IAHS News
23 Unsolved Problems in Hydrology - Symposium announcement
As you may be aware there is currently a discussion going on with the aim of identifying unsolved scientific problems in hydrology (UPH).
To make tangible progress, the UPH should:
(1) ideally relate to observed phenomena and why they happen;
(2) they should be universal (i.e. not only apply to one catchment or region); and
(3) they should be specific (so there is hope they can be solved).
One example of an UPH is: "Why is root zone storage related to dry spell duration?"
For details see the IAHS YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyObwmNr7Ko&feature=youtu.be
We welcome any ideas and invite you to contribute to the discussion on the UPH LinkedIn group: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13552921
Alternatively, if you prefer not to join LinkedIn, please email one UPH to Günter Blöschl with a brief justification. The UPH will then be included in the compilation to be discussed on 13 and 14 April in Vienna (Meeting Schedule).
Below the list of UPH that have been discussed so far on the group.
Best wishes and looking forward to receiving your UPH.
Günter Blöschl
IAHS President
FLOODS AND DROUGHTS
Do we understand scour and erosion processes occurring during extreme floods?
Can we improve the estimation of extreme flood peak discharges?
How can we evaluate the performance of Flood Early Warning Systems, in terms of losses avoided as a result of a warning?
How do we improve drought (or flood) risk assessments?
How to use nature-based solutions to reduce flood risk and drought risks and increase the resilience of water resources?
How do droughts and floods shape hydrological risk awareness?
How are changes in vulnerability influencing trends in flood risk?
How to assess water scarcity by considering both water quantity and quality Do flood rich-poor periods exist? If so why?
Where and when do flood wave superpositions occur and what are the atmospheric, catchment and river network controls on this process?
Water scarcity assessment
SNOW AND ICE
How can we ensure that improved snowmelt models translate into improved capabilities to simulate streamflow from snowy watersheds?
How can small-scale variability of snow distribution be better represented in larger scale models, and what level of detail is needed for snowmelt runoffmodelling?
Under what conditions is snow melt a more efficient generator of streamflow and groundwater recharge than rainfall?
What is the effect of preferential deposition and lateral redistribution of snow on runoff generation in alpineheadwatersheds?
How to determine the snow water equivalent in mountain regions?
WATER QUALITY
Can we devise a combined eco-hydrology index of river health to balance human and ecological needs?
What is the role of water quality in the water-energy-food nexus?
How to describe human-water interactions in water quality models?
How do we identify the dominant process controlling water quality over different spatial scales?
What controls long-term spatio-temporal evolution of catchment water quality?
EVAPORATION AND PRECIPITATION
Soil evaporation and soil evaporation/transpiration partition How plants and grass works and interact with soil and atmosphere to produce evaporation?
SCALE AND SCALING
Will we ever find the best approach to extrapolate point scale data to the catchment scale?
Combining understanding gained at different spatial scales, e.g. generalizing lessons learned from case studies to larger scales.
How dominant hydrological processes emerge and disappear across the scales.
Can we trade space for time in hydrology?
MODELLING (GENERAL)
Can hydrological processes of highly urbanized watershed be realistically simulated/predicted?
What future for process based modelling beyond persistent dilettantism ?
How to solve the energy budget, the carbon budget and the sediment budget together to constrain hydrologic models results?
Which new mathematics to choose for the hydrology of this century?
Does machine learning have a real role in hydrological modelling
How can we really cope hydrological modeling with remote sensing measures ?
When will hydrological models (HMs) be robust enough to anticipate accurately future water conditions?
Is it possible to remove the independence condition in the multivariate frequency analysis (e.g., when using Copulas)?
What is the value of soil moisture observations for hydrologic predictions?
How can we identify the independent factors determining a nonlinearly evolving hydrologic response?
How can one identify the optimal sample dimension to use in multivariate analysis with copula functions?
