| 1. |
- Blösch, Günter, et al.
(author)
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Twenty-three unsolved problems in hydrology (UPH) - a community perspective
- 2019
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In: Hydrological Sciences Journal. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0262-6667 .- 2150-3435. ; 64:10, s. 1141-1158
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper is the outcome of a community initiative to identify major unsolved scientific problems in hydrology motivated by a need for stronger harmonisation of research efforts. The procedure involved a public consultation through online media, followed by two workshops through which a large number of potential science questions were collated, prioritised, and synthesised. In spite of the diversity of the participants (230 scientists in total), the process revealed much about community priorities and the state of our science: a preference for continuity in research questions rather than radical departures or redirections from past and current work. Questions remain focused on the process-based understanding of hydrological variability and causality at all space and time scales. Increased attention to environmental change drives a new emphasis on understanding how change propagates across interfaces within the hydrological system and across disciplinary boundaries. In particular, the expansion of the human footprint raises a new set of questions related to human interactions with nature and water cycle feedbacks in the context of complex water management problems. We hope that this reflection and synthesis of the 23 unsolved problems in hydrology will help guide research efforts for some years to come.
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| 2. |
- Arheimer, Berit, et al.
(author)
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The IAHS Science for Solutions decade, with Hydrology Engaging Local People IN a Global world (HELPING)
- 2024
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In: Hydrological Sciences Journal. - 0262-6667 .- 2150-3435.
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The new scientific decade (2023-2032) of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS) aims at searching for sustainable solutions to undesired water conditions - may it be too little, too much or too polluted. Many of the current issues originate from global change, while solutions to problems must embrace local understanding and context. The decade will explore the current water crises by searching for actionable knowledge within three themes: global and local interactions, sustainable solutions and innovative cross-cutting methods. We capitalise on previous IAHS Scientific Decades shaping a trilogy; from Hydrological Predictions (PUB) to Change and Interdisciplinarity (Panta Rhei) to Solutions (HELPING). The vision is to solve fundamental water-related environmental and societal problems by engaging with other disciplines and local stakeholders. The decade endorses mutual learning and co-creation to progress towards UN sustainable development goals. Hence, HELPING is a vehicle for putting science in action, driven by scientists working on local hydrology in coordination with local, regional, and global processes.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Bhusal, Jagat K., et al.
(author)
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Mountains Under Pressure : Evaluating Ecosystem Services and Livelihoods in the Upper Himalayan Region of Nepal
- 2016
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In: International Journal of Ecology and Environmental Sciences. - 0377-015X .- 2320-5199. ; 42:3, s. 217-226
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Natural resource-based livelihoods in mountainous regions are subject to new types of development as well as climate related pressures and vulnerabilities. On one hand, the integrity of the mountainous landscape is under pressure from the melting of glaciers, changes in water availability, rainfall patterns, and soil degradation. On the other hand, as mountainous environments become increasingly more important in national growth strategies and development priorities, new avenues for livelihoods and vulnerabilities become more pronounced. Climate change effects are expected to be disproportionately higher in mountainous regions. There is therefore a critical urgency to better comprehend these changes shaping mountainous environments and to better assess future direct and indirect impacts on ecosystem services and livelihoods. This article presents the results of an analysis of ecosystem services and livelihoods in the Upper Mustang region of Nepal. The region was selected for its particular trans-Himalayan location, development diversity, and climatic changes that have placed increasing pressure on local ecosystem services. We examine the central role of ecosystem services for remote mountain regions, particularly for the poor, the existing pressures on the key ecosystem services and local ways of adapting to climate-induced effect to ecosystem services and, cogeneration of the knowledge gaps and co-production of knowledge with communities to support local adaptation strategies. We adopted a combination of qualitative and quantitative analytical approaches. We found significant implications for local livelihoods and adaptation strategies with reference to water for farming, pasture productivity and livestock rearing, as well as tourism development. Additionally, we highlight knowledge gaps in assessing ecosystem services and opportunities for local monitoring that may close in on the gaps with an end goal of overcoming poverty.
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| 5. |
- Buytaert, Wouter, et al.
