Profile Series: Vangelis Findanis

Posted on December 4, 2025 by Young Hydrologic Society

Let’s get the basics. Name, where you are from, and your current affiliation, advisor and profile?

My name is Vangelis Findanis, and I come from Greece, specifically from the Island of Lesvos. I have resided in Thessaloniki for the last 15 years, from the beginning of my undergraduate studies to my seventh year as a PhD student. Currently, I am pursuing a PhD in the Department of Rural and Surveying Engineering at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. My advisor is Professor Athanasios Loukas.

What is the research you are currently working on?

My research focuses on applying concepts of information theory to surface hydrology to quantify the uncertainty components of rainfall-runoff models. Information theory originally came from the field of electrical engineering, and it studies the quantification, transmission, and encoding of information. Applications of information theory are everywhere around us, from Morse code to ZIP files and podcasts. To put it simply, without it, our technological world would be infeasible. A key concept of information theory is Shannon’s entropy, which is linked to thermodynamic entropy, implying that information is as physical as energy and mass. Therefore, in a hydrological model, a balance of information must be conserved between its inputs and its outputs, just like the volume of precipitation minus the hydrological losses must be equal to the volume of runoff. Any deficit in that balance is derived by uncertainties entangled in the model’s structure or selected parameters. Hence, by computing this information deficit, the components of uncertainty in a hydrological simulation can be identified and improved.

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Hallway Conversations – Pantelis Sidiropoulos

Posted on November 27, 2025 by Young Hydrologic Society

Contribution by Charalampia-Maria Chatzikonstantinou (CMC)

Pantelis graduated in Civil Engineering at the University of Thessaly (Greece) with a thesis on “Simulation and Management of the Lake Karla Aquifer with the Mathematical Model MODFLOW 2000”. He carried out his Ph.D. on the theme “Groundwater resource management under uncertainty: The value of information in environmentally degraded aquifers” at the Hydraulic Sector of University of Thessaly’s Department of Civil Engineering (2007-2014). Since 2023, he is an Associate Professor at the Department of Rural and Surveying Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

CMC. Could you tell us a little bit about your background and education? Was becoming a scientist part of your career goals when you were a student?

PS. I studied Civil Engineering at the University of Thessaly, in the beautiful city of Volos. The department had been founded just 5 years before I entered, with a small number of students, and this resulted in a close relationship between the teachers and the students. I have been a fan of physics and mathematics since I was little, and I think that was the reason why I chose the orientation of hydraulics in the 3rd year of my studies. In the courses of this orientation, such as Hydrology, Hydraulics, and Underground Hydraulics, I was won over by the explanation of the physical processes taught. In the same department, I continued my studies at the master’s and doctoral levels. Yes, as a student, I wanted to follow the path of research. Already from the 4th year of my studies, when I started my diploma thesis, I wanted to do a PhD, and the reason was what still burns inside me: my love for research. I was lucky in two aspects of my professional career: 1) As a graduate student, I started participating in research programs and 2) The work I had as a civil engineer after finishing my master’s degree was close to the subject of my PhD. It may have been difficult to combine a morning job with a PhD, but when you love something very much, it doesn’t tire you.

CMC. What inspired you to pursue research in groundwater hydrology?

PS. Haha….every time I think about this I laugh, and I will explain why. As I mentioned above, I was very interested in the physical interpretation of the processes of water, e.g. the hydrological cycle, fluid mechanics, etc. While in hydrology and hydraulics you can have visual contact with the object of study, with groundwater, this does not exist, and that interested me even more. I did not flinch even when I was taught the three-dimensional differential equations of groundwater movement. I will never forget the moment in the classroom where all my fellow students looked at the equations with horror, and I observed them with awe.

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Choosing the Right Hydrologic Model for Agriculture: 1D, 2D, or 3D?

Posted on November 25, 2025 by Young Hydrologic Society

Written by Sathyanarayan Rao

Introduction

Many hydrologists face the same dilemma sooner or later: do I really need a 3D model for this, or will a simple 1D line do the job? That question only makes sense once we step back and look at the bigger picture: why water management itself has become such a pressing issue. Water management has emerged as a key issue in the debate over food security as communities around the world struggle to feed an expanding population while dealing with the strains of resource scarcity, shifting land use, and climate uncertainty. Beyond agriculture, hydrology supports energy production, flood protection, urban water supply, and ecosystem preservation. However, its significance is especially apparent in agriculture. When rainfall is erratic, rivers are stressed, and groundwater supplies are depleting, it can be difficult to reliably supply crops with the water they need at the right time and location.

