Journal of Hydrology

Journal of Hydrology
Title	Journal of Hydrology
Discipline	Hydrology
Publisher	Elsevier
Country	Netherlands
Frequency	Biweekly
History	1963–present

Journal of Hydrology is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering research on the movement, distribution, and quality of water. It publishes original research articles, reviews, and special issues that address surface water, groundwater, watershed processes, and water resources management. The journal serves as a venue for authors from academic institutions, research institutes, and international organizations engaged in hydrological science.

History

The journal was established in 1963 during a period marked by heightened interest in water resources studies following projects like the Aswan High Dam and the postwar expansion of civil engineering programs at institutions such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Imperial College London, and the University of California, Berkeley. Early editorial leadership included scholars affiliated with US Geological Survey, National Research Council (United States), and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization initiatives on water. Through the 1970s and 1980s the journal paralleled developments at organizations like the World Meteorological Organization, International Association of Hydrological Sciences, and national bodies such as the British Hydrological Society and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In the 1990s and 2000s its scope expanded alongside multinational programs including the Global Environment Facility, the International Panel on Climate Change, and the European Commission water framework directives, reflecting cross-disciplinary collaboration with researchers from Stanford University, ETH Zurich, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, and Delft University of Technology.

Scope and Coverage

The journal focuses on empirical and theoretical studies related to catchment hydrology, groundwater-surface water interactions, ecohydrology and hydroinformatics, engaging contributors from institutions such as Princeton University, Harvard University, Yale University, Columbia University, and University of Tokyo. Topics encompass hydrological modeling applied by groups at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, remote sensing analyses used by teams at NASA, tracer hydrogeology methods developed at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and water quality assessments relevant to agencies like Environmental Protection Agency (United States). Coverage often intersects with research from World Bank-funded water projects, regional programs coordinated by Asian Development Bank and African Development Bank, and conservation initiatives led by International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Editorial and Publication Details

Published by Elsevier, the journal follows peer-review protocols common to scholarly publishers such as Oxford University Press, Springer Science+Business Media, and Wiley-Blackwell. Authors include faculty from University of Melbourne, University of British Columbia, McGill University, and researchers affiliated with Czech Academy of Sciences and Max Planck Society. Editorial boards have included members connected to Royal Society-recognized programs, recipients of awards like the Balzan Prize and the Wolf Prize, and fellows of organizations such as the Royal Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Engineering. Publication frequency aligns with practices at comparable journals including Water Resources Research and Hydrological Processes.

Abstracting and Indexing

The journal is indexed in major bibliographic databases maintained by organizations like Clarivate Analytics, Scopus (Elsevier), and Science Citation Index Expanded. Its articles are discoverable through platforms used by libraries such as Library of Congress, British Library, and university consortia including JSTOR and ProQuest. Abstracting services and citation indices provided by entities like Google Scholar, ResearchGate, and CrossRef facilitate dissemination and linking to institutional repositories at universities including Cornell University and University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.

Impact and Reception

The journal has influenced policy discussions at bodies such as the European Parliament, United Nations Environment Programme, and national ministries of water resources in countries including India, China, Australia, and Canada. Scholarly reception is reflected in citations in reports by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessment chapters, guidelines from World Health Organization on water safety, and technical manuals by Food and Agriculture Organization. Research published has informed projects by United Nations Development Programme, impacted regional planning in the Mekong River Commission, and been cited in litigation and regulatory proceedings involving agencies like the U.S. Supreme Court in environmental water disputes.

Notable Articles and Special Issues

Notable articles have addressed topics such as global water balance estimates used by International Panel on Climate Change authors, aquifer depletion case studies in the Ogallala Aquifer region, and flood frequency analyses relevant to the Hurricane Katrina investigations. Special issues have been guest-edited with contributors from the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics, the American Geophysical Union, and multidisciplinary teams from National Science Foundation-funded centers. Themes have included climate change impacts on hydrology, transboundary river basin management in basins like the Nile River and the Ganges, and advances in hydrological remote sensing employing satellites such as Landsat, Sentinel-1, and GRACE.

Category:Hydrology journals