The plan can be found by clicking on the above Figure. Here you can also find the slides I presented to the board of the University for presenting the Center and the plans.
My reflections and notes about hydrology and being a hydrologist in academia. The daily evolution of my work. Especially for my students, but also for anyone with the patience to read them.
Tuesday, July 4, 2023
C3A Six Years Plan
Thursday, June 22, 2023
A Ph.D. position on Po River, DARTHs, Earth Observations
I have an open Ph.D. position which closes at July 6: - Evolution of the system GEOframe/OMS3/CSIP for the building ofa Digital Twin of the Hydrology of river Po - E66E23000170001
It looks like it is very dedicate to informatics (see also here) but let me say that the candidate should write their project with a broader view, although it must remain within the scope of what we are doing in the context of the Po River basin project and related to the exploitation of satellite data to support hydrological modeling. The project that funds it, besides PNRR, is 4DHYdro, which collects some of the best hydrological modellers in Europe (and from the projects' goal you can find inspiration).
The general focus of the study are droughts and can contains more computer science-related parts, more conceptual parts, or more applied parts. The themes related to the processes are: snow, plant transpiration, and crop needs. The enabling technology is precisely the systematic use of Earth observation, and the concept paper for the whole system is the one about DARTHs. Further information on DARTHs can be found here.
If, at this point, you are a little convinced to apply also consider the philosophy of our group that you can find in a sequence of posts, here and and links therein.
Our group is a crew of international fellows: 2 Indians, 1 Pakistani, 1French, 1 Iranian, 1 Algerian and 8 Italians, including two professors, one researcher (at Eurac), two postdocs, and nine Ph.D. students already.
Saturday, June 10, 2023
Transit time, Residence time, Response time, Life expectancy
Just to help someone, a few definitions:
- Travel Time (a.k.a. Transit Time), T: It is the time a parcel of water stays inside a control volume. If $t_{in}$ is the time it entered the control volume and $$t_{ex}$$ the travel time it exits, then $$ T= t_{ex}-t_{in} $$ For an observer placed at the outlet(s) of the control volume, since their actual (clock) time coincides with $$t_{ex}$$, i.e $$t_{ex}=t$$ it is $$ T= t-t_{in} $$. The actual variable in this definition is $$t_{in}$$
- Residence time is $$T_R = t-t_{in}$$
- Life expectancy is $$ T_L = T_{ex} - t$$ so, it is also: $$ T = T_R+T_L $$
- Response time is $$R = t_{ex}-t_{in}$$ but only restricted to all the parcels injected at the same $$t_{in}$$ estimated at $$t=t_{in}$$ and is their life expectancy at $$t=t_{in}$$. The actual variable here is $$t_{ex}$$.
- The view of the catchment as the statistics of elementary water volumes moving stochastically, a storyboard
- Travel Time, Residence Times (Vimeo2022)
- A summary (Vimeo 2022)
- A short note about past and future (Vimeo2022)
- Vimeo 2021-Ita, Vimeo 2021-Eng
- Some discussion (In English)
- Response Times (Vimeo 2023)
- Pollutants, Tracers, Nutrients Transport (Vimeo2023)
- Partitioning the outputs (Vimeo2023)
- Q&A - A student asks and I respond on travel times (in Italian)
- Q&A - Another session of explanations
- Klicker session on Travel times, Residence Time, etc. (List of questions and answers by students, Zoom2020)
Monday, May 15, 2023
A talk on how plants eat the Sun
Tomorrow, for the "23rd International Day of Light" I am giving a talk about how through the photosynthesis plants take water and carbon dioxide to produce oxygen and carbohydrates (lignin and other stuff). The title was kind of suggested by a book by Oliver Morton of about the same name.
Slides and talk are in Italian but I will provide soon an English version of it. By clicking on the figure, please find the presentation pdf.Friday, May 12, 2023
Attacking the issue of hydrological scales within GEOframe
How to face the scale problems in GEOframe. Daniele Andreis is giving his answer by using the capabilities of the GEOframe system. His approach is simple. Taken a catchment subdividing further the HRUs (with an appropriate software component) in smaller HRUs you are able to run a GEOframe modelling solution to the larger catchment (if required) with a specific catchment refined and then you can compare the models parameters of the refined solutions with the coarser one. (That's actually not really done yet ;-)).
Monday, April 24, 2023
For inquiring students. - II (and what is ph.D education about)
"My name is John, and I am an M.Sc. student of water engineering at the Beautiful University of Technology. My M.Sc. thesis subject is a groundbreaking one - 'Application of WRF Regional Model for Rainfall Prediction (Case Study: Northwest of Antarctica).' Under the guidance of Prof. Best Hydrologist, I have delved into the impact of predicted precipitation by the WRF model on flood forecasting in the Hec-Hms (or SWAT) model. My expertise and keen interest in climate change impacts on hydroclimatic extremes, numerical weather prediction, hydrology and water resource management, hydraulic and flood forecasting make me a force to be reckoned with in the field. "
I already wrote on the topic of students inquiring about the possibility to do a Ph.D with me. You can find previous notes here. However, I would still add something.
It's heartening to see that many schools are taking the direction of training students to run WRF, Hec-HMS, SWAT, R, Python and other tools. However, mastering tools is just one aspect of research. To truly investigate nature, one must understand where problems are and be able to modify paradigms and tools to solve them appropriately.
As Richard Feynman said, 'The problem is not people being uneducated. The problem is that people are educated just enough to believe what they have been taught, and not educated enough to question anything from what they have been taught.'
Becoming a solid Ph.D applicant requires making this switch and adding a few phrases to your CV that show that you have understood the Feynman's point. Besides, you should be inquisitive and show some fire inside for discovering new things and achieve results beyond the state-of-art (and for what regards working with me, love computer programming). A PhD is not just a status symbol or a way to gain a good salary - it's a calling for those who are truly passionate about pushing the boundaries of knowledge (see this nice infographics from an old post)
P.S. - I also wrote this "Essential for Hydrologists" that could further help.
Tuesday, April 18, 2023
Using ChapGPT 4 for Learning Java
Currently, there's a lot of hype surrounding ChatGPT v4. I was curious to explore its capabilities, so I used OpenAccessGPT to bypass current Italian law and access the BOT.
- Asking Questions: You can ask ChatGPT any question you have about Java, such as how to use a specific feature or how to solve a particular problem. ChatGPT can provide you with a detailed explanation or point you in the right direction to find the information you need.
- Practice Exercises: ChatGPT can provide you with practice exercises to help you improve your Java skills. These exercises can range from simple coding challenges to more complex projects.
- Code Examples: ChatGPT can provide you with Java code examples that illustrate how to use various features and solve different problems. These examples can help you understand Java concepts more easily.
- Tutorials and Resources: ChatGPT can recommend Java tutorials and resources that can help you learn more about the language. These resources can include online courses, books, and websites.






