How Generative AI Can Improve Hydrological Modeling and Support Scientists' Work

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Generative artificial intelligence, with its ability to process and generate human-like text based on vast datasets, offers significant potential to enhance the interpretation of hydrological models, predict water cycle dynamics, and understand complex environmental interactions. By leveraging large language models (LLMs), researchers can optimize data processing, automate the extraction of relevant information from the extensive scientific literature, receive informed support in model programming, and generate descriptions of phenomena in natural language—extracting insights from vast datasets that go beyond the feasibility of manual analysis. Moreover, LLMs facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration by translating complex hydrological concepts into accessible language for diverse audiences. This seminar provides a brief introduction for selected high school students to generative model concepts, explores current applications, and examines the benefits and challenges of integrating LLMs in hydrology and related fields, highlighting their potential to advance scientific understanding and practical water resource management.

La presentazione in Italiano può essere trovata qui.

What is C3A (In Italian) ? My presentation to the students of Viticulture and Oenology of the Center of Agricolture, Food and Environment of the University of Trento

This is an unusual topic for the blog. Because it happens that I am the director of the Centro Agricoltura, Alimenti, Ambiente of the University of Trento, in my academical duties there is also to present to students what our Center is about.  You can find the presentation in Italian clicking on the Figure below.

The research program (in English) of the Center can be found also in another post, here.

The Center is not unknown to ChatGPT that, asked to answer says:

The **Center for Agriculture, Food, and Environment** (C3A) at the University of Trento is an interdisciplinary research and educational center created through a collaboration between the University of Trento and the Edmund Mach Foundation (FEM) in Trentino. C3A is dedicated to studying and developing innovative solutions in agriculture, food, and environmental sectors, with a strong focus on environmental sustainability and natural resource management.

The center's activities cover various areas, including:

1.  **Sustainable Agriculture**: Research on agricultural practices that optimize resource use and minimize environmental impact.
2. **Climate Change**: Study of the effects of climate change on agriculture and the environment, with the development of adaptation and mitigation strategies.
3. **Agri-food Technologies**: Development of innovative technologies for agricultural management, food production, and food safety.
4.  **Biodiversity and Ecosystem Management**: Research on biodiversity conservation and the impact of agricultural activities on natural ecosystems.

In addition to research, C3A offers **educational programs**, including a master’s degree program in Viticulture and Enology. These courses aim to train experts who can respond to new challenges in food production and environmental sustainability.

The Center for Agriculture, Food, and Environment (C3A) at the University of Trento also offers a Master’s Degree in Agrifood Innovation Management. This program is dedicated to innovation in the agri-food sector, with a focus on sustainable technologies, food supply chain management, and data science applications to optimize agricultural and food production.

MARRMOT (and others) models represented using the Extended Petri Nets

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The draft presented in this post represents all the MARRMoTs hydrological models using the Extended Petri Nets graphs. This show in practice that the statement that all the integral distributed hydrological models  (a.k.a. lumped distributed models, the hydrological dynamical systems, semi-distributed hydrological models) can be represented by means of the EPN is actually true. 

The MARRMoT (Modular Assessment of Rainfall-Runoff Models Toolkit) is a collection of hydrological models designed to simulate rainfall-runoff processes across different scales and conditions. Developed in MATLAB, MARRMoT provides a modular framework that allows researchers to compare, assess, and implement various conceptual hydrological models consistently

Key Features and Purpose:

• Model Variety: MARRMoT includes 47 different rainfall-runoff models, ranging from simple lumped models to more complex, semi-distributed structures.
• Comparative Framework: Its standardized environment enables researchers to test models on the same data sets and conditions, making it easier to assess model performance, suitability, and sensitivity.
• Customization: Users can adapt model configurations or modify parameters within the toolkit to better fit specific research objectives or study basins.
• - Open-source and Accessible: MARRMoT is open-source, encouraging community contributions, modifications, and application across various hydrological research areas.

This toolkit is particularly useful for researchers looking to improve or validate hydrological models and for those who want a structured way to compare the effects of model structure on hydrological simulation outcomes.

