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Doctoral thesis defense of Ms. Abby Daniela Ortega Sandoval, supervised by PD Dr. Luna Bharati

Ms. Abby Daniela Ortega Sandoval defended her thesis on August 28, 2023 at the University of Bonn. Ms. Sandoval was supervised by PD Dr. Luna Bharati from ICWRGC since 2019 and completed her thesis at the Center for Development Research (ZEF), University Bonn.

Ms. Abby Daniela Ortega Sandoval at her thesis defense with supervisor PD Dr. Luna Bharati and members of the thesis defense committee

Abby Daniela Ortega Sandoval at the Defense of her doctoral thesis with supervisor PD Dr. Luna Bharati and members of the examination commission Prof. Dr. Joachim von Braun, Prof. Dr. Rodriguez Sánchez, Prof. Dr. Christian Borgemeister and Prof. Dr. Mathias Becker.

Ms. Abby Daniela Ortega Sandoval at her thesis defense with supervisor PD Dr. Luna Bharati

Abby Daniela Ortega Sandoval with her supervisor PD Dr. Luna Bharati.

The title of her thesis was “Qualitative and quantitative assessment of sustainable urban stormwater management in Bogotá, Colombia”.

Three research articles have been published from the PhD work:

    1. A. D. Ortega Sandoval, J. P. Rodríguez Sánchez & L. Bharati (2023): A transdisciplinary approach for assessing the potential feasibility of Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems: case study, Bogotá, Colombia. Urban Water Journal 20(8): 1081-1094. https://doi.org/10.1080/1573062X.2023.2233494
    2. Ortega, A. D., Rodríguez, J. P., & Bharati, L. (2023). Building flood-resilient cities by promoting SUDS adoption: A multi-sector analysis of barriers and benefits in Bogotá, Colombia. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 88, 103621. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2023.103621
    3. Ortega, A. D., Sörensen, J., Rodríguez, J. P., & Bharati, L. (2023). Hydrologic-hydraulic assessment of SUDS control capacity using different modeling approaches: A case study in Bogotá, Colombia. Water Science and Technology 87 (12): 3124–3145. https://doi.org/10.2166/wst.2023.173

WMO: Progress on Hydrology at 19th Congress

The 19th Congress (Cg-19) of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) was held in Geneva, Switzerland, from 22 May to 4 June. Harald Köthe, Director of ICWRGC as well as acting German hydrological advisor to WMO, and Ulrich Looser, Head of the Global Runoff Data Centre (GRDC), represented the German delegation in the third Hydrological Assembly of WMO with 294 participants from 121 countries.

Harald Köthe and Dr. Ulrich Looser at the 19th WMO Congress

Harald Köthe, Director ICWRGC, and Dr. Ulrich Looser, Head of the Global Runoff Data Centre, at the 19th WMO Congress.

Based on the results of the UN2023 Water Conference in March, the WMO has set itself the priority goal of taking the lead in promoting the “Early Warning for All” initiative. This initiative aims at establishing warning systems for the entire world population for dangerous weather and climate events as well as extreme hydrological events by 2027.

Within this framework, the following progress was agreed for hydrology at the 19th WMO Congress:

  • “Accelerate the development of integrated systems and services to address global risks associated with irreversible changes in the cryosphere, downstream impacts on water resources and sea level rise” was added as a new goal to the WMO Strategic Plan. It includes strong hydrology components and contributions (Resolution 2 Cg-19 and Resolution 6 Cg-19).
  • The terms of reference of the Hydrological Coordination Commission were revised (Resolution 7 EC-77) and a new function of Hydrological Advisor to the President of WMO (exercised by the Chair of the Hydrological Assembly) was introduced (Resolution 8 Cg-19).
  • With the same resolution (Res.8 Cg-19), the Congress requested the Executive Committee to submit proposals to increase the contribution of hydrologists in the Governing Board and subsidiary bodies of WMO. These proposals will be considered at the next Congress.
  • The process for reviewing and revising the Hydrology Action Plan was established (https://www.hydroref.com/wmo/hcp/index.php <https://www.hydroref.com/wmo/hcp/index.php) (Resolution 7 Cg-19).
  • The WMO hydrological database (WHOS) was recognised as part of the WMO Information System (WIS 2.0). Member countries were invited to contribute to its expansion. The significant contribution of the Global Hydrological Cycle Observing System (WHYCOS), the Global Hydrometric Support Centre (HydroHub), and the Global Runoff Data Centre (GRDC) was reaffirmed (Resolution 4.2(4)/2 Cg-19).
  • The extension of the WMO HelpDesk to include the Associated Programme for Flood Management and the Integrated Programme for Drought Management was agreed in order to complete the available information for water management (Resolution 19 Cg-19).
  • Regional plans for the implementation of the WMO Global Hydrological State of Resources (HydroSOS) system were approved (Resolution 9 Cg-19).
  • The establishment of hydrological service centres within the WMO Integrated Processing and Prediction System (WIPPS) created new opportunities for national hydrological institutions.
  • The criteria for recognition of 75+ and 100-year time series stations were adopted.
  • The criteria for recognition of 75+ and 100-year time series stations were adopted
  • The latest developments and benefits of artificial intelligence in operational hydrology, interactions with the private sector and the latest hydrological research were part of the agenda at the Congress and Hydrological Assembly.
  • A declaration on gender equality and women’s empowerment was read at the Hydrological Assembly and the Congress Gender Day to drive change in the next 4 years