(author)
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Citizen science in hydrology and water resources : opportunities for knowledge generation , ecosystem service management , and sustainable development
- 2014
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In: Frontiers in Earth Science. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 2296-6463. ; 2:October, s. 1-21
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The participation of the general public in the research design, data collection and interpretation process together with scientists is often referred to as citizen science. While citizen science itself has existed since the start of scientific practice, developments in sensing technology, data processing and visualization, and communication of ideas and results, are creating a wide range of new opportunities for public participation in scientific research. This paper reviews the state of citizen science in a hydrological context and explores the potential of citizen science to complement more traditional ways of scientific data collection and knowledge generation for hydrological sciences and water resources management. Although hydrological data collection often involves advanced technology, the advent of robust, cheap, and low-maintenance sensing equipment provides unprecedented opportunities for data collection in a citizen science context. These data have a significant potential to create new hydrological knowledge, especially in relation to the characterization of process heterogeneity, remote regions, and human impacts on the water cycle. However, the nature and quality of data collected in citizen science experiments is potentially very different from those of traditional monitoring networks. This poses challenges in terms of their processing, interpretation, and use, especially with regard to assimilation of traditional knowledge, the quantification of uncertainties, and their role in decision support. It also requires care in designing citizen science projects such that the generated data complement optimally other available knowledge. Lastly, using 4 case studies from remote mountain regions we reflect on the challenges and opportunities in the integration of hydrologically-oriented citizen science in water resources management, the role of scientific knowledge in the decision-making process, and the potential contestation to established community institutions posed by co-generation of new knowledge.
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| 6. |
- Buytaert, Wouter, et al.
(author)
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Regionalization as a learning process
- 2009
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In: Water resources research. - 0043-1397 .- 1944-7973. ; 45, s. W11419-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper deals with the uncertainty involved in geographical migration of hydrological model structures, commonly known as regionalization. Regionalization relies on the hypothesis that calibrated parameter sets from a donor catchment can be useful to predict discharge of an ungauged catchment. However, since every catchment is unique, model parameters need to be adapted for differences between a calibration and a prediction catchment, either by transformation or further selection. This process is inherently uncertain. Model parameters, and therefore the required changes, do not exactly represent quantities that we can measure or calculate. This paper outlines an approach to learn about how model parameters should be transformed between a gauged and an ungauged catchment. The approach consists of an iterative process, in which a model structure is applied successively to gauged catchments. After each step, parameter behavior is evaluated as a function of catchment properties and intercatchment similarities. The method is illustrated with an application of a customized version of TOPMODEL to a set of catchments in the Ecuadorian Andes. First, parameter sets are generated for a donor catchment. This model ensemble is then used to predict the discharge of the other catchments, after applying a stochastic parameter transformation to account for the uncertainty in the model migration. The parameter transformation is then evaluated and improved before further application. The case study shows that accurate predictions can be made for predicted basins. At the same time, knowledge is gained about model behavior and potential model limitations.
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| 7. |
- Dewulf, Art, et al.
(author)
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The power to define resilience in social–hydrological systems : Toward a power-sensitive resilience framework
- 2019
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In: WIREs Water. - : John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. - 2049-1948.
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Abstract Since the early work on defining and analyzing resilience in domains such as engineering, ecology and psychology, the concept has gained significant traction in many fields of research and practice. It has also become a very powerful justification for various policy goals in the water sector, evident in terms like flood resilience, river resilience, and water resilience. At the same time, a substantial body of literature has developed that questions the resilience concept's systems ontology, natural science roots and alleged conservatism, and criticizes resilience thinking for not addressing power issues. In this study, we review these critiques with the aim to develop a framework for power-sensitive resilience analysis. We build on the three faces of power to conceptualize the power to define resilience. We structure our discussion of the relevant literature into five questions that need to be reflected upon when applying the resilience concept to social?hydrological systems. These questions address: (a) resilience of what, (b) resilience at what scale, (c) resilience to what, (d) resilience for what purpose, and (e) resilience for whom; and the implications of the political choices involved in defining these parameters for resilience building or analysis. Explicitly considering these questions enables making political choices explicit in order to support negotiation or contestation on how resilience is defined and used. This article is categorized under: Human Water > Water Governance. Engineering Water > Planning Water.
