for his outstanding contributions to the analysis of extreme hydrological processes and their engineering implications implications
With a background in civil engineering, Dan Rosbjerg is an internationally reputed engineering hydrologist who has done innovative research in the analysis of extreme hydrological events, including regional assessment of floods and droughts and estimation of extreme rainfall. He has been a strong stimulus for research in these areas through active membership of working groups, convener and member of scientific committees, including: UNESCO-IHP, IAHS and EGS. He has an impressive list of books, international articles, reports and lecture notes. He has been editor and co-editor of six refereed conference proceedings. As editor of Nordic Hydrology he has been a strong promoter for the hydrological sciences in northern Europe, of which he is an active representative in EGS.
Response:
This is really an extreme event. It is a great, great honour, but at
the same time overwhelming for me to receive the Henry Darcy Medal. It is
more that I had ever expected. Prediction of extreme events and their
associated frequencies is a task that relies heavily on the use of
statistics. Thus, it has been claimed that such kind of analysis should
not belong to the family of hydrological sciences. Obviously, I disagree.
Design of, e.g., reservoirs, river embankments and drainage structures is
part of hydrological engineering, and the hydrological science community
should feel obliged to contribute to improved engineering methods.
Particularly, the uncertainties involved in prediction and forecasting
should be in focus of the scientific analysis of extremes. However,
uncertainty analysis is important in all kind of modelling efforts.
Deterministic modelling is not deterministic in the sense that its
prediction results are certain. Fortunately, this is now widely recognised,
and stochastic methods are becoming an important element of any modelling
effort. Although analysis of extreme events has been a focal point in my
research, I have had the great privilege to be active in many branches of
hydrology and hydrological organisations. At my home base I have been
heading a Groundwater Research Centre for 12 years. I have enjoyed a close
cooperation within IAHS during many years in the International Commission
on Water Resources Systems, and as a frequent visitor at EGS assemblies I
have found the two organisations to complement each other in an almost
perfect way. I should also point to the fact that I have been the editor
of Nordic Hydrology for more than 15 years. In this capacity I have
esteemed to deal with the whole spectrum of hydrological sciences and
communicate with active hydrologists around the world. Once again I would
like to thank EGS for awarding me the Henry Darcy Medal. I will consider
it as recognition not just of me, but also of my co-workers during time.
Without their contributions and inspiration I had never come so far.