European Geosciences Union
Division on Hydrological Sciences
President: Maria-Helena Ramos (hs@egu.eu)
Deputy President: Elena Toth
(elena.toth@unibo.it)
The hydrological sciences have their own division within the European Geosciences Union. The Hydrological Sciences Divisions 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). Furthermore, the ways in which hydrological processes are observed, quantitatively computed, and forecasted are 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:
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!
The Hydrological Science Division of EGU has adopted a twitter account to share:
The 2020 John Dalton Medal is awarded to Amilcare Porporato for seminal contributions to the field of ecohydrology and for developing new theories for the analysis of soil-plant-atmosphere systems across scales.
The 2020 Henry Darcy Medal is awarded to Xavier Sánchez-Vila in recognition of his innovative theoretical work and practical solutions regarding aquifer characterisation, subsurface solute transport processes and managed aquifer recharge.
The 2020 Arne Richter Award for Outstanding Early Career Scientists is awarded to Andreas Hartmann for outstanding contributions to understanding karst systems, their evolution, and particular hydrological processes, and pushing the community to large scales with new models and a smart use of tracers.
The 2019 John Dalton Medal is awarded to Günter Blöschl for pioneering major advances in hydrological predictions, including advances in flood estimations, by linking patterns and processes across small catchments to large regional scales.
The 2019 Henry Darcy Medal is awarded to Petra Döll for groundbreaking work in global freshwater system modelling, increasing awareness of threats to freshwater resources in the world, and contributions to participatory water management.
The 2019 Division Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award is awarded to Serena Ceola for outstanding contributions to the understanding of the interplay of river dynamics, fluvial ecology and human activities.
The 2019 Outstanding Student Poster and PICO (OSPP) Award is awarded to Andrew Bennett A process network based approach to model intercomparison using SUMMA ensembles
The 2019 Outstanding Student Poster and PICO (OSPP) Award is awarded to Elisabeth von der Esch Raman microspectroscopy as a tool for microplastic particle analysis
The 2019 Outstanding Student Poster and PICO (OSPP) Award is awarded to Gökben Demir Spatial Variation of Soil Properties and Throughfall in European Mixed Beech Forest
The 2019 Outstanding Student Poster and PICO (OSPP) Award is awarded to Lorenz Ammann Fast herbicide transport in a small agricultural catchment: modellers meet experimentalists
The 2019 Outstanding Student Poster and PICO (OSPP) Award is awarded to Mary Forrester Understanding GRACE total water storage estimates with integrated hydrologic modeling across the continental United States
The 2019 Outstanding Student Poster and PICO (OSPP) Award is awarded to Morgane Merlin Separating transpiration and stem water storage in a large boreal tree using Heat Ratio Method sap flow sensors
The 2019 Outstanding Student Poster and PICO (OSPP) Award is awarded to Nicolai Brekenfeld A Small, Low-Cost Conductivity Sensor for Improved Quantification of Hyporheic Travel Times and Exchange Processes
Thursday 30 July marks the centennial of the birth of Marie Tharp, a pioneering geologist and cartographer whose groundbreaking scientific contributions played a key role in the eventual acceptance of the theory of plate tectonics. Tharp is best known for her detailed seafloor maps that revealed a wealth of previously unknown features, including seamounts, trenches, transform faults, and most notably, the mid-ocean ridge system.
Tharp’s story is all the more compelling due to the adversity she overcame during her career—much of it related to her gender. Because Tharp didn’t always receive credit for her work, her contributions were initially overlooked. Fortunately, Hali Felt, the author of Tharp’s biography, and others have helped correct the record. “Marie wouldn’t have chosen to experience the gender discrimination that told her the humanities were a “better fit” and forced her to work in an office rather than the field,” says Felt in a recent EGU blog, “but the result was that she found her calling closer to home, and mapped 70 percent of the Earth’s surface in the process.”
This month, EGU is celebrating Tharp’s achievements, and those of all women geoscientists, through a series of posts, including one by the Tectonics and Structural Geology Division that revisits her legacy and its importance for laying the foundations of modern geology. EGU also spoke with six researchers working in the fields of ocean science, tectonics, and mapping to ask them what Marie Tharp’s work means to them personally, as well as to the future of ocean science and tectonic research. “Her life story is a burning, guiding light for me,” says marine geographer Dawn Wright.
We hope these articles will inspire all EGU members to help one another overcome whatever adversity we face. Tharp “succeeded in building a career that she loved, and was proud of,” says structural geologist Lucia Perez Diaz. “As a woman in science, I can’t imagine a better dream to work towards.”