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The Ultimate IAHS Frisbee Tournaments

The 2021 IAHS ultimate frisbee game: a technical note

In the troubled times of 2021, the IAHS ultimate frisbee game was like no other. For the first time in its history, the game was postponed for one year and was held in 2022. Nonetheless, the game was highly anticipated and therefore it attracted a record number of participants: around 60!

Following what any hydrological modeller should do before applying its model, and because these conditions had never been encountered before, a differential split sample test was applied to the participants. First, the crowd of participants was split into two equal parts. Second, contrasted samples of participants were constituted: on one side the dark-coloured shirt players, on the other side the light-coloured shirt players. This thorough protocol enabled to assess the robustness of ultimate players.

Due to the high number of players and the subsequent high number of necessary operations to process, it was unanimously decided to parallelize the event. Two games were played in parallel, half of the dark-coloured shirt team played against half of the light-coloured shirt team, while the other two halves played against each other. This old-fashioned manner to run the game faster did not satisfy all players. Indeed, some of the youngest, and therefore geekiest, players, decided that using the cloud was a better option. Unfortunately for them, throwing Frisbee disks to clouds only resulted in losing them, although one of them was found back into the nearby Lez River.

The boundaries between the two games were porous and some unintended interactions between the two games were noted. Still, parallel computing, although not being a 100 % perfect method, has a bright future ahead, and outperformed cloud computing. This report being a technical note, we decided to focus on the methodology only and the results will not be detailed here. For more details, the readers are invited to read our next papers.

The 2019 IAHS frisbee game: an ensemble approach

The 2019 IAHS ultimate frisbee game was held at the Montréal Champ-de-Mars green area, in front of the City townhall. The participants decided to constitute two groups, the Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF) team and the Particle Filter team, aiming at comparing these two data assimilation approaches that are widely used in hydrology to incorporate real-time data into models.

A dozen of participants were in each team, constituting the members (or particles) of these two ensembles. As the EnKF generally necessitates less members than the Particle filter, the EnKF team started the game with high confidence. Consequently, after the first observation of a Frisbee disk was made on the field, they scored the first point with high accuracy.

Confident with this early victory, all members of the EnKF team decided to stay close together before the next Frisbee observation. On the other side, the Particle filter team adopted a different tactic: applying the well-known principle of natural selection, a.k.a. the sequential importance resampling, its particles performing the less were simply discarded from the team. To keep a similar number of players, its best elements were replicated. While this could have lead to a lack of diversity in the Particle filter, this methodology proved to be efficient for the next Frisbee disk observations. Oppositely, due to a too high proximity, the EnKF team members collided and suffered from a collapse and could not score again.

While the game resulted in a large victory for the Particle Filter team, the EnKF team strongly argued that if multiple spatially-distributed observations of Frisbee disks were made, instead of one at a time, the Particle Filter team would have struggled and they would have easily won the game. That might be further investigated in following games.

View our Facebook page for more about this fun event in Montpellier!

Reminder: Call for abstracts for the IUGG 2023 General Assembly in Berlin

The 28th IUGG General Assembly will be held July 11-20, 2023 at the CityCube in Berlin, Germany. This is a special opportunity for participants from around the world to come together and share their science and culture. Join us for a host of scientific activities, including special public lectures, keynote Union lectures and a wide variety of themed sessions.

The IAHS-led programme will be over the first half of the Assembly ie 12-16 July 2023.

Abstract submission and online registration are now open on the website:
Abstracts must be submitted by 14 February 2023: click here
Registration: click here
Submission of a travel grant application: click here

Details of the IAHS symposia:
IAHS standalone symposia: click here
Inter-Association symposia led by IAHS: click here
and several other symposia led by sister associations with an IAHS involvement and hydrological perspective: click here

HSJ volume 68 personal subscriptions now due

HYDROLOGICAL SCIENCES JOURNAL

Editor in Chief: Attilio Castellarin
Co-Editors: Stacey Archfield, Aldo Fiori, Konstantinos Soulis, and Riddhi Singh.

Hydrological Sciences Journal provides a forum for original papers and discussion of significant developments in hydrological science and practice, and related disciplines.

Institutions and libraries should order direct from Taylor & Francis or their usual agent.

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. IAHS Members should order by contacting [email protected]

Access to the back archive is free - explore 63 volumes of cutting-edge research and discovery.

