Voit, P., Hundhausen, M., Seregina, L., Feldmann, H., Ahrens, B., and Heistermann, M. (2026): Southern Germany's 100-year flash flood discharge expected to increase by 30 % under an RCP8.5 climate, EGUsphere [preprint], https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-1229, in review. 

Bürger, G. and Heistermann, M.: Present and future trends of extreme short-term rainfall events in Germany, by downscaling convective environments of ERA5 and a CMIP6 ensemble, EGUsphere [preprint], https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3584, in review.

Voit, P., Fauer, F., and Heistermann, M. (2026): Considering rainfall events from a neighborhood improves local flood frequency analysis, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 2189–2201, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-26-2189-2026.

Grosse, P. M., Marret, E., Scheiffele, L., Dimitrova Petrova, K., Francke, T., Altdorff, D., Heistermann, M., Schiel, M., Neumann, C., Scheffler, D., Saberioon, M., Kunz, M., Marach, J., Reginatto, M., Zboril, M., Balenzano, A., Rasche, D., Stumpp, C., Trost, B., and Oswald, S. E. (2026): The Potsdam Soil Moisture Observatory: high-coverage reference observations at kilometer scale, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 18, 1703–1727, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-1703-2026.

Heistermann, M., Altdorff, D., Francke, T., Schrön, M., Grosse, P. M., Markert, A., Bauriegel, A., Biró, P., Attinger, S., Beyrich, F., Dietrich, P., Eichstädt, R., Terschlüsen, J., Walz, A., Zacharias, S., and Oswald, S. E. (2026): Soil moisture monitoring with cosmogenic neutrons: an asset for the development and assessment of soil moisture products in the state of Brandenburg (Germany), Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 465–486, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-26-465-2026. 

Francke, T. and Heistermann, M. (2025): Groundwater recharge in Brandenburg is declining – but why?, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 2783–2802, doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-2783-2025.

Guan, X., Nguyen, V. D., Voit, P., Merz, B., Heistermann, M., and Vorogushyn, S. (2025): The ability of a stochastic regional weather generator to reproduce heavy-precipitation events across scales, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 3075–3086, doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-3075-2025.

Dobkowitz, S., Bronstert, A., and Heistermann, M. (2025): Water retention by green infrastructure to mitigate urban flooding: a meta-analysis, Urban Water Journal, https://doi.org/10.1080/1573062X.2025.2472325.

Francke, T., Brogi, C., Duarte Rocha, A., Förster, M., Heistermann, M., Köhli, M., Rasche, D., Reich, M., Schattan, P., Scheiffele, L., and Schrön, M. (2025): Virtual Joint Field Campaign: a framework of synthetic landscapes to assess multiscale measurement methods of water storage, Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 819–842, doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-819-2025.

Ayzel, G. and Heistermann, M. (2025): Brief communication: Training of AI-based nowcasting models for rainfall early warning should take into account user requirements, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 41-47, doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-41-2025.

Voit, P. and Heistermann, M. (2024): Brief Communication: Stay local or go global? On the construction of plausible counterfactual scenarios to assess flash flood hazards, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 4609-4615, doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-4609-2024.

Voit, P. and Heistermann, M. (2024): A downward counterfactual analysis of flash floods in Germany, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 2147–2164, doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-2147-2024.

Heistermann, M., Francke, T., Schrön, M., and Oswald, S. E. (2024): Technical Note: Revisiting the general calibration of cosmic-ray neutron sensors to estimate soil water content, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 989–1000, doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-989-2024.

Heistermann, M., Francke, T., Scheiffele, L., Dimitrova Petrova, K., Budach, C., Schrön, M., Trost, B., Rasche, D., Güntner, A., Döpper, V., Förster, M., Köhli, M., Angermann, L., Antonoglou, N., Zude-Sasse, M., and Oswald, S. (2023): Three years of soil moisture observations by a dense cosmic-ray neutron sensing cluster at an agricultural research site in north-east Germany, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, doi.org/10.5194/essd-2023-19.

Bürger, G. and Heistermann, M. (2023): Shallow and deep learning of extreme rainfall events from convective atmospheres, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 23, 3065–3077, doi.org/10.5194/nhess-23-3065-2023.

