Prof.dr. D. van der Wal | People Pages: Find employees & contact details

Daphne van der Wal is full professor Spatial Water Quality and Aquatic Systems in the Department of Water Resources, Faculty of Geo-Information and Earth Observation (ITC) of University of Twente, Enschede. In addition, she is senior scientist at NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, in the Department of Estuarine and Delta Systems, Yerseke.

Her background is in physical geography. She obtained her PhD in 1999 from the University of Amsterdam, and was a postdoctoral research fellow from 1 Oct 1999 until 1 Jan 2002 at Royal Holloway, University of London. In Mar 2002, she started working at the institute in Yerseke, since 2012 the Department of Estuarine and Delta Systems of NIOZ.

She aims to address the global challenges in coastal, estuarine and delta systems, by research and education on ecosystem functioning using earth observation techniques, particularly regarding water quality, biodiversity and nature-based solutions.

Organisations

Ancillary activities

On behalf of UTPlatform/ Council Earth and Environmental Sciences (AMW)
NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, NWO-IEmployee (function research leader)

Daphne van der Wal is an expert in earth observation of coastal, estuarine, and delta systems. Using earth observation, her main interest is in understanding the functioning of aquatic systems, with focus on the physical processes in the coastal zone and their interaction with biology. Topics also include the response of aquatic systems to climate change and human impact (e.g., water quality, salinity intrusion), as well as ecosystem services of the coastal zone and nature-based solutions.

Approaches include satellite, airborne and near-surface remote sensing in the optical, radar/SAR, and TIR domain, combined with statistical modelling, use of radiative transfer models, big data analyses.

Key qualifications: Remote sensing, geo-information, water quality, river-sea interactions, wetlands, biodiversity, coastal processes and bio-geomorphology, nature-based solutions

See research output at ORCID and PURE.

Publications

2025

Long-term phenological shifts in coastal saltmarsh vegetation reveal complex responses to climate change (2025)Ecological indicators, 179. Article 114219. Feng, J., Grandjean, T. J., Wu, X., van de Koppel, J. & van der Wal, D.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2025.114219A hydrological switch drives the transition from saltmarsh to reedland ecosystem (2025)In RCEM 2025: 14th Symposium on River, Coastal and Estuarine Morphodynamics: Barcelona, 1-5 September: Abstract Book (pp. 237-237). Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Valsamidou, A., Bastiaanse, M., van der Wal, D., Kleinhans, M. G., Keller, G. K., Rietkerk, M. & van de Koppel, J.Are willows suitable for flood defense?: Quantifying mechanical properties of willow species (2025)Estuarine, coastal and shelf science, 320. Article 109306. van Starrenburg, C., van Ijzerloo, L., van de Koppel, J., van der Wal, D. & Bouma, T. J.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2025.109306Quantifying soil resistance to sheet and lateral erosion across different habitats on a managed sandy back-barrier island (2025)Journal of geophysical research: Earth surface, 130(6). Article e2024JF007950. Marin-Diaz, B., Reijers, V. C., Meijer, L., van der Wal, D., Olff, H., Bouma, T. J. & Govers, L. L.https://doi.org/10.1029/2024JF007950Data underlying the publication: "Quantifying soil resistance to sheet and lateral erosion across different habitats on a managed sandy back-barrier island" (2025)[Dataset Types › Dataset]. Zenodo. Marin-Diaz, B., Reijers, V., Meijer, L., van der Wal, D., Olff, H., Bouma, T. J. & Govers, L.https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15594468Do vegetated intertidal areas alter currents on an estuarine scale? (2025)Estuarine, coastal and shelf science, 315. Article 109177. Bootsma, J., Borsje, B. W., van der Wal, D. & Hulscher, S. J. M. H.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2025.109177Quantifying the relative contributions of forcings to the variability of estuarine surface suspended sediments using a machine learning framework (2025)Continental shelf research, 287. Article 105429. Tavora, J., El Hourany, R., Fernandes, E. H., Jalón-Rojas, I., Sotollichio, A., Salama, S. & van der Wal, D.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csr.2025.105429Impact of restored intertidal area on salt intrusion in estuaries (2025)[Contribution to conference › Abstract] NCK days 2025. Bootsma, J., Borsje, B. W., Siemes, R. W. A., van der Wal, D. & Hulscher, S. J. M. H.https://www.nck-web.org/boa-2025/983-managed-realignment-salt-intrusionA spatiotemporal framework to assess the bio-geomorphic interplay of saltmarsh vegetation and tidal emergence (Western Scheldt estuary) (2025)International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation (JAG), 136. Article 104337. Feng, J., Grandjean, T. J., van de Koppel, J. & van der Wal, D.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jag.2024.104337Editorial: Coastal rewilding as a nature-based solution (2025)Frontiers in Marine Science, 11. Article 1547177. Quintana, C. O., Méléder, V., Sousa, A. I., Drakou, E. G., van der Wal, D., Krause-Jensen, D. & Andreu-Boussut, V.https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2024.1547177

Research profiles

Project partner (WP leader) in EU HE REWRITE: REWilding and Restoration of InterTidal sediment Ecosystems for carbon sequestration, climate adaptation and biodiversity support, see doi 10.3030/101081357 and see the REWRITE website: Rewilding European shorelines and beyond: Welcome | REWRITE.

Contributing to NWO SALTISolutions on (estuarine) salinity intrusion. See the NWO SALTISolutions website. See an introduction movie here: About us – SALTISolutions

Contributing to NWO MERIAN project on water hyacinths. See the project website Water hyacinths: Use them or lose them? Improving human and ecosystem health by bringing the science to the people of Lake Chivero, Zimbabwe (WHYimprove).

Please also see the project site at NIOZ.

Address

University of Twente

Langezijds (building no. 19), room 1105
Hallenweg 8
7522 NH Enschede
Netherlands

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