Assessing the impact of non-stationary (epistemic) precipitation errors on hydrological model predictions
LANDSCAPE PROCESSES AND STREAMFLOW
Why we can not predict river runoff?
Why are the distribution of distances from a point in the catchment to the nearest river reach exponentially distributed?
Why / How does hydro-geomorphology follow thermodynamic laws - Coevolution, structure-function, emergence, anisotropy, scaling...
How can we explain the ubiquitous existence of patterns in hydrology providing constraints on heterogeneity and preferential flow of water through media Natural heterogeneity, thermodynamics and (yet again) closing the waterbalance
What controls the long term water balance, apart from aridity?
MEASUREMENTS AND DATA
Is it possible to accurately measure flow discharge using gauge-cams (or UAV-mounted cameras)?
A large number of inaccurate observations vs a few accurate measurements: what is our best choice?
Working with different data sources (and there varying spatial and temporal resolution), for example impact & vulnerability information, citizen science data, satellite data.
How can we accurately measure water fluxes in the subsurface (soil and groundwater) at a range of scales?
How can we detect and measure spatial hydrological patterns?
How to cost- efficiently observe multiple tracers at a high temporal frequency at various locations?
GROUNDWATER AND SOILS
Can we better account for the complex water flow dynamics in the vadosezone?
What controls the distribution and depth of actively circulating water in the subsurface?
It is time to change our mind to augmenting groundwater recharge by focus on water-bearing formation in uplands watershed not just in flood plains or alluvial fans!
What controls the source of water to wells?
Where and why is the largest global store of freshwater (groundwater) connected to other parts of the hydrologic cycle?
Why transport modeling in the subsurface is often inaccurate and fraught of uncertainty?
What are the main processes controlling transport and transformation of contaminants across scales?
Why assessing groundwater resources and their variation is space and time is a daunting, though dramatically needed, endeavour?
Why removal of contaminant from groundwater by pump-and-treat does not work?
Closing the mass-age balance by measurement
HYDROLOGICAL CHANGE
Why are some catchments more sensitive to land-use/cover change than others?
Is the hydrological cycle regionally accelerating under global warming?
Influence of climate variability on large rivers runoff
Dealing with non-stationarities, e.g differences in timescales between analysis tools & methods, modeling of non-stationary processes
Quantifying the human influence on hydrology and hydrological extremes at the catchment scale What is the real impact of man on the water volumes transferred to the sea by rivers?
Why are springs in mountains drying up?
How can we detect and attribute change in flood characteristics?
Sudden and abrupt changes of water management conditions?
Why do we see long term cycles in temperature, rainfall and river flows?
ASSORTED
Elementary physics of hydrological cycle.
Impact of solar activity on hydrological cycle of the Himalayan and Indian Peninsula Rivers.
Does hydrology needs non-equilibrium thermodynamics or even a new type of thermodynamics ?
How we can do hydrology science more open and replicable?
How can we link our hydrological science with stakeholders?
WMO Global Conference for Prosperity through Hydrological Services
The HydroConference aims to foster collaboration on improving the availability and use of hydrological services worldwide by:
- Promoting collaboration for new and ongoing initiatives, including the establishment of data exchange;
- Leveraging the knowledge and expertise of the full range of water stakeholders to coordinate efforts towards greater impact; and
- Mobilizing public and private sector leaders to leverage support for key initiatives.
More information about the conference, including the programme, registration and logistical details is available at the conference website: hydroconference.wmo.int
Second Reminder - Abstract submission for Remote Sensing and Hydrology Symposium is now open
On behalf of the IAHS-International Commission of Remote Sensing, we announce that abstract submission for the Remote Sensing and Hydrology Symposium is now open until the end of February. The University of Córdoba hosts this edition, devoted to “Earth Observation for Integrated Water and Basin Management: New possibilities and challenges for adaptation to a changing environment”, from 8-10 May 2018 in Córdoba, Spain.
