and able to guide sustainable water and land management.

Focus areas:

  • Integrated modelling of coupled environmental systems,
  • Inverse modelling, uncertainty quantification, data worth analysis,
  • Model diagnosis and selection, surrogate modelling and Bayesian methods

Publications

VIEW ALL
Transmission losses and groundwater recharge from ephemeral rivers in the Canterbury Plains (New Zealand): Historical reconstruction and environmental implications, Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies, June 2025
Di Ciacca A, Knight LG, Brand M, Durney P, Wilson S, Wöhling T
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2025.102317
Multi-Purpose Data Worth Assessment of a Surface Water-Groundwater and Nitrogen Transport Model, NGWA, May 2025
Durney P, Di Ciacca A, Wilson S, Wöhling T
https://doi.org/10.1111/gwat.13490
Comparing physics-based, conceptual and machine-learning models to predict groundwater levels by BMA. Groundwater, April 2025
Wöhling T, Crespo Delgadillo AO, Kraft M, Guthke A.
doi.org/10.1111/gwat.13487
Model simplification to simulate groundwater recharge from a perched gravel-bed river, Journal of Hydrology, November 2024
Di Ciacca A, Wilson S, Durney P, Stecca G, Wöhling T
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2024.132016
Extending GLUE with multilevel methods to accelerate statistical inversion of hydrological models, Water Resources Research, October 2024
Rudolph MG, Wöhling T, Wagener T, Hartmann A
https://doi.org/10.1029/2024WR037735
Conceptualising surface water-groundwater exchange in braided rivers systems, Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, June 2024
Wilson S R, Hoyle J, Measures R, Di Ciacca A, Morgan L K, Banks E W, Robb L, Wöhling T
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2721-2024
Optimized Predictive Coverage by Averaging Time-Windowed Bayesian Distributions, Water Resources Research, May 2024
Hsueh H-F, Guthke A, Wöhling T, Nowak W
doi.org/10.1029/2022WR033280
Streamflow drought onset and severity explained by non-linear responses between climate-catchment and land surface processes, Hydrological Processes, July 2024
Raut A, Ganguli P, Kumar R, Das BS, Reddy NN, Wöhling T
https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.15245
Estimating catchment-wide total groundwater storage via space-time kriging provides calibration data for catchment-scale groundwater balance models, EGU General Assembly 2024
Ejaz F, Wildt N, Nowak W, Wöhling T
https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU24/EGU24-10521.html
Predicting groundwater heads in alluvial aquifers: Benchmarking different model classes and machine-learning techniques with BMA/S, EGU General Assembly 2024
Wöhling T, Kraft M, Crespo Delgadillo O
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-8818
Impact of river management on groundwater recharge from braided rivers, EGU General Assembly 2024
Wilson S, Measures R, Hoyle J, Stecca G, Durney P, Di Ciacca A, Wöhling T
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-6843
Response times as explanatory variable for export of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) from small forested catchments, Journal of Hydrology, April 2024
Kuhnert L, Beudert B, Wöhling T
https://doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2024.130985
Comprehensive uncertainty analysis for surface water and groundwater forecasts under climate change based on a lumped geo-hydrological model, Journal of Hydrology
Ejaz F, Guthke A, Wöhling T, Nowak W
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2023.130323
Conceptualisation of Groundwater Recharge from Braided Rivers, EGU General Assembly 2023
Wilson, S, Di Ciacca, A, Hoyle, J, Measures, R, Wöhling, T, Banks, E, Morgan, L
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-9225
Model simplification to simulate groundwater recharge from perched gravel-bed braided rivers, EGU General Assembly 2023
Di Ciacca A, Wilson S, Wöhling T
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-9868
Soil hydraulic conductivity in the state of nonequilibrium, “Vadose Zone Journal”
Vogel H-J, Gerke HH, Mietrach R, Zahl R, Wöhling T
https://doi.org/10.1002/vzj2.20238
Deriving transmission losses in ephemeral rivers using satellite imagery and machine learning, “Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.”
Di Ciacca A, Wilson S, Kang J, Wöhling T
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-703-2023
Tracing lateral subsurface flow in layered soils by undisturbed monolith sampling, targeted laboratory experiments, and model-based analysis, “Vadose Zone Journal”
Ehrhardt A, Berger K, Filipović V, Wöhling T, Vogel H-J, Gerke H
https://www.lincolnagritech.co.nz/science-outputs/%20https:/doi.org/10.1002/vzj2.20206
Diagnosis of model errors with a sliding time-window Bayesian analysis, “Water Resources Research”
Hsueh H-F, Guthke A, Wöhling T, Nowak W
https://doi.org/10.1029/2021WR030590
Operational prediction of river-groundwater exchange, groundwater levels and aquifer storage: The Wairau Plain Aquifer, EGU General Assembly 2021
Wöhling T
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-9700
Evaluation of 42 lumped rainfall-runoff models for the Wairau River catchment, New Zealand, using the MARRMoT toolbox, EGU General Assembly 2021
Peesel A and Wöhling T
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-6977
Detecting the cause of change using uncertain data: Natural and anthropogenic factors contributing to declining groundwater levels and flows of the Wairau Plain Aquifer, New Zealand Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies, 31, 100715
Wöhling, T., Wilson, S. R., Wadsworth, V., Davidson, P.
Lumped hydrological model for reasonable, long- term predictions of groundwater storage and depletion, Annual General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union, “Sharing Geoscience Online” online conference
Fahad E, Wöhling T, Nowak W
AQUIFERWATCH: Operational prediction of groundwater heads and storage during river flow recession in the Wairau Aquifer, New Zealand Annual General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union, “Sharing Geoscience Online” online conference
Wöhling T, Davidson P