The UMS655-DCPro boat, which was procured with a grant from the State of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania drawn from ERDF funds, co-financed by the European Union, will be used in various operational areas (the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, rivers and inland lakes) to collect water-related data and water quality data. The measurements themselves are carried out using a mobile multi-parameter probe, which was also procured with ERDF funding, and an ADCP measuring device. Furthermore, the boat is used for the maintenance of the existing wave and temperature measuring buoys.
Professor Koppe and her research team from the Department of Hydraulic Engineering and Hydromechanics are thus not only making an important contribution to the monitoring of regional water bodies – the data obtained can also be directly incorporated into civil engineering planning, for example in the construction of port facilities and flood defences, as well as into the further development of computational models for recording load data in hydraulic engineering planning and for assessing aquatic ecology. Furthermore, the measurement data is to be used in research into aquatic thermodynamics, thereby contributing to the climate-neutral transformation of heat supply in Germany.
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Bärbel Koppe is also the namesake of the new 'Bärbel'', which, at 6.55 metres in length, offers sufficient space for equipment and a crew of eight. The boat’s christening took place on 10 June 2026, two days before its first deployment at the trade fair on Lake Schwerin. According to sailors’ superstition, the christening must always take place before the first voyage to protect the boat and crew from accidents at sea.