Lengfeld, K., Voit, P., Kaspar, F., and Heistermann, M. (2022): Brief Communication: On the extremeness of the July 2021 precipitation event in western Germany, Nat. Haz. Earth Syst. Sc., doi.org/10.5194/nhess-23-1227-2023.

Seleem, O., Ayzel, G., Bronstert, A., and Heistermann, M. (2022): Transferability of data-driven models to predict urban pluvial flood water depth in Berlin, Germany, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., doi.org/10.5194/nhess-2022-263.

Seleem, O., G. Ayzel, A. T. de Souza, A. Bronstert, and M. Heistermann (2022): Towards urban flood susceptibility mapping using data-driven models in Berlin, Germany, Geom. Nat. Haz. Risk, doi.org/10.1080/19475705.2022.2097131.

Voit, P. and Heistermann, M. (2022): Quantifying the extremeness of precipitation across scales, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., doi.org/10.5194/nhess-2022-144.

Caldas-Alvarez, A., Augenstein, M., Ayzel, G., Barfus, K., Cherian, R., Dillenardt, L., Fauer, F., Feldmann, H., Heistermann, M., Karwat, A., Kaspar, F., Kreibich, H., Lucio-Eceiza, E. E., Meredith, E. P., Mohr, S., Niermann, D., Pfahl, S., Ruff, F., Rust, H. W., Schoppa, L., Schwitalla, T., Steidl, S., Thieken, A. H., Tradowsky, J. S., Wulfmeyer, V., and Quaas, J. (2022): Meteorological, Impact and Climate perspectives of the 29 June 2017 Heavy Precipitation Event in the Berlin Metropolitan Area, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., doi.org/10.5194/nhess-2022-96, accepted.

Heistermann, M., Bogena, H., Francke, T., Güntner, A., Jakobi, J., Rasche, D., Schrön, M., Döpper, V., Fersch, B., Groh, J., Patil, A., Pütz, T., Reich, M., Zacharias, S., Zengerle, C., and Oswald, S. (2022): Soil moisture observation in a forested headwater catchment: combining a dense cosmic-ray neutron sensor network with roving and hydrogravimetry at the TERENO site Wüstebach, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, doi.org/10.5194/essd-2021-445.

Döpper, V. U., T. Jagdhuber, A.-K. Holtgrave, M. Heistermann, T. Francke, B. Kleinschmit, and M. Förster (2022): Following the Cosmic-Ray-Neutron-Sensing-based soil moisture under grassland and forest: Exploring the potential of optical and SAR remote sensing, Science of Remote Sensing, 5, 100056, doi.org/10.1016/j.srs.2022.100056.

Francke, T., Heistermann, M., Köhli, M., Budach, C., Schrön, M., and Oswald, S. E. (2022): Assessing the feasibility of a directional CRNS-sensor for estimating soil moisture, Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., doi.org/10.5194/gi-2021-18.

Seleem, O., Heistermann, M., Bronstert, A. (2021): Efficient Hazard Assessment For Pluvial Floods In Urban Environments: A Benchmarking Case Study For The City Of Berlin, Germany, Water,  13(18), 2476, doi.org/10.3390/w13182476.

Heistermann, M., Francke, T., Schrön, M., and Oswald, S. E. (2021): Spatio-temporal soil moisture retrieval at the catchment-scale using a dense network of cosmic-ray neutron sensors, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci, 25, 4807–4824, doi.org/10.5194/hess-2021-25.

Ayzel, G., and Heistermann, M. (2021): The effect of calibration data length on the performance of a conceptual hydrological model versus artificial neural networks: a case study for six basins from the United States, Comput. Geosci., doi.org/10.1016/j.cageo.2021.104708.

de Souza, A. C.T ., Ayzel, G., and Heistermann, M. (2020): Quantifying the location error of precipitation nowcasts, Adv. Met., doi.org/10.1155/2020/8841913.

Fersch, B., Francke, T., Heistermann, M., Schrön, M., Döpper, V., Jakobi, J. et al. (2020): A dense network of cosmic-ray neutron sensors for soil moisture observation in a pre-alpine headwater catchment in Germany, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, doi.org/10.5194/essd-2020-48.

Ayzel, G., Scheffer, T., and Heistermann, M. (2020): RainNet v1.0: a convolutional neural network for radar-based precipitation nowcasting, Geosci. Model Dev., 13, 2631–2644, doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-2631-2020.

