Data issues were, are, and will remain a core component of the hydrological sciences. Their character and influence on the way the discipline is practiced may vary through time, but their intrinsic role in understanding and managing water resources, as well as in developing sound water policies dictates their continuing importance. Whereas the primary data issues during much of the twentieth century focused on establishing and maintaining in situ observing networks to provide a sound basis for understanding and predicting the quantity and quality of the resource, both on the surface and in the ground, today’s concern encompasses a much broader suite of problems.

To elevate and expand the discussion of the critical role of data in all aspects of the hydrological sciences, a Special Issue of the Hydrological Sciences Journal entitled “Hydrological Data: Opportunities and Barriers” is being planned for publication. Articles are currently being sought on all aspects of data in hydrology; from traditional concerns related to networks to more contemporary thinking about simple, low cost innovations in instrumentation, data management and exchange protocols, and big data, as in large-scale multi-model ensembles spanning long time periods. Numerous emerging activities and topics provide a substantial source of potential contributions.

For example, the assimilation of data from new observation technologies is an expanding issue which has given rise to activities and efforts within the scientific community, the operational services and the facilitating mechanisms of the United Nations towards measurements and observations in the twenty-first century, innovative water monitoring capabilities and data exchange, virtual labs to facilitate observation-modelling progress; as well as an array of efforts involving citizen science, simple and inexpensive instrumentation, remote sensing innovations, and studies involving the comparative assessment of using a limited number of research basins versus a relatively large number of management basins (e.g., PUB and its ongoing follow ups).

Similarly, data assimilation among various system components in the modeling of hydroclimatology and hydrometeorology, and their interfaces with the land surface, ecological and social systems, and others is moving forward – especially within the framework of the Panta Rhei initiative. Moreover, the emerging focus on the water-food-energy nexus reflects not only the increasing demand for data within each sector, but for viable approaches to their integration that ensure water and food security, sustainable agriculture, and energy production worldwide.

The recent discussions of big data and emerging efforts associated with the shaping of "data science" are crucial concerns for the future of hydrology and should be explored. Also, a number of concerns dealing with retrospective investigations are data-dependent, with particular worries related to data archiving and data rescue.

Moreover, hydrological data are typically obtained through a combination of observations and computational algorithms. For example, river discharge is most often estimated from water level via a rating curve; multi-spectrum analysis of satellite data is frequently combined with multiple information sources to produce a variety of Earth observation products; and observed time-series are used to estimate parameters in complex dynamic hydrological models. As a result, the boundary between observed and computed data is often vague and, considering the degree to which such data are shared, re-used and cited, it can be difficult to trace their provenance.

Notably, a strong and vigorous debate on data could be critical to the development of new policy messages regarding observing networks; i.e., their density, quality, sustainability, investment, modernization, etc. Such a debate may also serve as an important contribution to the development of inputs from the hydrological sciences to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals that, at their core, are data dependent, especially along the observation-knowledge-indicator-target value chain.

The data issue is an increasingly import aspect of the publication industry, where inveterate concerns over open access to data have long vexed the community. The emerging interest in providing datasets as supplementary materials to papers is an encouraging sign, and periodicals like the Hydrological Science Journal take this opportunity to develop and promote such policies for their operations. IAHS could use this Special Issue as a basis for developing new and related portals on iahs.info .

Finally, it is critical that corresponding competencies in hydrology be identified for education and capacity building, particularly with respect to data issues. Numerous organizations are working on these issues and contributions reflecting new efforts in this area are of particular interest.

Guest editors

Managing Guest editor: Christophe Cudennec, Agrocampus Ouest, France & IAHS,  ([email protected])
Guest editor: Berit Arheimer, SMHI, Sweden
Guest editor: Harry Lins, WMO Commission for Hydrology, USA
Guest editor: Stefan Uhlenbrook, UNESCO World Water Assessment Programme, Italy

Submission

Submission is welcome by 1st November through the Hydrological Sciences Journal online platform. 

We strongly encourage potential authors to contact first the Managing Guest Editor at [email protected] to inquire about the suitability of their manuscript and about any innovative concept.

Accepted papers will be immediately published along the flow.

INTERNATIONAL UNION OF GEODESY AND GEOPHYSICS
UNION GEODESIQUE ET GEOPHYSIQUE INTERNATIONALE

 5 July 2018

Inaugural General Assembly of the International Science Council (ISC)

Paris, 4 July 2018 - In a historic meeting, the International Council for Science (ICSU) and the International Social Science Council (ISSC) merged today to form the International Science Council, a unique global non-governmental scientific organization representing both the natural and social sciences. The meeting opened with addresses from Catherine Brechignac, Secretaire Perpetuel of the French Academy of Sciences. In her speech, Brechignac, who is a former President of ICSU, emphasised that the “natural sciences should no longer dictate the Earth system sciences research agenda, social sciences should be at least as important.” Prince Albert II of Monaco welcomed the participants of the ISC General Assembly in the “Maison des Océans”.