During the conference, we will discuss the state-of-the-art on this topic and current and future needs from remote sensing to provide hydrologists and other related branches of science with data and tools for research on the water cycle components, hydrological modelling, water resource management, and integrated river basin management, among others.
We encourage the international community to participate in this event and contribute to its results and success; young researchers are especially encouraged to join the discussion. All accepted abstracts will be electronically edited by Copernicus; an extended version of a limited number of works will be solicited to the authors upon acceptance of abstracts to be published in a special issue of PIAHS, the proceedings journal of IAHS. Moreover, selected works from the presentations in the conference will be invited to submit a full paper to a special issue of Hydrological Sciences Journal, the official journal of IAHS, indexed in the JCR.
Please, visit our website for further details about registration and submission of abstracts http://rshssymposiumcordoba2018.com
Different options for accommodation with special fares for the conference attendees are available; we kindly advise to book in advance from our website and technical office to avoid higher prices due to the tourist season in Córdoba.
Please, distribute this information to your colleagues and international partners. We apologize for potential cross-posting. We are looking forward to welcoming you in Córdoba in May 2018.
With our best regards,
The Organizing Committee
Prof. Dr. María J. Polo, University of Córdoba
Dr. María Pat. González-Dugo, IFAPA
Prof. Christopher Neale, University of Nebraska
MOXXI update
In December 2017, the joint MOXXI – World Meteorological Organization (WMO) HydroHub “Innovation in Hydrometry - From ideas to operation” meeting was held in Geneva at the WMO headquarters. This two-half day workshop brought together members of the science and operations communities to learn about innovative observational methodologies and to foster the uptake of such novel solutions in operational environments. On the first day, around 70 participants from all over the globe attended 28 short presentations followed by Q&A on a variety of topics, including flood gauging, monitoring networks, citizen science, and drone initiatives in hydrology. On the second day, keynote talks, expert interviews, and breakout group discussions motivated the participants to identify key challenges and needs for the uptake of new technologies into hydrological practice. According to a questionnaire administered by WMO after the event, 94% of the surveyed participants deemed both days either good or excellent. We hope that similar events will help open channels of communication and cooperation between the academia and national services for the development of adequate standards and quality management practices. More information on the meeting, including the workshop report and speakers’ presentations, can be found at https://iahs.info/Commissions--W-Groups/Working-Groups/MOXXI/Information/MOXXI-2017.do
Abstract submission for Remote Sensing and Hydrology Symposium is now open
On behalf of the IAHS-International Commission of Remote Sensing, we announce that abstract submission for the Remote Sensing and Hydrology Symposium is now open until the end of February. The University of Córdoba hosts this edition, devoted to “Earth Observation for Integrated Water and Basin Management: New possibilities and challenges for adaptation to a changing environment”, from 8-10 May 2018 in Córdoba, Spain.
During the conference, we will discuss the state-of-the-art on this topic and current and future needs from remote sensing to provide hydrologists and other related branches of science with data and tools for research on the water cycle components, hydrological modelling, water resource management, and integrated river basin management, among others.
We encourage the international community to participate in this event and contribute to its results and success; young researchers are especially encouraged to join the discussion. All accepted abstracts will be electronically edited by Copernicus; an extended version of a limited number of works will be solicited to the authors upon acceptance of abstracts to be published in a special issue of PIAHS, the proceedings journal of IAHS. Moreover, selected works from the presentations in the conference will be invited to submit a full paper to a special issue of Hydrological Sciences Journal, the official journal of IAHS, indexed in the JCR.
Please, visit our website for further details about registration and submission of abstracts http://rshssymposiumcordoba2018.com
Different options for accommodation with special fares for the conference attendees are available; we kindly advise to book in advance from our website and technical office to avoid higher prices due to the tourist season in Córdoba.
Please, distribute this information to your colleagues and international partners. We apologize for potential cross-posting. We are looking forward to welcoming you in Córdoba in May 2018.
