Skip to main content
Masino river (Credit: Christian Massari, distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

HS Hydrological Sciences Division on Hydrological Sciences

EGU logo

European Geosciences Union

Division on Hydrological Sciences
hs.egu.eu

Division on Hydrological Sciences

President: Alberto Viglione (Emailhs@egu.eu)
Deputy President: Maria-Helena Ramos (Email)
ECS Representative: Christina Anna Orieschnig (Emailecs-hs@egu.eu)

The Hydrological Sciences (HS) Division is concerned with all aspects of the terrestrial hydrological cycle (including precipitation, surface water, soil water, groundwater) from the pore scale to the global scale, and its relationships and interactions with the atmospheric part of the hydrological cycle. The division also covers the interaction between hydrology and geomorphology (e.g., erosion, sedimentation, groundwater systems), the relationships between hydrology and soils, as well as the interaction between the hydrosphere and the biosphere (e.g., ecohydrology, wetlands). The ways in which hydrological processes are observed, quantitatively computed, and forecasted are also addressed by the division. Management and operation of water resources by societies in various parts of the world is also within the division’s realm.

The Hydrological Sciences Division (HS) has five main tasks:

  • Organizing the hydrological part of the program during the annual EGU General Assembly
  • Running its on-line open access journal: Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (HESS)
  • Recognizing deserving colleagues in various stages of their careers with its Award program.
  • Encouraging the interaction and active participation of young hydrologists within the hydrological community
  • Circulating news, information, job adverts, announcements of opportunity or meetings that may be relevant to the hydrological community

Such tasks require considerable (voluntary!) input from many people, and offer plenty of opportunities to become actively involved.

To ensure that the sessions during the General Assembly cover our science as comprehensively as possible, there are currently ten Subdivisions, including a subdivision on general hydrology (monitoring and cross cutting issues). Distinct fields within the broad area of hydrology are covered. Each Subdivision Committee organises a set of oral, poster or PICO sessions to cover its field. The members of the Subdivision Committees meet during the EGU General Assembly and start preparing the draft programme for next year’s meeting in late spring/early summer. Membership of the committees of these Subdivisions is open: you can e-mail the Subdivision Committee Chair to request membership or you may directly join the meeting during the General Assembly to get involved in the Subdivision activities and in particular in the organisation of the programme, including proposal of sessions and volunteering as convener or co-convener (see overview of Programme Organisation and Convener Tasks).

You can also become involved in the Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (HESS) journal. In addition to submitting your best scientific work to HESS, consider that the journal needs both referees and members of its Editorial Board to cover a sufficiently broad spectrum of expertise to adequately handle all incoming papers. If you would like to become active as a referee or as an editor you may therefore consider informing any editor or Executive Editor of your wish.

The Division contributes to the EGU Awards & Medals programme that recognises every year eminent scientists for their outstanding research contribution and identifies the awardees as role models for the next generation of young scientists to foster geosciences research. In particular, members of the Division are invited to contribute to the nominations (deadline are every year on the 15th June, see here) for both the young and senior HS Division Awards and Medals (link).

The EGU offers a platform for young scientists to become involved in hydrological research, through sessions, social events and short courses at the annual General Assembly in April. Several activities are especially aimed for Young Scientists in the Hydrological Science, organised with the help of the Young Hydrologic Society.

Lastly, you are invited to share the news/information that may be of interest to the EGU Hydrological Sciences community, by sending a tweet to @EGU_HS or filling in the activity calendar webform.

Do not hesitate to contact the Division President or any Division Officer if you need any additional information on our activities!