Here’s where hydrologic modeling comes in handy. Models enable us to forecast results, simulate various scenarios, and develop strategies that would otherwise be impossible to test on a large scale in the field by converting the complexity of water movement into organized, testable frameworks. In agriculture, this could entail determining how irrigation affects soil moisture, forecasting floodwater pooling locations on farmland, or estimating the long-term effects of groundwater extraction on crop viability. Modeling gives us the information we need to make better decisions, but it does not resolve issues on its own.

However, not all models are made equal, and their dimensionality, the amount of detail they depict is crucial. While two-dimensional methods aid in our comprehension of surface water spreading and flood hazards, a one-dimensional model might be sufficient to direct the design of an irrigation canal. The relationships between soil, groundwater, and surface water are further captured by three-dimensional models. Using my personal experience as a guide, I will discuss how the different levels of model dimensionality(1D, 2D, and 3D) apply to agriculture, although I acknowledge that the same ideas apply to a wide range of fields.

The Fundamentals of Model Dimensionality Understanding

It’s important to consider what 1D, 2D, and 3D models truly mean in hydrology before deciding when to use them.

After all, depending on gravity, soil, and pressure, water in the real world always flows sideways, downward, or upward rather than in a single direction. However, we don’t need to capture all of that complexity for a lot of real-world issues. Smart approximations that simplify the problem without sacrificing the core of the study are frequently possible.

Figure 1. Conceptual illustration of dimensionality in hydrologic models. 1D captures flow along a single direction (canals, infiltration through soil layers). 2D represents water redistribution across surfaces (rainfall and runoff). 3D incorporates coupled surface–subsurface processes including evapotranspiration, vadose zone flow, and groundwater dynamics.

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Profile Series: Mark Bryan Alivio

Posted on November 4, 2025 by Young Hydrologic Society

Let’s get the basics. Name, where you are from, and your current affiliation, advisor and profile?

Hi, my name is Mark Bryan Alivio, and I am originally from a small city, named Valencia, in the island of Mindanao, the Philippines. I received an MSc in Water Science Engineering (Flood Risk Management) through the Erasmus+ Flood Risk Master program. I am currently doing my PhD at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering, under the supervision of Prof. Nejc Bezak.

What is the research you are currently working on?

My research focuses on the role of urban trees as nature-based solutions (NbS) for stormwater management in cities. Yes, I know everyone thinks that trees have been extensively studied for their runoff reduction (I got this comment a lot when I opened up what I am currently working on), but that is only true in forest or rural environments, not in an urban setting. Trees in cities exhibit different vegetation characteristics (e.g., leaf area index, canopy structure, phenology) compared to their forest counterparts due to different growing conditions, microclimate, and other factors. Also, the representation of urban trees (even afforestation) in most existing hydrologic models is typically based on land use/land cover type, and the hydrologic response to these changes is used as a basis for determining the equivalent runoff reductions and water quality benefits provided by trees. Also, the data, variables, and/or parameters characterizing trees and the canopy hydrological processes (i.e., interception, throughfall) have been mostly supplemented with findings from studies in natural or rural forests. 

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The Italian Hydrology Days 2025: climate challenges, drought, and new perspectives

Posted on September 30, 2025 by Young Hydrologic Society

A Streams of Thought contribution by Giulio Paradiso.

The Italian Hydrology Days 2025, organized by the Italian Hydrological Society (SII, https://www.sii-ihs.it/), took place at the Polytechnic of Bari from September 8 to 10 under the title “Territorial climate challenges: scenarios, risks and adaptation strategies”, with a strong focus on drought, a theme that in recent years has become increasingly urgent at both national and international level.

Over three days of exchange and debate, the scientific community presented a wide range of contributions that spanned from fundamental research to applied solutions. Attention was devoted to extreme events, flood risk, groundwater management, environmental quality, droughts and water resources. Drought was, in particular, the main theme of the institutional round table during the second day of the Hydrology Days. As in previous years, the Italian section of the Young Hydrologic Society (YHS-IT) was invited to share the perspective of young Italian hydrologists, a viewpoint shaped during a dedicated meeting held on September 8, which brought together many early-career researchers from across Italian universities in an interactive discussion.

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