Crisologo, I. and Heistermann, M. (2020): Using ground radar overlaps to verify the retrieval of calibration bias estimates from spaceborne platforms, Atmos. Meas. Tech., doi.org/10.5194/amt-2019-126.

Saltikoff, E., K. Friedrich, J. Soderholm, K. Lengfeld, B. Nelson, A. Becker, R. Hollmann, B. Urban, M. Heistermann, and C. Tassone (2019): An overview of using weather radar for climatological studies: Successes, challenges and potential, Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-18-0166.1.

Ayzel, G., Heistermann, M., and Winterrath, T. (2019): Optical flow models as an open benchmark for radar-based precipitation nowcasting (rainymotion v0.1), Geosci. Model Dev., 12, 1387-1402.

Crisologo, I., Warren, R. A., Mühlbauer, K., and Heistermann, M. (2018): Enhancing the consistency of spaceborne and ground-based radar comparisons by using beam blockage fraction as a quality filter, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 5223-5236.

Vormoor, K., M. Heistermann, A. Bronstert, D. Lawrence (2018): Hydrological model parameter (in)stability – 'crash testing' the HBV model under contrasting flood seasonality conditions. Hydrol. Sc. J., 63(7), 991-1007.

Bronstert, A., A. Agarwal, B. Boessenkool, I. Crisologo, M. Fischer, M. Heistermann, L. Köhn-Reich et al. (2018): Forensic hydro-meteorological analysis of an extreme flash flood: The 2016-05-29 event in Braunsbach, SW Germany, Science of the Total Environment, 630, 977-991.

Uber, M., Vandervaere, J.-P., Zin, I., Braud, I., Heistermann, M., Legoût, C., Molinié, G., and Nord, G. (2018): How does initial soil moisture influence the hydrological response? A case study from southern France, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 6127–6146.

Boessenkool, B., Bürger, G., and Heistermann, M. (2017): Effects of sample size on estimation of rainfall extremes at high temperatures, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 17, 1623-1629.

Heistermann, M. (2017): HESS Opinions: A Planetary Boundary on Freshwater Use is Misleading, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 21, 3455-3461.

Bronstert, A., A. Agarwal, B. Boessenkool, M. Fischer, M. Heistermann, L. Köhn-Reich, T. Moran, D. Wendi (2017): The Braunsbach Flashflood of Mai 29th, 2016 – Origin, Pathways and Impacts of an Extreme Hydro-Meteorological Event. Part 1: Meteorological and Hydrological Analysis, Hydrol. Wasserbewirts., 61, (3), 150-162.

Kneis, D., C. C. Abon, A. Bronstert, and M. Heistermann (2017): Verification of short-term runoff forecasts for a small Philippine basin (Marikina), Hydrol. Sc. J., 62(2), 205-216.

Jacobi, S., and M. Heistermann (2016): Benchmarking attenuation correction procedures for six years of single-polarised C-band weather radar observations in South-West Germany, Geomat. Nat. Haz. Risk., 7(6), 1785-1799.

Abon, C. C., D. Kneis, I. Crisologo, A. Bronstert, C. P. C. David, and M. Heistermann (2016): Evaluating the potential of radar-based rainfall estimates for stream flow and flood simulation in the Philippines, Geomat. Nat. Haz. Risk., 7(4), 1390-1405.

Philips, A., Walz, A., Bergner, A., Graeff, T., Heistermann, M., Kienzler, S., Korup, O., Lipp, T., Schwanghart, W., and G. Zeilinger (2015): Immersive 3D geovisualization in higher education, J. Geogr. Higher Educ., 39(3), 1-13.

Vormoor, K., D. Lawrence, M. Heistermann, and A. Bronstert (2015): Climate change impacts on the seasonality and generation processes of floods in catchments with mixed snowmelt/rainfall regimes: projections and uncertainties, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 19, 913-931.

Heistermann, M., S. Collis, M. J. Dixon, J. J. Helmus, A. Henja, D. B. Michelson, and Thomas Pfaff (2015): An Open Virtual Machine for Cross-Platform Weather Radar Science, Bull. Amer. Soc. Meteor., 96, 1641-1645.