Extended Petri Nets (EPNs) are an enhanced version of traditional Petri Nets, a mathematical modeling language originally designed to describe distributed systems with concurrent, asynchronous processes. EPNs incorporate additional features to increase modeling flexibility and allow for more complex system representations. In scientific modeling, they are used for representing and analyzing systems in which discrete and continuous interactions are critical, like biological networks, chemical reactions, ecological models, or engineering processes.

In hydrology, an EPN might represent a soil-plant-atmosphere model, where state variables (such as soil moisture or leaf temperature) are stored in places (nodes) and fluxes (like water or energy flow) are represented as transitions. The EPN structure could allow the model to account for dependencies like temperature effects on transpiration, thus helping visualize and simulate complex feedbacks and interactions in the water cycle.

References

Bancheri, Marialaura, Francesco Serafin, and Riccardo Rigon. 2019. “The Representation of Hydrological Dynamical Systems Using Extended Petri Nets (EPN).” Water Resources Research 55 (11): 8895–8921. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019WR025099.

Marialaura, Bancheri, Francesco Serafin, and Riccardo Rigon. 2019. “Supporting Material for: The Representation of Hydrological Dynamical Systems Using Extended Petri Nets (EPN).” Water Resources Research.

Knoben, W. J. M., J. Freer, K. J. A. Fowler, M. C. Peel, and R. A. Woods. 2019. “Modular Assessment of Rainfall-Runoff Models Toolbox (MARRMoT) v1.0: An Open Source, Extendable Framework Providing Implementations of 46 Conceptual Hydrologic Models as a Ontinuous Space-State Formulations.” GMDD, February, 1–26.

Knoben, W. J. M., J. Freer, K. J. A. Fowler, M. C. Peel, and R. A. Woods. 2019, “Modular Assessment of Rainfall–Runoff Models Toolbox (MARRMoT) v1.2: An Open-Source, Extendable Framework Providing Implementations of 46 Conceptual Hydrologic Models as Continuous State-Space Formulations.” 2019. Copernicus GmbH. https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-2463-2019-supplement.

Rigon, Riccardo, and Marialaura Bancheri. 2021. “On the Relations between the Hydrological Dynamical Systems of Water Budget, Travel Time, Response Time and Tracer Concentrations.” Hydrological Processes 35 (1). https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.14007.

Trotter, L., W. Knoben, K. Fowler, M. Saft, and M. Peel. 2022. “Modular Assessment of Rainfall–Runoff Models Toolbox (MARRMoT) v2.1: An Object-Oriented Implementation of 47 Established Hydrological Models for Improved Speed and Readability.” Geoscientific Model Development, August. https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-6359-2022.

Two possibile positions, if the right people show up

We are once again looking for exceptional individuals to join our team for PhD (3 years) or postdoc (2 years) positions.

Position 1: GEOframe-NewAGE System Application and Methodologies to build a Po Digital Twin

This role focuses on the implementation and application of the GEOframe-NewAGE system to the Po River Basin. You will assist the team in finalizing the calibration and analysis of the hydrology of the Po catchment for the period 1990-1991, with exciting outcomes expected in climatology, drought studies, and hydroinformatics applications. This project is not purely applicative as it may initially seem. It aims to encompass numerous methodological aspects and offers a wealth of research opportunities, along with the data needed to pursue them.

Position 2: Earth Observations and GEOSPACE System Development

This position focuses on integrating Earth Observations into the GEOSPACE system, with further development and applications in the Po River Basin and the Val di Non (Noce River catchment). The primary objective is to advance the integration of high-resolution remote sensing with hydrological modeling, while also improving our land-surface modeling capabilities. The role involves exploring and testing various transpiration models, incorporating increasing levels of physical realism and plant physiology to enhance model reliability.

We encourage interested candidates to explore my blog, where you’ll find detailed information about our working methods, the tools we use, and the philosophy we follow. An insightful candidate will recognize how well we might work together by reviewing the contents they find.

If you’re interested, please reach out to us at abouthydrology@gmail.com.

