How do you personally and professionally relate to water and/or space technologies?

I am a hydrologist and I study fluxes and storages of water in the terrestrial water cycle using Earth observations [space technologies] along with in-situ observations and physical modeling. The space technologies I use include sensors for the visible, near infra-red, infra-red, and microwave spectrum and as well as thermal and gravity instruments. Examples of the variables that I use in my studies are vegetation, surface temperature, precipitation, soil moisture and total water.

Can you tell us about your current position as the President of the Hydrology Section at the American Geophysical Union?

The American Geophysical Union’s Hydrology section has around 10,000 members world-wide. They represent various areas of the world and wide range of hydrological topics including surface and subsurface water quantity and quality, ecohydrology, precipitation, remote sensing, water policy and society, sensors and hydrologic uncertainty. My position as President is to ensure that these committees are staffed with the members and that the award committees and task forces work smoothly. In addition there is a committee that organizes the session for the Annual meeting. The AGU Annual meeting has around 25,000+ participants and hydrology is one of the largest sections.

You received many Awards over the course of your career, can you share what your proudest professional moment or the most important project you worked on was?

What makes me proud are the successes of students rather than any award. The happiest times are when students graduate and obtain jobs and/or when their research is published. All research projects make me happy. I like all research work.

Please tell us more about the SMAP Validation Experiment you worked on.

We validated the downscaled soil moisture obtained from SMAP. Basically, using vegetation and surface temperature from MODIS (Moderate Resolution Spectroradiometer) we downscaled SMAP retrieved soil moisture from 9km to 1km. We have also used the vegetation and surface temperature from VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) to downscale soil moisture from SMAP from 9km to 400m. The downscaled soil moisture has been validated using in-situ observations.

Can you elaborate on the types of applications or models that benefit from using soil moisture data? What value do they add, that cannot be added by any other dataset?

The downscaled soil moisture can be used for agriculture, climate, weather and hydrological applications where high resolution soil moisture is needed to achieve the science. Higher spatial resolution from 1km or 400m soil moisture is invaluable in solving science problems.

SDG 6 is far off track, and so are many of the water-related sustainable development indicators. Thinking of water management and hydrology globally, what are the key issues we need to address before it is too late? And, how much time do we have to fix the way we relate to water on Earth?

In my opinion, the most important aspect of finding water with the right amount and good quality for human consumption hinges on population. Excessive growth of population has resulted in water needs for agriculture. Globally 70 per cent of water used is for agriculture. Therefore, progress we can make in efficient water use in agriculture will be the biggest bang for the buck for conservation of water.

With 2030 being around the corner and a decrease in development aid globally, what risks do you see, if there will not be a water-related goal within the context of the Sustainable Development Goals post 2030. And, if we will have a water goal, what indicators do you think are most critical to be included?

I think efficient use of water in agriculture with maybe more growth in areas where the region is not water stressed would be a good factor/indicator!

What advice would you give to young professionals looking for a career in water management?

Water is a good sector to be involved. Water is indeed the root of all extremes. Hydrological extremes – droughts, floods, landslides, permafrost thaw and wildfires are all caused by water (or lack of). Young professionals can be involved in various aspects of water or disaster management for hydrological extremes as all locations on the globe are impacted by one or more of these extremes.

What do you need to innovate?

Motivated young professionals are the engines of innovation.

What is your favourite aggregate state of water?

Liquid