ICWRGC and BfG support these developments by means of their global water databases (GRDC, GWDC and ISMN) as well as DWD’s GPPC through research products with German scientists.

Related links:

  1. Documents of the 3rd Hydrological Assembly
  2. Adopted documents of the 19th WMO Congress 
  3. WMO Action Plan Hydrology 2022-2030 

Doctoral thesis defense of Dr. Luna Bharati’s PhD student

Dipesh Chapagain defended his doctoral thesis at the Center for Development Research (ZEF) of Bonn University on 07. August 2023. He was supervised by PD Dr. Luna Bharati from ICWRGC.

Dipesh Chapaign at the Defense of his doctoral thesis with supervisor Dr. Bharati and members of the examination commission Prof. Christian Borgemeister and Prof. Eike Lüdeling from Uni Bonn.

Dipesh Chapaign at the Defense of his doctoral thesis with supervisor PD Dr. Luna Bharati and members of the examination commission Prof. Christian Borgemeister and Prof. Eike Lüdeling from Uni Bonn.

Dipesh Chapaign at the Defense of his doctoral thesis with supervisor Dr. Bharati

Dipesh Chapagain with his advisor PD Dr. Luna Bharati.

The title of the PhD thesis is:

Detection and Attribution of Spatiotemporal Trends of Climatic Disaster Mortality in Nepal.

Three journal articles were prepared as part of the PhD work:

  1. Chapagain, D., Bharati, L., Mechler, R., KC, S., Pflug, G., & Borgemeister, C. (2023). Understanding the role of climate change in disaster mortality: Empirical evidence from the Global South. [In Review]. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4361196 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4361196
  2. Chapagain, D., Bharati, L., & Borgemeister, C. (2022). Declining vulnerability but rising impacts: the trends of climatic disasters in Nepal. Regional Environmental Change, 22(2), 55. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-022-01903-5
  3. Chapagain, D., Dhaubanjar, S. & Bharati, L. (2021). Unpacking future climate extremes and their sectoral implications in western Nepal. Climatic Change 168, 8. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-021-03216-8

Global FRIEND-Water 2023 International Conference

5 – 1 0  June 2023, Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar, Senegal

Addressing unsolved problems in hydrology for a water secure world in a changing environment

FRIEND-Water (Flow Regime from International Experimental and Network Data) is an international collaborative network of experts of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme (IHP).
Established in 1985, it aims to generate new understanding about regional hydrology and multi-scale water cycle processes. FRIEND-Water is investigating long-term variations and changes in hydrological regimes to better understand the climate and river basin controls, as well as influence of humans on the spatial and temporal distribution of water. As a flagship initiative of IHP IX (2022-2029) FRIEND-Water aims to
put science to action for a Water Secure World. FRIEND-Water research is critical for: water resources management, socio-economic development, secure livelihoods, safeguard the environment, and assessing the impact of global change. The FRIEND-Water initiative is currently structured in 8 regional groups: West and Central Africa, Europe, Mediterranean, Latin America and Caribbean, Southern Africa, Asia Pacific, Nile, Congo.

The 9th International FRIEND-Water Conference will be held at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, Senegal from 25 to 29 September 2023.

The conference concentrates on “Addressing unsolved problems in hydrology for a water secure world in a changing environment”. Seven topics are in the focus, i.a. bridging the data-knowledge gaps in hydrology and water management. ICWRGC is also increasingly active in this field. ICWRGC’s Dr. Stephan Dietrich will be co-organizing the relevant session. The full conference programme is linked at the end of this post.

