“What global geospatial datasets are in fact available for the study of floods, droughts and their interplay with societies?” My supervisor Giuliano Di Baldassarre asked this question during one of our first meetings. We were brainstorming hypotheses and scientific inquiries for my PhD position, focusing on hydrological extremes and GIS analysis on large scales. WeContinue reading “New data opportunities for studying floods and droughts”
Author Archives: giulianodibaldassarre
The role of risk perception in influencing flood losses over time
Do you know the idiom “burying the head in the sand”? The phrase refers to the common but mistaken belief that an ostrich hides its head in the sand as soon as it feels threatened. According to this credence, the ostrich perceives to be at risk but does nothing to change its fate. On theContinue reading “The role of risk perception in influencing flood losses over time”
AGU 2019 Fall Meeting
The year 2019 marked the Centennial of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), and in December a delegation of our team – Elena, Giuliano and Maurizio – joined its yearly Fall Meeting in San Francisco. Besides attending numerous sessions and poster presentations, we had the chance to present ours and our colleagues’ research, which spanned from sociohydrological modelling to remote sensing. Continue reading “AGU 2019 Fall Meeting”
A systematic comparison of statistical and hydrological methods for design flood estimation
Accurate estimates of design floods are useful for the planning and design of hydraulic structures or the quantification of risks that will arise due to the occurrence of floods. Hydrological literature is replete with numerous ways of estimating design floods and these methods are considered to be either statistical or hydrological. The statistical method (commonlyContinue reading “A systematic comparison of statistical and hydrological methods for design flood estimation”
Drought in the Anthropocene – 2019 Workshop
Last week, together with Claudia Teutschbein, Elena Ridolfi and Sara Lindersson, I attended the annual IAHS Panta Rhei Drought in the Anthropocene 2019 Workshop organised by Margaret Garcia and colleagues from the Arizona State University. The focus of the workshop was on the cascading effects of drought and anthropogenic factors. Moreover, the workshop aimed at strengthening andContinue reading “Drought in the Anthropocene – 2019 Workshop”
Sociohydrology and the global water crisis
Nothing is permanent except change. To express this concept, Heraclitus metaphorically referred to the change in the symbiotic relationship between water and people using the words: “no man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man”. The prescient insight of Heraclitus can equally wellContinue reading “Sociohydrology and the global water crisis”
International Mountain Conference 2019
What location could possibly beat the beautiful mountain-surrounded Innsbruck for a conference dedicated entirely to the thing I love the most? Mountains are incredible. They provide an escape from every-day life, they connect us with the environment, and most importantly, they provide us what we need the most, water. Fun facts from the IMC: aContinue reading “International Mountain Conference 2019”
Evaluating precipitation datasets for large-scale distributed hydrological modelling
Our understanding of the advantages and limitations of satellite derived precipitation datasets as a forcing to hydrological models has made tremendous progress over the past decade. However, most studies have analysed only the performance of one or few datasets, were limited to selected small-scale case studies or used lumped models when investigating large-scale basins InContinue reading “Evaluating precipitation datasets for large-scale distributed hydrological modelling”
HydroSocialExtremes at the International Conference of RGS in London
I attended the International Conference of the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) in London together with two HydroSocialExtremes fellows, Maria Rusca and Elisa Savelli. This event attracted over 1,800 scientists from around the world. I had a chance to interact with both physical and human geographers involved in water related science, and brainstorm about future researchContinue reading “HydroSocialExtremes at the International Conference of RGS in London”
RGS 2019 Conference: From geographies of trouble to geographies of hope
Just back after the three-day RGS-IBG Annual International Conference which attracted more than 1,800 geographers worldwide to discuss and question their role in our (troubled) time. As both participant and contributor, I have found it fascinating to observe the effort and the ethical struggle with which those scientists seek answers to questions that nobody everContinue reading “RGS 2019 Conference: From geographies of trouble to geographies of hope”
HydroSocialExtremes 