Abstract
In this paper a new approach for estimating continuous groundwater depths using forest site mapping data of the federal state of Brandenburg and digital elevation models is presented. The underlying idea of this approach is to combine the upper and lower limits of the mapping units (groundwater depth classes of special site types and site type groupings) and the relative elevations inside each individual site type area calculated from the digital elevation model. By this means, consideration of the landscape morphology allows groundwater depths to be estimated continuously for grids with various resolutions. Depending mainly on the spatial and vertical resolution of the applied digital elevation model, the results are improved significantly compared to simply regionalizing site-type-specific mean values. The presented method was used to generate continuous groundwater depths based on the existing forest site maps of the federal state of Brandenburg for more than two-thirds of the forest area. The data obtained will be used in a larger research project, carried out at the Forestry Competence Centre, Eberswalde, to analyze regional and site-specific impacts of climate change.