Dear Colleagues,

Welcome to the August newsletter of the EGU Hydrological Sciences Division! 

This month, we share important EGU updates, including the call for EGU27 session proposals, nominations for Union roles, upcoming science-policy activities, open-access publishing news, and new resources for flood forecasting. We also feature the latest updates from the HS Division and other divisions.

Have an excellent August and wish you a wonderful summer.

Alberto Viglione, Division President

Archita Bhattacharyya & Annegret Roessler, ECS Reps

Omar Cenobio-Cruz, Newsletter

Highlights and Upcoming Deadlines

The call for EGU27 session proposals is now open! The General Assembly will take place from 4–9 April 2027 in Vienna and online. Session proposals can be submitted until 23 September 2026.

Nominations are now open for the next EGU Treasurer and Union Early Career Scientist Representative. Members are welcome to propose candidates, by 8 September 2026. The election will take place from 2–24 November 2026.

Join the next EGU Science for Policy Hangout on 7 September 2026 at 14:00 CEST. This monthly online event offers an informal space to discuss science-policy engagement, meet others working at the interface, and hear about upcoming opportunities.

Copernicus Publications has announced a new institutional agreement with the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. For eligible NTNU corresponding authors, article processing charges in Copernicus journals will be fully covered for manuscripts submitted from 1 June 2026 onward.

Google Research has open-sourced the hydrology modelling framework behind its Flood Hub riverine flood forecasts. Released on 3 June 2026, the framework allows researchers and forecasting agencies to test models, add local data, and build AI-based flood forecasting workflows.

Updates from the HS Division

The latest HydroTalks episode features Prof. Thom Bogaard, discussing how water triggers landslides, the role of hydrology, ecology and geomorphology in slope stability, and how early warning systems and nature-based solutions can help reduce landslide risk.

This HS blog post explores how interpretable machine learning can support flood research when used carefully. It explains how tools such as SHAP can reveal model behaviour, while reminding that feature importance is not the same as identifying real-world flood drivers.

Blogs from Other Divisions

This Geodynamics division blog post takes us to the Ionian Sea to explore whether geoscience can help locate Homer’s Ithaca. Blending literature, tectonics and field evidence, it examines the “Odysseus Unbound” hypothesis and the geological search across Kefalonia’s Thinia valley.

This GeoLog post reflects on scientific neutrality in a time of global crises. Building on an EGU26 Townhall Meeting, it asks how geoscientists should think about responsibility, collaborations, institutions and the wider social consequences of their research.