Dr.ir. Ruud van der Ent

Ruud van der Ent is an assistant professor in hydrology at the Department of Water Management since 2018. Ruud holds a PhD from Delft University of Technology (2014) and previously worked at Witteveen+Bos Engineering Consultants (2014-2016) and Utrecht University (2016-2018: postdoc, 2018-now visiting researcher) before returning to Delft. Ruud is a 2017 Veni laureate, which is a research grant by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO), and his Veni research “Unravelling the moisture sources in precipitation extremes worldwide” is his current main activity. Ruud is actively involved in the European Geosciences Union where he is convening two sessions during the annual General Assembly in Vienna, Austria: “The atmospheric water cycle: feedbacks, management, land-use and climate change” and “Large scale hydrology”. Ruud is the main builder of the atmospheric moisture tracking model WAM-2layers of which the main source code is available on Github.

Main research interests

Precipitation extremes
Extreme precipitation leading to floods causes enormous damages worldwide. My research focusses on the questions: What drives these precipitation extremes? What are the moisture sources of precipitation extremes? Do different moisture sources lead to different flood magnitudes? Can we use moisture sources to test the reliability of climate model predictions for precipitation extremes? The main objective of this research is to unravel the moisture sources of extreme precipitation worldwide for the current and future climate.

Land-atmosphere interactions and tele-connections
Where does precipitation come from? It is not easy to answer this question because of the complex and energy-intensive processes that bring moisture to a certain location and cause moisture to precipitate highly heterogeneously in space and variable over time. Part of the precipitation comes from so-called “moisture recycling”, which is moisture from land evaporation that returns to the land surface as precipitation. My research focusses on quantifying the role of land-atmosphere interactions in the climate system as well as identifying tele-connections where one region’s evaporation can be an importance source of precipitation elsewhere. As such, the magnitude of moisture recycling can be used as an indicator for the susceptibility of our water resources to local and remote land-use change.

Global hydrological modelling
Improved understanding of the global hydrological cycle is important given the increasing pressure on water resources worldwide due to water-use, land-use and climate change. My research interest lies in the quantification of the global water resources, for example: global hydropower potential and global water footprints. Moreover, I am interested in evaluating and improving the conceptualization and parameterization of global hydrological models whereby I mainly focus on improving the way we model the root zone in our models and how the root zone responds to changes. This is crucial for hydrological prediction under change.

2018

Refugees in Science by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) for the proposal entitled “Detection of vegetation droughts and their propagation over continents” (€54,665, main applicant)

2018

UNSW’s School of Civil and Environmental Engineering’s Visiting Fellowship scheme (AUD 4000, main applicant)

2018


International collaboration grant by the Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development (FORMAS) for the proposal entitled: “Ripples of Resilience: navigating cross-scale SDG interactions of water boundaries” (SEK 1,999,537, co-applicant)
2017

   		Innovational Research Incentives Scheme Veni grant by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) for the proposal entitled ”Unravelling the moisture sources in precipitation extremes worldwide” (€ 250,000, main applicant).
2014
   		PhD degree awarded ‘cum laude’ by Delft University of Technology (with distinction = top 5%).
2011 


World Meteorological Organization Research Award for Young Scientists in recognition of the paper entitled “Origin and fate of atmospheric moisture over continents” ($ 1,000). 
2010
 

PhD grant by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) for the proposal entitled “Exploring the limits of the terrestrial fresh water cycle” (€ 210,000, co-applicant).

 