Let's start with Permafrost and Freezing soil ! A selection of readings for beginners compiled by John Mohd Wani

It looks like we have a new students willing to work on Permafrost and Freezing Soil. So I asked to John Mohd Wani to gather a few introductory readings. Please find below the list, for others who would start to learn about this fascinating topic.

1. Recent advances in permafrost modelling
2. Permafrost distribution in the European Alps: calculation and evaluation of an index map and summary statistics
3. A statistical approach to modelling permafrost distribution in the European Alps or similar mountain ranges
4. GlobSim (v1.0): deriving meteorological time series for point locations from multiple global reanalyses
5. A robust and energy-conserving model of freezing variably-saturated soil
6. GEOtop 2.0: simulating the combined energy and water balance at and below the land surface accounting for soil freezing, snow cover and terrain effects
7. Statistical modelling of mountain permafrost distribution: local calibration and incorporation of remotely sensed data
8. Sensitivities and uncertainties of modeled ground temperatures in mountain environments
9. Mountain permafrost: development and challenges of a young research field
10. Permafrost and climate in Europe: Monitoring and modelling thermal, geomorphological and geotechnical responses
11. Transient thermal effects in Alpine permafrost
12. A method for solving heat transfer with phase change in ice or soil that allows for large time steps while guaranteeing energy conservation
13. Implementing the Water, HEat and Transport model in GEOframe (WHETGEO-1D v.1.0): algorithms, informatics, design patterns, open science features, and 1D deployment
14. Theoretical and numerical tools for studying the Critical Zone from plot to catchments
15. Theoretical progress freezing-thawing processes study
16. A sensitivity study of factors influencing warm/thin permafrost in the Swiss Alps
17. Application of Satellite Remote Sensing Techniques to Frozen Ground Studies
18. Derivation and analysis of a high-resolution estimate of global permafrost zonation
19. How Much of the Earth's Surface is Underlain by Permafrost?
20. Influence of snow cover on ground surface temperature in the zone of sporadic permafrost, Tatra Mountains, Poland and Slovakia
21. Influence of the seasonal snow cover on the ground thermal regime: An overview
22. Mapping and modelling the occurrence and distribution of mountain permafrost
23. Northern Hemisphere permafrost map based on TTOP modelling for 2000–2016 at 1 km2 scale
24. Numerical simulations of the influence of the seasonal snow cover on the occurrence of permafrost at high latitudes
25. Permafrost distribution modelling in the semi-arid Chilean Andes

26. The changing thermal state of permafrost
27. Permafrost is warming at a global scale
28. The new database of the Global Terrestrial Network for Permafrost (GTN-P)

29. Thermal state of permafrost and active layer in Central Asia during the international polar year

30. Twenty years of European mountain permafrost dynamics—the PACE legacy

Additionally, you can find well-documented information on the long-term state and changes of mountain permafrost in the Swiss Alps through the Swiss Permafrost Monitoring Network (PERMOS). Also, they have documented and compiled best practice recommendations for the long-term measurement of permafrost temperatures.

Finally the permafrost Glossary (old) that will give you the definitions of the permafrost related terms.

Don't forget to keep an eye on the International Permafrost Association (IPA) website for events and other stuff related to permafrost. Also subscribe to the Permafrost Young Researcher's Network (PYRN), that promotes the future generation of permafrost researchers under the patronage of IPA.

Rules of the (ECHO) house (or what the Ph.D.s and postdoc should do) by Andrea Rinaldo

 

The Rivers' Speech

Andrea Rinaldo is retiring. So young and strong I would say, he is only seventy  now  (seventy is the new forty, at least for him) and he will certainly continue to produce. Therefore the University of Padova is celebrating him on Friday, September 27 afternoon. He will talk about University and eventually some of his direct students, part of a family which now has grew wide and international, were asked to highlight for the general audience (in Italian) Andrea's research.  

My topic was, quite obviously, geomorphology and river networks. Clicking below the figure you can find what I prepared in Italian (pre-recorded video here). Below The  English version is here (pre-recorded video here). It is a short talk (8 minutes or so, but I hope that you like it). The complete records of the event in honor of Andrea Rinaldo can be found on YouTube.