Latest posts from the HS blog

Catch the rain when it falls: a journey through water harvesting in the Anthropocene

As an environmental engineer trained in water resources management, I have always been fascinated by the multiple uses of water, and specifically the use of water for food production. I always assumed that “the largest share of freshwater resources was used for food production”, thus I logically pursued my MSc. thesis and then my Ph.D. in agricultural sciences. How Fieldwork Shifted My Perspective During my MSc. fieldwork in Ethiopia, this assumption was challenged. I was working on Spate Irrigation, which …


Mapping the Future of Freshwater: An Interview with Niko Wanders on the World Water Map Project

Back in 2022, two hydrologists and water resources specialists from University of Utrecht launched the World Water Map in collaboration with the National Geographic Society and ESRI. Based on the outputs of their global hydrological model PCR-GLOBWB, the team of Marc Bierkens and Niko Wanders map global water resources and identify the regions most at risk of water scarcity. The maps combine state-of-the-art hydrological modelling, local information, and satellite data to tell the story of the causes behind water scarcity …


How to Promote Your EGU25 Session

Since October 23rd, abstract submissions for EGU25 are officially open! For session conveners, this is a critical phase and promoting your session is crucial. If you are co-convening a “traditional” session on a large topic that is run every year you might be inundated with abstracts already now or shortly before the deadline. However, many smaller sessions on more niche topics receive far fewer submissions. As a result, they are often merged with others or even pulled entirely from the …


October 2024 floods in the Valencia region, Eastern Spain: One example too many of hazardous debris

The recent devastating flash floods in Valencia region, Eastern Spain, have once more highlighted the role of large debris in enhancing urban flood hazard. Urban debris – so-called Urban Flood Drifters (UFDs) – are very varied as shown by a recent survey. They include vehicles, deadwood, waste bins, containers of many types, construction materials, and many other objects. Once these are mobilized by the combined action of flood depth and velocity, they are transformed into powerful drivers of hazard, amplifying …

Recent awardees

Alberto Guadagnini

Alberto Guadagnini

  • 2024
  • Henry Darcy Medal

The 2024 Henry Darcy Medal is awarded to Alberto Guadagnini for his advancements in the frontiers of hydrology through development and application of quantitative, process-based, flow and chemical transport models in subsurface water bodies under uncertainty.


Paul D. Bates

Paul D. Bates

  • 2024
  • John Dalton Medal

The 2024 John Dalton Medal is awarded to Paul D. Bates for outstanding contributions to the modeling of flood hydrology from the local to the global scale.


Andrea Cominola

Andrea Cominola

  • 2024
  • Division Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award

The 2024 Division Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award is awarded to Andrea Cominola for outstanding research on data-driven behavioural modelling in coupled human-water systems.


Amirhossein Ershadi

Amirhossein Ershadi

  • 2024
  • Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award

The 2024 Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award is awarded to Amirhossein Ershadi Ensemble Surrogate Modeling of Advective-Dispersive Transport with IntraParticle Pore Diffusion for Column-Leaching Tests


Anastasia Vogelbacher

Anastasia Vogelbacher

  • 2024
  • Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award

The 2024 Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award is awarded to Anastasia Vogelbacher Heatwave occurrence worldwide: A comprehensive analysis integrating land properties, climate variables and groundwater depth


Anastasios Perdios

Anastasios Perdios

  • 2024
  • Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award

The 2024 Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award is awarded to Anastasios Perdios Climate Risk and Vulnerability Assessment (CRVA) for the Port of Heraklion in Greece


Franziska Clerc-Schwarzenbach

Franziska Clerc-Schwarzenbach

  • 2024
  • Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award

The 2024 Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award is awarded to Franziska Clerc-Schwarzenbach What is more important for model calibration: information on the discharge dynamics or information on the discharge volume?


Mirjam Scheller

Mirjam Scheller

  • 2024
  • Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award

The 2024 Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award is awarded to Mirjam Scheller Combining citizen science data and the hierarchical structuring of temporary streams to reconstruct the patterns of channel wetting and drying


Patrick Sogno

Patrick Sogno

  • 2024
  • Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award

The 2024 Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award is awarded to Patrick Sogno Exploring Trends, Patterns, and Drivers of African Surface Water Dynamics


Rui Guo

Rui Guo

  • 2024
  • Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award

The 2024 Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award is awarded to Rui Guo Past and future changes of streamflow in the European Alps


Sarah Hanus

Sarah Hanus

  • 2024
  • Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award

The 2024 Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award is awarded to Sarah Hanus Glaciers – an overlooked water balance component in global hydrological modelling


Simon P. Heselschwerdt

Simon P. Heselschwerdt

  • 2024
  • Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award

The 2024 Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award is awarded to Simon P. Heselschwerdt Projected shifts and dynamics in blue and green water resources availability


Marc F. P. Bierkens

Marc F. P. Bierkens

  • 2023
  • Henry Darcy Medal

The 2023 Henry Darcy Medal is awarded to Marc F. P. Bierkens for outstanding research on integrative global and regional-scale water resources modelling, aimed at understanding surface and groundwater supply depletion related to human uses and climate change.