IAHS members from the following countries are eligible for 80% discount on book prices, subject to the minimum price restriction, and free online access to HSJ via the IAHS website:

Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, East Timor, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Macedonia, Republic of, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Micronesia, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Rwanda, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Swaziland, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tonga, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe

List of eligible countries with GDP per capita smaller than the median of all countries of the world (UN data, 2016)

N.B.This list is subject to revision.

Contribute to brainstorming the next IAHS decade

IAHS invites you to participate in the discussion for the next IAHS Scientific Decade

Over the past 20 years, IAHS has initiated two scientific decades, which set the research agenda worldwide through collaborative forces.

2003-2012: Predictions in Ungauged Basins (PUB)
2013–2022: Panta Rhei—Everything Flows: Change in hydrology and society.

After two successful decades, IAHS want to once more boost the community through launching a third topic for collaborative efforts in hydrological sciences. IAHS invites you to join our online discussion to contribute to the process and to share your ideas.

The overall aim with a Scientific Decade is to accumulate knowledge and streamline research efforts worldwide. Previous experiences has showed that such initiatives foster engagement, sharing and collective focus to better understand specific hydrological problems or phenomena - and thereby accelerate scientific achievements.

Click on the image below to access the discussion forum.

2023 Election of Officers of IAHS - Deadline 11 January

We would like to remind you that candidates are sought for the roles of IAHS Bureau and Commission Officers. For full information, and how to be nominated as a candidate for a position, see the Election of Officers page on the IAHS website. Nomination deadline Wednesday 11 Jan 2023.

The officers of the IAHS Bureau and Commissions are elected every 4 years at the General Assembly of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG). Next elections will be held in IUGG2023 in Berlin, 11-20 July during the IAHS Plenary Administrative Session (exact date to be decided, between 12 and 16). Countries, which are IUGG members at the time, have one vote each. IAHS would like to draw attention to the following roles which are available for election:

- For the Association: President Elect (to become President after two years), 3 Vice Presidents, Secretary General
- For each of the ten International Commissions: President Elect (to become President after two years), 3 Vice Presidents, Secretary.

IAHS is an inclusive association and all hydrologists of the world participating in the work of the Association are entitled to stand as candidates for these positions, with the exception of the candidate for the President-Elect of the Association who shall be a citizen or resident of a country adhering to the IUGG.

For full information, and detail of how to apply for a position, see our Election of Officers webpage.

Reminder: Abstract submission and SYSTA travel support to attend IUGG2023

Abstract submission and online registration are open on the IUGG2023 website:
Registration: https://www.iugg2023berlin.org/registration-guidelines/#
Abstract submission: https://www.iugg2023berlin.org/abstract-submission/
Submission of a travel grant application: https://www.iugg2023berlin.org/travel-grant/

IAHS Sivapalan Young Scientists Travel Awards:
The closing date for applications for IAHS SYSTA travel support has been extended to 12 noon (GMT) on 5 January 2023. The award is to be used towards the costs of participating in the IAHS programme at the IUGG 2023 General Assembly during 12-16th July 2023.

Full details of the IAHS SYSTA eligibility criteria and application procedure can be found at: https://iahs.info/About-IAHS/SYSTA.do

Applications will be considered from hydrologists that meet ALL of the following criteria:

They grew up and now reside in a financially disadvantaged country.
They are registered for a PhD, or completed their PhD less than 5 years ago (an extra year per child is allowed for parents if they took parental leave).
There is evidence of their high quality/high potential as a scientist in the form of a paper of which they are first author in Hydrological Sciences Journal (HSJ) or Proceedings of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (PIAHS) (or in another listed hydrological journal).
They have not previously received a SYSTA award for intercontinental travel.
They will be giving a presentation at the meeting.

Applicants must have submitted an abstract for the IUGG 2023 General Assembly. The maximum award value is 2500 euros.

New IAHS Working Group on the History Of Hydrology

At the IAHS Bureau meeting on 12th December 2022 Keith Beven presented a proposal to create a new IAHS Working Group on the History Of Hydrology and this was approved by the officers.

