Conference session · EGU General Assembly 2027

HS1.8 — Innovative Technologies and Approaches in Hydrological Monitoring

PICO session · Vienna, Austria & online · 4–9 April 2027

Co-organized by ESSI4/GI1 · Co-sponsored by IAHS and the MOXXI Working Group

Convener: Salvatore ManfredaFormat: PICOProgramme group: HS1 – Hydrological Sciences
Submit your abstract Session page on Copernicus About MOXXI
Abstract submission deadline: 12 January 2027, 13:00 CET. Early-career scientists (ECS) are warmly encouraged to submit — PICO sessions are the ideal format to present and discuss your work face to face.

Scope of the session

Effective and enhanced hydrological monitoring is essential for understanding water-related processes in a rapidly changing world. Image-based river monitoring, remote and proximal sensing, low-cost and opportunistic sensors, citizen science and artificial intelligence are reshaping the way hydrological processes are observed across scales, environments and conditions. Yet the value of these innovations depends on methodological rigour: new observational approaches need to be critically evaluated, benchmarked against established methods and integrated with existing datasets before their contribution to process understanding, modelling and operational hydrology can be established.

This session is co-sponsored by MOXXI (Measurements and Observations in the XXI century), the IAHS working group on novel observational methods, and provides a forum for research in which observation itself is the subject of investigation.

We invite contributions on

  • Disruptive and innovative sensorsUAS, camera systems (RGB, thermal, multispectral, hyperspectral), low-cost and open-hardware sensors, distributed fibre-optic sensing.
  • Opportunistic sensingCommercial microwave links, GNSS reflectometry, smartphones, personal weather stations.
  • Automated extraction of hydrological variablesWater level, flow velocity, discharge, turbidity, plastic transport and river-health parameters via image processing, machine learning, data fusion and edge computing.
  • Benchmarking and intercomparisonCritical evaluation of observational approaches, datasets and products, including calibration/validation and uncertainty quantification.
  • Integration of novel and conventional observationsNew approaches to long-term hydrological monitoring.
  • Citizen science and crowd-based methodsInnovative approaches for monitoring hydrological extremes.
  • Remote and data-scarce contextsNovel strategies to enhance the detail and accuracy of observations where data are missing.
  • From observation to practiceDemonstrations of how novel observations advance process understanding, model development and operational practice.

The goal of this session is to bring together scientists advancing hydrological monitoring, to foster a critical discussion on the reliability and added value of emerging observational approaches, and to explore how these innovations can be scaled up to larger applications.

Conveners

Salvatore ManfredaConvener — University of Naples Federico II, Chair of MOXXI (IAHS)
Khim Cathleen SaddiCo-convener (ECS)
Stergia Palli-GravaniCo-convener (ECS)
Nick van de GiesenCo-convener
Konstantinos SoulisCo-convener

Why a PICO session?

PICO (Presenting Interactive COntent) combines the best of orals and posters: every author gives a 2-minute pitch to the whole audience, followed by interactive discussion at touch screens. It is a lively format that maximises visibility and exchange — perfect for showcasing new sensors, prototypes and field experiments.

Useful links

Session HS1.8 on the EGU27 Meeting Organizer · EGU General Assembly 2027 — Meeting Organizer · MOXXI Working Group · MOXXI News · Image velocimetry at HydroLAB

About the author

He is Full Professor of Hydrology and Hydraulic Constructions at the University of Naples Federico II. He is currently chair of the IAHS MOXXI working group. His research primarily centers on hydrological modeling and monitoring. Recognizing the challenges posed by the complexity and limitations of traditional hydrological observations, he actively explores advanced and alternative monitoring techniques, such as the utilization of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) coupled with image processing.