With our best regards,
The Organizing Committee
Prof. Dr. María J. Polo, University of Córdoba
Dr. María Pat. González-Dugo, IFAPA
Prof. Christopher Neale, University of Nebraska
Unsolved Problems in Hydrology - help to make a difference
In November 2017 IAHS launched the new initiative to generate the 23 unsolved problems in Hydrology that would revolutionise research in the 21st century with a YouTube video.
The generation of questions is open to everyone and will be distilled through discussion on the IAHS LinkedIn group https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13552921 We aim to finalise the questions in Spring 2018.
We already have entries over a wide range of topics with draft questions and comments. Recent contributions include:
How do droughts and floods shape hydrological risk awareness? By Panta Rhei Working group “Changes in flood risk”
How are changes in vulnerability influencing trends in flood risk? By Panta Rhei Working group “Changes in flood risk”
How to assess water scarcity by considering both water quantity and quality. By Panta Rhei Working group “Water Scarcity”
Do flood rich-poor periods exist? By Panta Rhei Working Group “Flood Change”
It is time to change our mind to augmenting groundwater recharge by focus on water-bearing formation in uplands watershed not just in flood plains or alluvial fans! By Mohammad Abassi
What controls the source of water to wells? By Kevin Bufus
Where and why is the largest global store of freshwater (groundwater) connected to other parts of the hydrologic cycle? By Tom Gleeson
When will hydrological models (HMs) be robust enough to anticipate accurately future water conditions? By Guillaume Thirel
What is the effect of preferential deposition and lateral redistribution of snow on runoff generation in alpine headwatersheds? By Ulrich Strasser
Assessing the impact of non-stationary (epistemic) precipitation errors on hydrological model predictions. By Keith Beven
There is still time to add your own draft question or add a comment to the existing discussion on the group so please join the conversation.
Subscription for Hydrological Sciences Journal for 2018
The annual subscription is now due for Volume 63 (2018) of Hydrological Sciences Journal. Volume 63 remains at 16 issues but we have managed to keep the annual subscription rate the same. Volume 63 will continue to publish a special series of invited opinion papers directly linked to the IAHS "Panta Rhei" initiative that will be collated in the online virtual special series. Discussions and replies on these opinion papers wll also be published.
In July 2017 we announced the continued rise in Impact Factor for HSJ. The Impact Factor is 2.222 with a 5-Year Impact Factor of 2.372 (©2017 Thomson Reuters, 2016 Journal Citation Reports®).
Following the retirement of Mike Acreman, Attilio Castellarin was confirmed as the Editor-in-Chief at the IAHS Scientific Assembly at Port Elizabeth, South Africa, with Demetris Koutsoyiannis the Outgoing Editor-in-Chief and Ross Woods as the most recent Editor and a new Editor will be appointed in due course. The number of Associate Editors has risen to 41.
Special journal subscription rates are available to IAHS Members: £27.00 for a personal online subscription, and £48.00 for a personal online + print subscription (£32.40 and £53.40, respectively for EU members, inclusive of VAT).
You can renew your membership online via the IAHS website at https://iahs.info/Members-Area/hsj-link.do or contact the IAHS office via phone +44 1491 692515, fax +44 1491 692448 or email [email protected].
IAHS Membership
Abstract submission deadline for EGU2018 sessions
The abstract submission deadline for EGU2018 sessions is 10th January 2018. The following sessions are especially related to Panta Rhei.
