convener:Tomochika Tokunaga(Department of Environment Systems, University of Tokyo), Rene Therrien(Laval University), Philip Brunner(Center for Hydrogeology and Geothermics, University of Neuchatel ), Jiaqi Liu(The University of Tokyo )

Surface and subsurface hydrologic models (SSHM) simulate the relevant components of the water cycle that affect surface water and groundwater. Such models thus constitute important tools to support water resources management. For example, model predictions are used to manage increased water use, water pollution, droughts and floods.

Nevertheless, significant challenges are inherent to the development and application of SSHMs. One critical issue is the limited amount of data to inform model parameters. Moreover, automated calibration and a comprehensive uncertainty analysis of large-scale SSHMs are rarely carried out because of their high computational cost. In addition, there is a large uncertainty associated with the conceptualization of the relevant processes and the parametrization of subsurface heterogeneity, which can undermine the reliability of the predictions made.

For this session we seek presentations that focus on numerical simulations tools for water resources management and present solutions for pressing scientific challenges such as model calibration, uncertainty analysis or the conceptualization of the surface and subsurface and the relevant processes. Presentations that showcase examples where numerical modelling tools are employed for water resource management at emergency situations (e.g. earthquakes, tsunamis, droughts or stormfloods) are also encouraged.