FRIEND-Water (Flow Regime from International Experimental and Network Data) is an international cooperation network of experts of the Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme (IHP) of UNESCO. Founded back in 1985, the FRIEND-Water programme aims at improving our understanding of regional hydrology and cross-scale water cycle processes. FRIEND-Water investigates long-term variations and changes in hydrological regimes as well as anthropogenic influences on the spatial and temporal distribution of water.

As the flagship initiative of the ninth phase of the IHP (2022-2029), FRIEND-Water aims at putting science into practice with the goal of global water security. Research under FRIEND-Water is critical for water resources management, socio-economic development, secure livelihoods, climate and environmental protection and climate impact assessment.

Conference WebsiteScientific ProgrammeConference Registration

New Staff Interview – Tinh Vu

Mitarbeiterin des ICWRGC Tinh Vu

Could you please explain your scientific background in a couple of words?
For more than 15 years, I have been working continuously in the fields of hydrology and water management in different governmental organizations and universities in Vietnam, South-East Asian countries and Germany. As a lecturer, I worked for 5 years at Danang University for Science and Technology in Vietnam. I gave lectures in hydrology, river training and coastal engineering, and participated in various research projects in the field of water resources. During this time, I joined the Network for Sustainable Hydropower Development in the Mekong river countries (NSHD-M) as a stakeholder and trainer to conduct workshops and trainings for local stakeholders in Vietnam. This network was organized by the MRC-GIZ Cooperation Programme (2011-2015). I came to Germany in autumn 2015 for my PhD at Kiel University (CAU) and have been working as a scientific researcher since early 2020 at the Federal Institute of Hydrology (BfG, Germany).

What made you apply at ICWRGC?
The key mandates of ICWRGC, i.e. a focus on research, education and promoting cooperation between (inter-)national experts, stakeholders and scientist, as well as supporting many operational hydrological services. They exactly match my qualifications. ICWRGC’s topics also cover my research interests, where hydrological alteration under global changes is my main study subject. What I also bring into the ICWRGC team is a strong international background as well as my longtime working experience in interdisciplinary teams, not only in scientific fields but also in terms of practical aspects.

What are your main responsibilities at ICWRGC?
I am involved in a joint project funded by BMBF to develop an operational, multi-sectoral global drought hazard forecasting system (OUTLAST) and responsible for the coordination between WMO, German project partners and stakeholders from Lake Victoria Basin (Africa) and Central Asia. I establish an automated workflow and develop a concept to enable long-term operationalization and implementation of a drought hazard forecasting system. My tasks also include organizing workshops in local regions and at the BfG to present and evaluate the developed product from OUTLAST.

What do you expect from your time at ICWRGC?
During my time here, I hope to sharpen my professional skills (building concept and co-design for long-term operational inter-institute global models) and strengthen other coordination skills (e.g. stakeholder dialogue, networking with other (inter-)national organizations such as UN, WMO, GIZ, GWP…). These will complete my profile and expand my capacity in terms of interdisciplinary collaboration under global changes.

ICWRGC at Science for Sustainable Livelihoods Forum in Mittweida

The first Mittweida Climate Forum titled “Science for Sustainable Livelihoods”, co-organized by ICWRGC, took place from 12-16 June 2023, bringing in experts, researchers, and policy makers from Europe and Africa. Mittweida University of Applied Sciences (HSMW) has been cooperating with WASCAL and SASSCAL (funded by BMBF) and the International Centre for Water Resources and Global Change (ICWRGC) in Koblenz and the Institute of Geography and Geology at the University of Würzburg.

The aim of the Forum was to promote the exchange of African and German expertise on the interplay of global and local climate systems on the African and European Continent. Furthermore, local measures to adapt to the impacts of climate change in regional environmental contexts were discussed.

Members from the partners of the Mittweida Hochschule, The South African Science Centre for Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (SASSCAL), The West African Science Centre for Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL), University of Würzburg, and the International Centre for Water Resources and Global Change (ICWRGC) attended the meeting. In addition, stakeholders from universities, research institutions, politics and civil society, including young minds from Africa and Germany, shared their knowledge to find creative solutions in a more climate-resilient world.