HS1.2 Hydrology, society and environmental change (PICO session)
Conveners: Giuliano Di Baldassarre, Heidi Kreibich, Tobias Krueger, Anne Van Loon
HS2.1.1 Hydrological extremes: from droughts to floods
Conveners: Anne Van Loon, Jan Szolgay, Lena M. Tallaksen, Gregor Laaha
HS5.3 Advances in socio-hydrology
Conveners: Marcus Nüsser, Murugesu Sivapalan, Britta Höllermann, Giuliano Di Baldassarre, Alberto Viglione, Saket Pande
HS5.15/NH1.15 Agent-Based Modelling in hydrology – integrative solutions to the Food Water Energy nexus (co-organized)
Conveners: Ted Veldkamp, Jeroen Aerts, Giuliano Di Baldassarre, Niko Wanders
HS7.4 Naturally trendy: natural (and non-natural) trends (and non-trends) in climate and hydrology
Conveners: Serena Ceola, Demetris Koutsoyiannis, Alberto Montanari, C. Cudennec, Harry Lins
NH9.13/HS11.45/SSS13.67 Including Socio-Economic Dynamics and Feedbacks in Risk Assessment Models (co-organized)
Conveners: Jeroen Aerts, Giuliano Di Baldassarre, Sven Fuchs, S. Surminski
HS2.4.3/NH1.25 River flood dynamics and risk: processes, controls, consequences (co-organized)
Conveners: Sergiy Vorogushyn, William Farmer, Heidi Kreibich, Luis Mediero, Alberto Viglione
HS5.7/ERE3.8 Advances in modeling and control of environmental systems: from drainage and irrigation to hybrid energy generation. (co-organized)
Conveners: Alla Kolechkina, Matteo Giuliani , Jonathan Herman , Andreas Efstratiadis , Mashor Housh , Eric Duviella
HS5.1 Hydrology & Society: Transdisciplinary approaches to hydrology and water resources management PICO session
Conveners: Leon Herman, Britta Höllermann , Thomas Thaler , Gemma Carr , Eric Lindquist
Panta Rhei Survey
This is a reminder about the ongoing Panta Rhei Survey.
You can help us identify hotspots of water crises around the world by filling in the attached questionnaire before January 8. It takes only 5-10 minutes!
This Panta Rhei Survey is a step towards a community-wide effort to share data and advance our understanding of social, technical and hydrological factors underlying the emergence of different phenomena.
If you know of any water crisis, please fill in the questionnaire (see attachment) and send it back by email to [email protected] by January 8. All contributions will be properly acknowledged.
Best wishes,
Giuliano Di Baldassarre
IAHS Panta Rhei Chair 2017-2019
On behalf of the IAHS Panta Rhei Leadership Team (Veena Srinivasan, Fuqiang Tian, Yasir Mohamed, Tobias Krueger, Heidi Kreibich, Junguo Liu, Tara J. Troy & Amir AghaKouchak)
Unsolved Problems in Hydrology - Join the Conversation
The generation of questions is open to everyone and will be distilled through discussion on the IAHS LinkedIn group https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13552921 We aim to finalise the questions in Spring 2018.
We already have entries over a wide range of topics with draft questions and comments including:
Can we trade space for time in hydrology? By Ross Woods
How can we identify the independent factors determining a nonlinearly evolving hydrologic response? By Elena Volpi on behalf of ICSH – STAHY Commission
How can one identify the optimal sample dimension to use in multivariate analysis with copula functions? By Elena Volpi on behalf of ICSH – STAHY Commission
How can we detect and attribute change in flood characteristics? By Elena Volpi on behalf of ICSH - STAHY Commission
Sudden and abrupt changes of water management conditions? By Andreas Schumann
Natural heterogeneity, thermodynamics and (yet again) closing the water balance, by Markus Hrachowitz
Why do we see long term cycles in temperature, rainfall and river flows? By Alberto Montanari
Is it possible to remove the independence condition in the multivariate frequency analysis (e.g., when using Copulas)? By Salvatore Grimaldi
Closing the mass-age balance by measurement by Wouter Berghuijs
What controls the long term water balance, apart from aridity? By Ross Woods
How to determine the snow water equivalent in mountain regions? By Simon Gascoin
What is the value of soil moisture observations for hydrologic predictions? By Luca Brocca
Feel free to add your own draft question or add a comment to the existing discussion on the group.