ICCLAS, COUPLED LAND-ATMOSPHERE SYSTEMS

ICCLAS Coupled Land-Atmosphere Systems
President	Christopher White	UK
Past President	Richard Petrone	Canada	Email Me
Vice President	Tirtha Banerjee	India / USA
Vice President	Lindsay Beevers	UK
Vice President	Shanshui Yuan	China
Secretary	Rodolfo Nóbrega	UK/Brazil
ECC Representative	P. James Dennedy-Frank	USA	Email Me

Overview

The International Commission on Coupled Land–Atmosphere Systems (ICCLAS) is a scientific commission of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS) devoted to advancing understanding of the interactions between terrestrial hydrological processes and the atmosphere. Its work is motivated by the recognition that climate variability and anthropogenic climate change strongly affect freshwater availability, water quality, and hydrometeorological extremes, with particularly severe consequences in data‑sparse and socio‑economically vulnerable regions. ICCLAS promotes the integrated consideration of land surface processes, water and energy balances, atmospheric dynamics and biogeochemical exchanges, recognising that improvements in hydrological and meteorological prediction depend on explicitly accounting for these couplings across spatial and temporal scales. 

Central to the commission’s mission is the assessment of the opportunities and limits of current hydrometeorological science to support flood and drought forecasting, warning and risk reduction, improving decision‑making and water resources management, and supporting climate change adaptation. 

ICCLAS fosters scientific exchange and capacity building through the organisation of international symposia and workshops, collaborative activities with other IAHS commissions and partner organisations, and the dissemination of state‑of‑the‑art knowledge via publications. Its scientific scope includes joint land–atmosphere modelling, observational strategies combining in‑situ and Earth observation data, ensemble forecasting from weather to sub‑seasonal and seasonal time scales, and the study of feedbacks between hydrology, ecosystems, and greenhouse gas fluxes within the Earth system.

Objective of ICCLAS 

ICCLAS advances research on coupled land–atmosphere processes to improve understanding and prediction of hydrometeorological variability, extremes, and change. It integrates observations, modelling, and forecasting of water, energy, and biogeochemical fluxes across scales, with a strong emphasis on floods, droughts, climate–land‑use feedbacks, and decision‑relevant hydrometeorological information. Through international collaboration, scientific meetings, and synthesis publications, ICCLAS supports knowledge transfer and capacity building to enhance water security and resilience in a changing climate.

External collaborations

ICCLAS is particularly well‑placed to strengthen and expand existing collaborations with global programmes and networks concerned with climate, water, and Earth system science. These include partnerships with the World Meteorological Organization and its World Weather Research Programme (WWRP), including the InPRHA ‘Integrated Prediction of Precipitation and Hydrology for Early Actions’ project, UNESCO’s International Hydrological Programme, and major international research initiatives such as GEWEX and the Global Land Programme. 

ICCLAS links with space agencies and Earth observation initiatives, including ESA, NASA, EUMETSAT and CEOS, to enhance the integration of satellite data into coupled modelling and forecasting. 

Collaboration with national and international hydrological and climate modelling centres, as well as with development‑oriented organisations and regional networks in data‑scarce regions, extends ICCLAS’s impact on capacity building and the application of coupled land–atmosphere science to real‑world water and climate challenges.

Get in touch

If you have ideas for meetings or workshops that relate to ICCLAS’ research areas and/or supportive to affiliated scientific programmes and organisations, then please send your suggestions to the ICCLAS Secretary Dr Rodolfo Bezerra Nobrega (r.nobrega at bristol.ac.uk) or the ICCLAS President Prof Christopher J. White (chris.white at strath.ac.uk).

Keywords

• Coupled land–atmosphere systems
• Hydrometeorology
• Climate variability and change
• Hydrological and meteorological prediction
• Floods and droughts
• Land surface modelling
• Evapotranspiration
• Earth observation
• Water and energy balances
• Hydro‑biogeochemical feedbacks