The Mittweida, SASSCAL, WASCAL, ICWRGC, and University of Würzburg delegations at the welcoming ceremony of the Climate Forum 2023

The Mittweida, SASSCAL, WASCAL, ICWRGC, and University of Würzburg delegations at the welcoming ceremony of the Climate Forum 2023

ICWRGC represented by Dr. Luna Bharati, a member of the Advisory Board for this conference, and Dr. Layla Hashweh jointly convened an interactive workshop titled “Fair Data Principles”. The workshop aimed at showcasing ICWRGC and the two data centres, Global Environment Monitoring System for Freshwater (GEMS/Water) and the International Soil Moisture Network (ISMN) it hosts.

The participants had the unique opportunity to not only learn about the developed data products, how they are set up and shared, but were also given the opportunity to retrieve the data provided from the websites themselves.

Additionally, Luna chaired the water management session where Layla held a scientific fifteen-minute oral presentation about Ewaso Narok wetland in East Africa, among presentations from other participants.

As part of the Forum, Layla moderated a workshop titled “Climate Change – Real Stories from Africa”, presented by our SASSCAL colleagues. The workshop showed research-based evidence on the effects of climate change in Southern Africa. Furthermore, it highlighted the Climate Scenarios in the region and the contribution of SASSCAL’s activities to climate change response. Last but not least, it advocated for cultural and traditional knowledge and norms in climate change and the perspectives of the communities.

A panel discussion on securing livelihoods under changing climate was also held as part of the 2023 forum. The panellists were Dr. Luna Bharati (ICWRGC), Prof. Dr. Kehinde Ogunjobi (WASCAL), Dr. Budzanani Tacheba (SASSCAL), Dr. Wilfried Kraus (Min.Dirig. BMBF a.D.) and it was moderated by PD Dr. Gunter Süß, IKKS. A link to the recording is available and included here: https://www.youtube.com/live/ges_qzMixX0?feature=share

PD Dr. Luna Bharati highlights the importance of in-situ data collection in climate change analysis as part of the panel discussion with Dr. Gunter Süß, Prof. Dr. Kehinde Ogunjobi, Dr. Budzanani Tacheba and Dr. Wilfried Kraus.

PD Dr. Luna Bharati (2nd from left) highlights the importance of in-situ data collection in climate change analysis as part of the panel discussion with Dr. Gunter Süß, Prof. Dr. Kehinde Ogunjobi, Dr. Budzanani Tacheba and Dr. Wilfried Kraus.

The Climate Forum provided an ideal opportunity to engage in conversations and networking as well as promote future collaborations. Students from Mittweida University engaged with the different partners and offered guided tours through the university and the university town of Mittweida.

Attending delegates were treated to a tour of the small University town of Mittweida

Attending delegates were treated to a tour of the small University town of Mittweida

ICWRGC and BfG scientists at the EGU General Assembly 2023

The European Geosciences Union (EGU) is the largest congregation of geoscientists from all over the world in Europe. Several scientists of ICWRGC and BfG were actively involved in the EGU General Assembly meeting held between 23rd and 28th of April 2023 in Vienna, Austria.

ISMN

Four scientists from the International Soil Moisture Network (ISMN): Fay Boehmer, Matthias Zink, Wolfgang Korres and Tunde Olarinoye attended the EGU on site while others joined online. The ISMN team organised the first ISMN splinter meeting at any EGU event, aiming at promoting connectivity within the soil moisture community to improve data sharing, knowledge sharing and scientific collaborations. The splinter meeting was well attended by different stakeholders: soil moisture sensor manufacturers, data providers, data users and soil moisture enthusiasts. Besides the splinter meeting, Fay Boehmer presented the ISMN at a session on the role of subsurface runoff, soil moisture and surface-subsurface feedback in hydrology. In her presentation, she emphasized the role of soil moisture as an essential agriculture, meteorology and hydrology variable. She concluded by highlighting the ISMN efforts towards ensuring access to open and fair in-situ soil moisture data and encouraged a community-wide participation in the ISMN project.

Team ICWRGC and GRDC at EGU conference 2023

Data centres and GTN-H

The international data centres: ISMN represented by Tunde Olarinoye, Global Runoff Data Centre (GRDC) represented by Claudia Faerber, International Groundwater Resources Assessment Centre (IGRAC) represented by Claudia Ruz Vargas and Arnaud Sterckx, Global Environment Monitoring System for Freshwater (GEMS/Water) represented by Dmytro Lisniak and Global Terrestrial Network – Hydrology (GTN-H) represented by Stephan Dietrich jointly convened a session titled “From observations to action: role of data services in hydrological research and management”. The session, co-sponsored by WMO, aimed at showcasing ideas, concepts, efforts and challenges in developing data products as well as demonstrating the benefit of setting up, maintaining networks, and sharing data to support the data acquisition ambitions of data centres. The new PICO session attracted 12 abstracts covering a wide range of hydro-meteorological data topics. Presenters gave a 2-minutes pitch talk which was followed by an extensive interactive discussion.