Taikan Oki

Taikan Oki

  • 2023
  • John Dalton Medal

The 2023 John Dalton Medal is awarded to Taikan Oki for his seminal contribution to global hydrology through pioneering work in developing novel numerical models to quantify the global water cycle, and its evolution under human pressure.


Inge de Graaf

Inge de Graaf

  • 2023
  • Division Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award

The 2023 Division Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award is awarded to Inge de Graaf for fundamental contributions to the field of large-scale hydrology and groundwater modelling.


Amos Agossou

Amos Agossou

  • 2023
  • Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award

The 2023 Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award is awarded to Amos Agossou Groundwater recharge restoration in urban area using LID/BMP: Study case of Benin, West Africa


Bryan Marinelli

Bryan Marinelli

  • 2023
  • Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award

The 2023 Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award is awarded to Bryan Marinelli Global violations of environmentally critical groundwater discharge


Elisie Kåresdotter

Elisie Kåresdotter

  • 2023
  • Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award

The 2023 Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award is awarded to Elisie Kåresdotter Humans, Water, and Climate Change – Global Analysis of Conflicts and Cooperation and their Potential Drivers


Irene Himmelbauer

Irene Himmelbauer

  • 2023
  • Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award

The 2023 Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award is awarded to Irene Himmelbauer Analyzing the reliability of in situ soil moisture measurements for satellite product validation: What makes “fiducial reference measurements” fiducial?


Jonas Pyschik

Jonas Pyschik

  • 2023
  • Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award

The 2023 Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award is awarded to Jonas Pyschik Detecting the occurrence of preferential flow in soils with stable water isotopes


Michael De Santi

Michael De Santi

  • 2023
  • Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award

The 2023 Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award is awarded to Michael De Santi Optimizing chlorination for water safety and acceptability in emergency water supplies in humanitarian crises using a deep composite neural network


Shoobhangi Tyagi

Shoobhangi Tyagi

  • 2023
  • Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award

The 2023 Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award is awarded to Shoobhangi Tyagi Implications of 1.5°C global warming for agricultural productivity over a global rice exporting region in Central India


Tim Busker

Tim Busker

  • 2023
  • Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award

The 2023 Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award is awarded to Tim Busker Impact-based seasonal rainfall forecasting to trigger early action for droughts


Tzu-Han Weng

Tzu-Han Weng

  • 2023
  • Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award

The 2023 Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award is awarded to Tzu-Han Weng Establishing a macroscopic-scale rainfall climate and water resources estimation model by machine learning method

Current issue of the EGU newsletter

In our November Issue, learn about what happens to satellites that aren't operational anymore, follow the first steps of the HERA mission to a binary asteroid system and watch a webinar about the barriers to fieldwork for LGBTQIA+ researchers.

Get all the skills to get involved in Science Diplomacy with our resource of the month, and don't miss this month's EGUwebinar for World Soils Day on combining field studies with modelling on 5 December. EGU25 bstract submissions are OPEN now until 13:00CET 15 January 2025, and if you need financial support due to caregiving responsibilities, a disability, career status or another reason, apply for our new EDI Participation Support by 26 February 2025. All this and much more in this month's Loupe!

Current issue of the HS division newsletter

What is new in the Hydrological Sciences Division in November? Get the latest updates on EGU25 abstract submissions, how to promote your session, and our upcoming Division campfire events! Plus, we present the latest highlights of the HS blog - from urban debris challenges following the floods in Valencia, to mapping the future of freshwater.

Find HS on

Subscribe to