Heistermann, M., S. Collis, M. J. Dixon, S. Giangrande, J. J. Helmus, B. Kelley, J. Koistinen, D. Michelson, M. Peura, T. Pfaff, D. B. Wolff (2015): The Emergence of Open Source Software for the Weather Radar Community, Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 96, 117-128.

Crisologo, I., G. Vulpiani, C. C. Abon, C. P. C. David, A. Bronstert, and M. Heistermann (2014): Polarimetric rainfall retrieval from a C-Band weather radar in a tropical environment (The Philippines). Asia-Pac. J. Atmos. Sci., 50 (1 Supplement), 595-607.

Heistermann, M., T. Francke, C. Georgi, and A. Bronstert (2014): Increasing life expectancy of water resources literature, Water Resour. Res., 50, doi: 10.1002/2014WR015674.

Buerger, G., M. Heistermann, and A. Bronstert (2014): Towards sub-daily rainfall disaggregation via Clausius-Clapeyron, J. Hydromet., 15(3), 1303-1311.

Heistermann, M., Jacobi, S., Pfaff, T. (2013): Technical Note: An open source library for processing weather radar data (wradlib), Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 17, 863-871.

Heistermann, M., I. Crisologo, C. C. Abon, B. A. Racoma, S. Jacobi, N. T. Servando, C. P. C. David, and A. Bronstert (2013): Brief Communication: Using the new Philippine radar network to reconstruct the “Habagat of August 2012” monsoon event around Metropolitan Manila, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 13, 653-657.

Bronstert, A., Creutzfeldt, B., Graeff, T., Hajnsek, I., Heistermann, M., Itzerott, S., Jagdhuber, T., Kneis, D., Lueck, E., Reusser, D., Zehe, E. (2012): Potentials and constraints of different types of soil moisture observations for flood simulations in headwater catchments, Nat. Hazards, 60(3), 879-914.

Heistermann, M., and D. Kneis (2011): Benchmarking quantitative precipitation estimation by conceptual rainfall-runoff modeling, Water Resour. Res., 47, W06514, doi:10.1029/2010WR009153.

Kneis, D., Heistermann, M. (2009): Quality assessment of radar-based precipitation estimates with the example of a small catchment, Hydrol.  Wasserbewirts. 53(3), 158-169.

Del Grosso, S.J., Ojima, D.S., Parton, W.J., Stehfest, E., Heistermann, M., DeAngelo, B., Rose, S. (2009): Global scale DAYCENT model analysis of greenhouse gas emissions and mitigation strategies for cropped soils, Global and Planetary Change, 67(1-2), 44-50.

Stehfest, E., Heistermann, M., Priess, J. A., Ojima, D.S., Alcamo, J. (2007): Simulation of global crop production with the Ecosystem model DayCent. Ecological Modelling, 209(2-4), 203–219.

Heistermann, M., Mueller, C., Ronneberger, K. (2006): Land in sight? Achievements, deficits and potentials of continental to global scale land-use modelling, Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 114(2-4), 141-158.

Heistermann, M., Jene, B., Fent, G., Feyerabend, M., Seppelt, R., Richter, O., Kubiak, R. (2003): Modelling Approaches to Compare Sorption and Degradation of Metsulfuron-methyl in Laboratory Micro-Lysimeter and Batch Experiments, Pest Management Science, 59 (12), 1276-1290.

ORCiD: 0000-0001-9354-1532

Sommersemester

• Seminar Klimatologie (BSc. GEE)
• Seminar Angewandte Klimatologie (BSc. GEE)
• Übung Hydrologie (BSc. GEE)
• Vorlesung Umweltsysteme - Dynamik und Simulation (MSc. GEE)
• Seminar Ökohydrologische Modelle in Forschung und Praxis (MSc. GEE)
• Seminar Geoökologisches Kolloquium (MSc. GEE, PhD GEE)
• Projekt Geoökologie 3 (BSc. GEE)

Wintersemester

• Seminar/Übung Fundamente der Umweltdatenverarbeitung
• Seminar Globale Wasserressourcen (MSc. GEE)
• Übung Einführung in die Modellierung (BSc. GEE)
• Vorlesung Allgemeine Klimatologie (BEd. GEO)
• Seminar Geoökologisches Kolloquium (MSc. GEE, PhD GEE)