The main item of business for the meeting was the election of a Governing Board to lead the Council. Representatives of the Council’s members elected Daya Reddy, a mathematician from South Africa, to be the first President. Peter Gluckman, the former Chief Science Adviser to the Prime Minister of New Zealand, became the President-elect, and will assume the Presidency a the next General Assembly in 2021. The further officers of the Board are Elisa Reis (Brazil) Vice President, Jinghai Li (China: CAST) Vice President, Alik Ismail-Zadeh (Russia/Germany) Secretary, and Renée van Kessel (The Netherlands) Treasurer.

The ordinary members of the Board will be Geoffrey Boulton (UK), Melody Burkins (USA), Saths Cooper (South Africa), Anna Davies (Ireland), Pearl Dykstra (The Netherlands), Sirimali Fernando (Sri Lanka), Ruth Fincher (Australia), James C. Liao (China: Academia Sinica in Taipei), Natalia Tarasova (Russia), and Martin Visbeck (Germany). In his acceptance speech, the incoming president, Daya Reddy, spoke about the importance of inclusiveness, of involving all regions of the world in the work of the new Council. He called for the involvement of early career scientists in partnerships and agenda setting. “We have set ourselves an ambitious goal to be a powerful, visible, credible voice for science. There’s no time to waste. Let’s get to work!”

Participants were also able to vote for the location of the next General Assembly of the Council, choosing between two bids, one from Montreal, Canada, one from Oman. The bid by the city of Muscat, Oman, carried the vote and it will host the 2nd General Assembly in 2021.

(source: ISC Press Release)

A friendly reminder to submit your abstract for STAHY 2018, the submission deadline has been extended until 22 July 2018. We look forward to seeing you in Adelaide, South Australia from 24-26 September 2018.

All abstracts are welcome and should conform to the required format and be uploaded to the online submission system.

Registration is also now open, the portal and information are available here. The Early Bird Registration deadline is 31 July 2018.

For more information or to keep up to date with STAHY 2018 visit https://www.stahy2018.org/

Best Regards,
The local organising committee

Early Career scientists make up a significant amount of our community, creating an opportunity to include a new generation of hydrologists as active contributors to IAHS. 

During its Bureau Meeting in July 2017 IAHS decided to strengthen its Early Career scientist representation to enable more active participation of those members within IAHS Commissions and Working Groups. To achieve this goal IAHS will establish an Early Career Committee (ECC) consisting of the Early Career Representative of each IAHS Commission plus a chair and co-chair. The IAHS definition of Early Career embraces scientists up to 5 years after completion of the PhD (allowing for an extra year per child for parents if they took parental leave).

More information on the Early Career Committee is available on the IAHS website -  https://iahs.info/About-IAHS/Early-Career-Committee-.do

If you are interested in becoming an Early Career Scientist Representative for one of the IAHS Commissions, you can apply by completing the form by 15 August 2018. The ECC embraces equal opportunity for all its members, and strives to have a diverse composition in terms of gender and geography.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

Nilay Dogulu ([email protected])
Tim van Emmerik ([email protected])

The WMO HydroHub is looking for innovative solutions in operational hydrology. Apply to the Innovation Call to make a difference on the ground! Deadline: 20 August 2018

100.000 CHF seed-funding will be provided to sustainable solutions that can be up-scaled around the world.
 
Apply now

Applications to this call must address the following issues:

- Focus on freshwater quantity observation, namely water levels, river discharge, soil moisture and precipitation;
- Innovative observation technologies or monitoring approaches that could be adopted by National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs);
- Reduced total cost of ownership, i.e. comprising both direct and indirect costs (such as operations, maintenance, personnel training);
- Especially fit for Least-Developed Countries (LDC) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS);
- Maximizing impact on the ground through the creation of local income from sales and services generated by the awarded solution.

More information is available on the following webpage: http://hydrohub.wmo.int/en/news/first-wmo-hydrohub-innovation-call

The 8th International Water Resources Management Conference Beijing, China, 13–15 June 2018 Innovative Water Resources Management in a Changing Environment – Understanding and Balancing Interactions between Humankind and Nature papers are all available open access as PIAHS Volume 379.

During the past hundreds of years, various kinds of water resources systems have been developed to support efficient uses of water resources for humankinds worldwide. Such kinds of systems were mainly used to provide humankind with clean water for irrigation, industry and domestic uses. The history of water resources systems is part of the history of humankind itself. The development of water resources systems needs a careful analysis on water demands and environmental impact. Unfortunately, consideration on the water

needs for nature is not enough for many water resources systems. This fact has resulted in the deterioration of water quality and even degradation of ecosystem in many river basins. Due to the rapid development of economics and society worldwide, present challenges for water resources systems are mostly unprecedented. A new effort to devise innovative technologies and solutions for present water problems should be paid much attention by research community including IAHS. These challenges for water resources systems highlight that the adaptation to the changing environment is an essential field of research, which is also involved in the

Panta Rhei Scientific Decade (2013–2022) of IAHS. Efficient adaptation requires gaining a forward vision on future water demands and water availability. A deep understanding of the two-way interaction between nature and humankinds is needed to develop such vision.

