Dr. Michael Judex Dr. Hans-Peter Thamm Editorial Board - Impetus

Preface
Within the IMPETUS-Project, many valuable data,
comprehensive analyses, and relevant model results
related to the fresh water cycle and other associated
topics have been compiled. It is the concern
of the project to communicate those scientific
results in an easy and comprehensible manner to
national and local administrations, development
agencies, the broader scientific community, and
other interested people.
The IMPETUS Atlas is an appropriate approach to
overcome the gap between scientists and stakeholders,
as it can be used as a sound database and a
basis for comprehensive discussion in all situations
related to the involved topics. In addition, it should
demonstrate the extensive and interdisciplinary research
of IMPETUS during the last seven years. To
ensure the reliability of the atlas, each contribution
was peer reviewed by two experienced project members.
For each of the two study areas in Morocco
and Benin, a separate atlas was prepared.
The individual contributions of this atlas would
never have been possible without the help of many
institutions and colleagues, which shared their data
and experience. We especially thank the Direction
Général de l'Eau, the Institut National de la
Statistique et de l'Analyse Economique, the Institut
de Recherche pour le Développement, Service
Météorologique National and many others. We also
thank the student workers Tim Breuer, Ulla Kutsch,
Dominique Kohn, Philipp Aben and Arthur
Rachowka, who have done a great job during the
layout and map making process. Volker Ermert
proofread the whole atlas and Tim Brücher, Ralf
Hoffmann, Patrick Ludwig, Simone Kotthaus,
Andreas Krüger and Melanie K. Karremann parts,
for which we thank them explicitly.
The content of the atlas is divided into several
chapters that reflect the different spatial scales and
diverse topics of the research. The many links
between the different contributions are indicated
by a cross-reference ( ) directing the reader to the
number of another contribution.
A multitude of scientific papers and PhD-Theses
emerged during the last years. Most of the PhD-
Theses are electronically published and can be
accessed at the homepage of the libraries:
http://hss.ulb.uni-bonn.de/diss_online/ or
http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de. Other results of the
IMPETUS project not summarized in this atlas can be
found at the project homepage
http://www.impetus.uni-koeln.de.
The maps of this atlas will be made available
digitally by the use of the “Interactive IMPETUS
Digital Atlas”, which will be published soon after
the release of this printed edition
(http://www.impetus.uni-koeln.de/iida). New
capabilities will complete and extend the printed
version; e.g., the magnification, custom map
creation and information retrieval from the map
data.
In the name of all project members and contributors,
the editors feel confident that the atlas can
be used as a valuable tool to share and communicate
new research results and to facilitate communication
and that it serves as a reference for the
applied topics.
This third edition is mainly a reprint of the
second edition with some minor corrections.
Michael Judex
Hans-Peter Thamm
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