In this the Centenary year of IAHS it seems appropriate to consider a new international initiative on the History of Hydrology. Through the enthusiasm of some individuals, there have been past efforts to record some of the history of the science and its institutions (including the IAHS itself in Dan Rosbjerg and John Rodda’s 2019 paper in Hist. Geo Space Sci., 10, 109–118), but these have been somewhat fragmented and often limited in scope. The Working Group will, of course, be dependent on the enthusiasm and time of already busy individuals. However, we feel that there a number of areas where it will be possible to make valuable contributions.

The new Working Group will aim to make contributions in the following areas:
1. To provide a central repository for information on the History of Hydrology with liaison, links and metadata on the existing initiatives and copies or links to important historical papers from multiple countries.

2. To encourage more international contributions from countries that are not currently well represented in the existing resources, including the identification of important historical papers from those countries.

3. To encourage the recording of the contributions of female hydrologists (including interviews with late career female hydrologists).

4. To encourage the recording of the histories of experimental catchments where important advances in understanding of hydrological processes have been made.

5. To encourage the recording of the histories of hydrological models and the people who worked with them.

6. To provide a mechanism for the recording of the history of projects representing good practice in sustainable hydrology for societies under change, building on the Case Studies in Panta Rhei.

How to get involved.
The initial development of the Working Group has been by means of personal contacts but if you would like to be involved in contributing to the Working Group then please send an email to [email protected] A special session on the History of Hydrology will also be held at the IUGG/IAHS meeting in Berlin in 2023.

IAHS Awards – call for nominations

Nominations are currently being accepted for the three main awards as follows:

IHP

The International Hydrology Prize is awarded annually by IAHS, with UNESCO and WMO, to two people who have made an outstanding contribution to hydrological science. More information on how to nominate including the list of previous awards is available here.

Two medals are awarded under the International Hydrology Prize: the Dooge medal and the Volker medal. Both medals are intended to distinguish outstanding achievements by hydrological scientists but with a different focus. The Dooge medal is aimed at fundamental contributions to the science of hydrology, whereas the Volker medal is aimed at outstanding applications of hydrological science for the benefit of society at large.

Tison Award

The IAHS Tison Award, established in 1982, aims to promote excellence in research by young hydrologists. The Award will be granted for an outstanding paper published by IAHS in a period of two years previous to the deadline for nominations. More information of how to nominate and the list of previous awards is available here.

Falkenmark Award

This new award, the Falkenmark Award, will be awarded for the first time in 2023 for the best PhD thesis recognising outstanding contributions to hydrological understanding of water scarcity and water supply. Full details of how to nominate can be found here.

Nominations for all awards should be received by the Secretary General, Christophe Cudennec at [email protected], no later than 31 December 2022.

Cordoba Workshop to identify the next IAHS Scientific Decade

IAHS has initiated two scientific decades, which set the research agenda worldwide through collaborative forces.

2003-2012: Predictions in Ungauged Basins (PUB)

2013–2022: Panta Rhei — Everything Flows: Change in hydrology and society

The overall aim with a Scientific Decade is to accumulate knowledge and streamline research efforts worldwide. Previous experience show that such initiatives foster engagement, sharing and collective focus to better understand specific hydrological problems or phenomena - and thereby accelerate scientific achievements.

After two successful decades, IAHS want to once more boost the community through launching a third topic for collaborative efforts in hydrological sciences.

An online discussion will be opened soon, open to any hydrologist. An in-person event with limited number of participants will be held 1-3rd February 2023 in Córdoba, Spain, to capitalise on the online discussion and decide on the topic. This will not be a hybrid meeting but with frequent online forum iterations every day.

Full details of the agenda and how to register can be found on the Córdoba workshop page.

To encourage wider diversity and attendance by early career scientists we have a few grants of up to €2500 each to cover travel and accommodation for scientists from financially disadvantaged countries and/or early career scientists (registered for a PhD, or within 5 years of PhD completion), which should be applied for by 15th December 2022.

2023 Election of Officers of IAHS - Reminder

We would like to remind you that applications are now sought for the roles of IAHS Bureau and Commission Officers. For full information, and how to apply for a position, see the Election of Officers page on the IAHS website. Application Deadline 11 Jan 2023.

- For the Association: President Elect (to become President after two years), 3 Vice Presidents, Secretary General
- For each of the ten International Commissions: President Elect (to become President after two years), 3 Vice Presidents, Secretary.

For full information, and detail of how to apply for a position, see our Election of Officers webpage.