The symposium included the following themes:
– Water resources management under changing environment
– Socio-hydrology as the basis of water resources management
– Assessment of available water resources at regional and basin scales

Conference website http://iwrm2018.bnu.edu.cn/

 

The IAHS is pleased to announce that the three volumes of Proceedings of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences from the July 2017 IAHS Scientific Assembly in Port Elizabeth, South Africa are all now available online open access.

Volume 378 
Understanding spatio-temporal variability of water resources and the implications for IWRM in semi-arid eastern and southern Africa.
Editors: H. Makurira, D. Mazvimavi, J.-M. Kileshye-Onema, E. Kapangaziwiri, and W. Gumindoga

This volume contains 14 peer-reviewed papers that focus on integrated water resources management in the southern Africa region and are a culmination of extensive research in five broad themes, namely, (1) hydrological modelling (2) groundwater hydrology (3) application of earth observations in water resources assessments (4) water allocation and use and (5) water quality management. Southern Africa offers wide research opportunities to solve challenges related to the assessment of surface and groundwater resources, water supply and sanitation, water pollution and allocation. However, data scarcity and difficulty in accessing research sites discourage many research efforts. The papers in this Volume are research outputs from mainly postgraduate studies conducted at universities in southern Africa with the sole aim of contributing to knowledge in water sciences that will facilitate informed decision-making and policy formulation by water managers and practitioners in the region.

Volume 377
Water quality and sediment transport issues in surface water.
Editors: G. Mahe, K. Heal, A. B. Gupta, and H. Aksoy

Sediment transport and water quality are modified by human activities all along river courses. If research focuses only on pristine basins and large dams, little is known about the quality of the waters flowing to the sea. Most rivers around the world are regulated to some extent by hydraulic infrastructure, even in developing countries. How river management impacts on water quality and sediment transport from the upper basins to coastal areas is not well known in many countries, especially in the developing world, even though this may have strong and long lasting effects on coastal geomorphology and ecosystems. In a time where many people try to explain the coastal recession that is observed on many coastlines, from the sea level rise and thus from “global change”, knowledge of the actual sediment transport to the sea could bring new perspectives, as the reduction of riverine sediment transfer certainly contributes to this recession. One of the associated questions is what is the role of the human impact on these processes? At what speed do these changes take place? This proceeding volume gathers together communications about water quality and sediment transport monitoring and modeling, especially for large river basins, with a focus on the relationships between estuarine river systems and coastal areas in terms of water quality and sediment load. There are also studies presenting diverse methods for estimating the amount of sediment released to the sea and its variability in time.

Volume 376
Water security and the food–water–energy nexus: drivers, responses and feedbacks at local to global scales.
Editor(s): G. Jewitt and B. Croke

The papers presented in this special issue were part of a symposium held during the IAHS Scientific Assembly in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, in July 2017. Contributions were invited that investigated the issue of water security and more broadly the food-water-energy nexus; including investigation of water quality as well as quantity, hydro-economics, education, transboundary issues, the influence of processes operating at local to global scales, as well as those that compared conclusions drawn from local and global studies. The papers presented in this special issue cover a wide range of topics, and have a broad geographical focus.

We are thrilled to invite you to the STAHY 2018 conference in Adelaide, Australia. Abstract registration is now open.
 
The International Commission on Statistical Hydrology (ICSH) of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS) invites researchers to submit abstracts for presentation at the ninth edition of the STAHY International Workshop, STAHY 2018. STAHY 2018 will bring together the experts – academics and practitioners – and young scientists alike for vibrant scientific discussions and debates. STAHY 2018 will be held in Adelaide, South Australia from 24-26 September 2018.
 
Please note that all abstracts are welcome and should conform to the required format and be uploaded to the online submission system.
 
STAHY 2018 will focus on statistical methods for hydrological applications. The themes of the workshop are:

• Modelling of hydrological and hydro-meteorological events
• Advances in hydrological forecasting and data series analysis
• New insights into flood frequency analysis and risk assessment
• New insights into arid and semi-arid hydrology

STAHY 2018 will also celebrate the contributions of Prof George Kuczera, a stalwart of the Australian and international hydrological communities. George has made tremendous contributions to hydrological research and practice over the last 40 years, and this workshop will provide an opportunity for all of us to celebrate these achievements.
 
Important dates
Abstract Submission Deadline 01 July 2018
Early Bird Registration Deadline 31 July 2018
Registration Deadline 31 August 2018
Conference Date 24-26 September 2018

Venue
The workshop will be held in the Beachside Function Centre of the Glenelg Pier hotel, which is located on the Glenelg foreshore and offers stunning ocean views.

The Glenelg Pier Hotel
18 Holdfast Promenade
Glenelg SA 5045
 
Registration will be opening soon, information available here. For more information or to keep up to date with STAHY 2018 visit https://www.stahy2018.org/
 
We look forward to receiving your abstracts and seeing you in Adelaide.

Best Regards,
The local organising committee

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Thank you

Claire Lupton
IAHS Executive Secretary