Stephan gave an introduction on Systematic water and climate observations through Global Water Data Centres and Networks  in the GTN-H data centers session.

Tunde also co-convened the session “Large-sample hydrology: characterizing and understanding hydrological diversity and catchment organization”. It featured presentations on methods, data and advances in the understanding and modelling of hydrological diversity.

 

Science-practice Nexus and FRIEND-Water

In addition, Stephan co-convened the session “Elevating practice in the science-policy-practice nexus: highlights from operationalization of hydrological research and interdisciplinary collaborations” co-sponsored by WMO and UNESCO-IHP. The session highlighted contributions on interdisciplinary collaborations and existing hydrology initiatives, organizations, and networks that offer modalities and frameworks aimed at connecting typically isolated stakeholders of research and improving hydrological research-services interface on various scales and directions. Luna Bharati from ICWRGC participated in the session and presented a successful case study from her research where transdisciplinary methods were used to identify climate change risks and potential future land use scenarios. The research results including the hydrological models developed in the project were incorporated in the national irrigation master plan that was developed by the Department of Irrigation, Government of Nepal.

Stephan also co-convened the EURO-FRIEND splinter meeting on Large Scale Variations in Hydrological Characteristics. Luna and Claudia Faerber from GRDC attended this meeting in person.

Presentation Lena Fay Böhmer et EGU 2023

Research and Networking

Luna and her PhD Student also participated in the session on extreme meteorological and hydrological events induced by severe weather and climate change. In their presentation titled Understanding the role of climate change in disaster mortality, they showed that extreme  precipitation events caused by climate change has a significant impact in increasing mortality rates.

EGU presents an excellent opportunity for updating knowledge, networking, developing research ideas and establishing new collaborations.

GTN-H session at EGU 2023

Trends in climate disaster impacts in a least developed country

Dr. Luna Bharati co-authored a paper that assesses the spatiotemporal trends of multiple types of climatic disasters with respect to the related mortality and vulnerability and their attribution to climatic and socioeconomic factors in a least developed country, Nepal. The impacts of climatic disasters, such as human mortality, have been rising globally, but the causes of the rise remain unclear. In this study, the authors found that the disaster frequency and mortality have increased, but the vulnerability has decreased. The findings imply that the strong increase in disaster frequency, potentially due to climate change, has overpowered the effect of reduced vulnerability and caused an increase in disaster mortality.

Chapagain, D., Bharati, L., & Borgemeister, C. (2022). Declining vulnerability but rising impacts: the trends of climatic disasters in Nepal. Regional Environmental Change, 22(2), 55.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-022-01903-5

The role of academia in communicating environmental conflicts

The world is witnessing an increase in environmental conflicts (ECs) caused by the overexploitation and pollution of natural resources. In this paper, a multidisciplinary group of researchers (including dr. Luna Bharati) critically explored the role of academia in co-producing knowledge on the complexities of environmental conflicts. The publication highlights why inter- and transdisciplinary approaches to understanding multifaceted environmental conflicts are important and which day-to-day challenges academic researchers face when applying them.

Aviles, D., Mora Motta, A., Pereira, A., Bharati, L., Biber-Freundenberger, L., Ptersheim, C. Quispe-Zuniga, MR., Schmitt, CB., Youkhana, E. (2022) Integrating scientific and local knowledge to address environmental conflicts: the role of academia. Human Ecology 50(4). DOI: 10.1007/s10745-022-00344-2

Case study on the implementation of Sustainable Drainage Systems

Dr. Luna Bharati is co-author to a paper that discusses the factors that hinder and promote implementation of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SUDS) in Bogotá, considering the perspectives of the public sector, private sector, urban developers, and community members living in a flood-prone area. After identifying and categorizing 39 barriers, the authors found that technical barriers continue to have a significant impact on SUDS adoption. The evaluation of benefits yielded 34 results, demonstrating the broad scope of SUDS at a social, economic, and environmental level.

Ortega, A. D., Rodríguez, J. P., & Bharati, L. (2023). Building flood-resilient cities by promoting SUDS adoption: A multi-sector analysis of barriers and benefits in Bogotá, Colombia. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 88 (February), 103621.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2023.103621