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| 8. |
- Fuentes-Andino, Diana, 1984-
(author)
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Flood Hazard Assessment in Data-Scarce Basins : Use of alternative data and modelling techniques
- 2017
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Flooding is of great concern world-wide, causing damage to infrastructure, property and loss of life. Low-income countries, in particular, can be negatively affected by flood events due to their inherent vulnerabilities. Moreover, data to perform studies for flood risk management in low-income regions are often scarce or lacking sufficient quality.This thesis proposes new methodologies and explores the use of unconventional sources of information in flood hazard assessment in areas where the quantity or sufficient quality of traditional hydrometrical data are lacking. One method was developed to account for errors in spatially averaged rainfall, from a sparse rain-gauge network, used as input to a rainfall-runoff model. A spatially-averaged and event-dependent rainfall depth multiplier led to improvements of the hydrographs at calibration. And by using a distribution of the multiplier, identified from previous events in the catchment, improvement in predictions could also be obtained.A second method explored the possibility of reproducing an unmeasured extreme flood event using a combination of models, post-event data, precipitation and an uncertainty-analysis framework. This combination allowed the identification of likelihood-associated parameter sets from which the flood hazard map for the extreme event could be obtained.A third and fourth study made at the regional scale explored the value of catchment similarities, and the effects of climate on the hydrological response of catchments.Flood frequency curves were estimated for 36 basins, assumed ungauged, using regional information of short flow records, and local information about the frequency of the storm. In the second regional study, hydro-climatic information provided great value to constrain predictions of series of daily flow from a hydrological model.Previously described methods, used in combination with unconventional information within an uncertainty analysis, proven to be useful for flood hazard assessment at basins with data limitations. The explored data included: post-event measurements of an extreme flood event, hydro-climate regional information and local precipitation data. The methods presented in this thesis are expected to support development of hydrological studies underpinning flood-risk reduction in data-poor areas.
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| 9. |
- Grainger, Sam, et al.
(author)
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The development and intersection of highland-coastal scale frames : a case study of water governance in central Peru
- 2019
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In: Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1523-908X .- 1522-7200. ; 21:4, s. 373-390
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Scale framing makes an important difference to how complex environmental policy issues are defined and understood by different groups of actors. Increasing urban water demand and uncertain future climatic conditions in the Andes present major water governance challenges for the coastal regions of Peru. An understudied dimension of Peruvian water governance is how scale framing shapes the way problems are defined, and solutions are pursued. Here, we aim to strengthen the understanding of scale framing as it relates to highland-coastal interactions in central Peru between 2004 and 2015. By analysing this period of significant water governance reforms, we identify five prominent water-related frame dimensions and three differently scaled policy storylines and reveal how they developed and intersected over time. The storylines, supported by particular visualisations, either foreground 'urbanshed'-level investment in water supply infrastructure, community-level cultural restoration for improved local agricultural production, or nationwide watershed-level financial mechanisms for highland ecosystem conservation. Our study shows how the intersection of these storylines at different moments during the policy process often had a strengthening effect, creating a coalition of actors who were then able to generate sufficient momentum and support within the Peruvian government for the implementation of conservation-based watershed investments.
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| 10. |
- Karpouzoglou, Timon, et al.
(author)
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Environmental Virtual Observatories (EVOs) : prospects for knowledge co-creation and resilience in the Information Age
- 2016
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In: Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability. - : Elsevier. - 1877-3435 .- 1877-3443. ; 18, s. 40-48
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Developments in technologies are shaping information access globally. This presents opportunities and challenges for understanding the role of new technologies in sustainability research. This article focuses on a suite of technologies termed Environmental Virtual Observatories (EVOs) developed for communicating observations and simulation of environmental processes. A strength of EVOs is that they are open and decentralised, thus democratising flow and ownership of information between multiple actors. However, EVOs are discussed rarely beyond their technical aspects. By evaluating the evolution of EVOs, we illustrate why it is timely to engage with policy and societal aspects as well. While first generation EVOs are primed for scientists, second generation EVOs can have broader implications for knowledge co-creation and resilience through their participatory design.
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