See Google Scholar for the most updated list

  • Findell, K. L., Keys, P. W., van der Ent, R. J., Lintner, B. R., Berg, A., & Krasting, J. P. (2019). Rising Temperatures Increase Importance of Oceanic Evaporation as a Source for Continental Precipitation. Journal of Climate, accepted. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-19-0145.1
  • Guo, L., van der Ent, R. J., Klingaman, N. P., Demory, M.-E., Vidale, P. L., Turner, A. G., et al. (2019). Moisture Sources for East Asian Precipitation: Mean Seasonal Cycle and Interannual Variability. Journal of Hydrometeorology, 20(4), 657–672. https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-18-0188.1
  • Blöschl, G., Bierkens, M. F. P., Chambel, A., Cudennec, C., Destouni, G., Fiori, A., …, van der Ent, R. J., …, et al. (2019). Twenty-three unsolved problems in hydrology (UPH)–a community perspective. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 64(10), 1141–1158. https://doi.org/10.1080/02626667.2019.1620507
  • Tuinenburg, O. A., & van der Ent, R. J. (2019). Land Surface Processes Create Patterns in Atmospheric Residence Time of Water. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 124(2), 583–600. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JD028871
  • Zhang, C., Tang, Q., Chen, D., van der Ent, R. J., Liu, X., Li, W., et al. (2019). Moisture source changes contributed to different precipitation changes over the northern and southern Tibetan Plateau. Journal of Hydrometeorology, (2012), accepted. https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-18-0094.1
  • Berger, M., Eisner, S., van der Ent, R., Flörke, M., Link, A., Poligkeit, J., et al. (2018). Enhancing the Water Accounting and Vulnerability Evaluation Model: WAVE+. Environmental Science and Technology, 52(18), 10757–10766. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.7b05164
  • Sutanudjaja, E. H., van Beek, R., Wanders, N., Wada, Y., Bosmans, J. H. C., Drost, N., et al. (2018). PCR-GLOBWB 2: a 5arcmin Global Hydrological and Water Resources Model. Geoscientific Model Development, 11(6), 2429–2453. https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-2429-2018
  • Wang-Erlandsson, L., Fetzer, I., Keys, P. W., Van Der Ent, R. J., Savenije, H. H. G., & Gordon, L. J. (2018). Remote land use impacts on river flows through atmospheric teleconnections. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 22(8), 4311–4328. doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-4311-2018
  • Hoes, O. A. C., Meijer, L. J. J., van der Ent, R. J., & van de Giesen, N. C. (2017). Systematic high-resolution assessment of global hydropower potential. PLoS ONE, 12(2), e0171844. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0171844
  • Van der Ent, R. J., & Tuinenburg, O. A. (2017). The residence time of water in the atmosphere revisited. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 21(2), 779–790. doi.org/10.5194/hess-2016-431
  • Duerinck, H. M., van der Ent, R. J., van de Giesen, N. C., Schoups, G., Babovic, V., & Yeh, P. J.-F. (2016). Observed Soil Moisture-Precipitation Feedback in Illinois: A Systematic Analysis over Different Scales. Journal of Hydrometeorology, 16(6), 1645–1660. doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-15-0032.1
  • Berger, M., Van Der Ent, R., Eisner, S., Bach, V., & Finkbeiner, M. (2014). Water accounting and vulnerability evaluation (WAVE): Considering atmospheric evaporation recycling and the risk of freshwater depletion in water footprinting. Environmental Science and Technology, 48(8), 4521–4528. doi.org/10.1021/es404994t
  • Coenders-Gerrits, A. M. J., van der Ent, R. J., Bogaard, T. A., Wang-Erlandsson, L., Hrachowitz, M., & Savenije, H. H. G. (2014). Uncertainties in transpiration estimates. Nature, 506(7487), E1–E2. doi.org/10.1038/nature12925
  • Keys, P. W., Barnes, E. A., van der Ent, R. J., & Gordon, L. J. (2014). Variability of moisture recycling using a precipitationshed framework. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 18(10), 3937–3950. doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-3937-2014
  • Van der Ent, R. J., Wang-Erlandsson, L., Keys, P. W., & Savenije, H. H. G. (2014). Contrasting roles of interception and transpiration in the hydrological cycle - Part 2: Moisture recycling. Earth System Dynamics, 5(2), 471–489. doi.org/10.5194/esd-5-471-2014
  • Wang-Erlandsson, L., van der Ent, R. J., Gordon, L. J., & Savenije, H. H. G. (2014). Contrasting roles of interception and transpiration in the hydrological cycle - Part 1: Temporal characteristics over land. Earth System Dynamics, 5(2), 441–469. doi.org/10.5194/esd-5-441-2014
  • Zemp, D. C., Schleussner, C. F., Barbosa, H. M. J., Van Der Ent, R. J., Donges, J. F., Heinke, J., et al. (2014). On the importance of cascading moisture recycling in South America. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 14(23), 13337–13359. doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-13337-2014
  • van der Ent, R. J., Tuinenburg, O. A., Knoche, H. R., Kunstmann, H., & Savenije, H. H. G. (2013). Should we use a simple or complex model for moisture recycling and atmospheric moisture tracking? Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 17(12), 4869–4884. doi.org/10.5194/hess-17-4869-2013
  • van der Ent, R. J., & Savenije, H. H. G. (2013). Oceanic sources of continental precipitation and the correlation with sea surface temperature. Water Resources Research, 49(7), 3993–4004. doi.org/10.1002/wrcr.20296
  • Keys, P. W., van der Ent, R. J., Gordon, L. J., Hoff, H., Nikoli, R., & Savenije, H. H. G. (2012). Analyzing precipitationsheds to understand the vulnerability of rainfall dependent regions. Biogeosciences, 9(2), 733–746. doi.org/10.5194/bg-9-733-2012
  • Keys, P. W., Barnes, E. A., van der Ent, R. J., & Gordon, L. J. (2014). Variability of moisture recycling using a precipitationshed framework. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 18(10), 3937–3950. doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-3937-2014
  • Schaefli, B., van der Ent, R. J., Woods, R., & Savenije, H. H. G. (2012). An analytical model for soil-atmosphere feedback. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 16(7), 1863–1878. doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-1863-2012
  • van der Ent, R. J., Coenders-Gerrits, A. M. J., Nikoli, R., & Savenije, H. H. G. (2012). The importance of proper hydrology in the forest cover-water yield debate: commentary on Ellison et al . (2012) Global Change Biology , 18, 806-820. Global Change Biology, 18(9), 2677–2680. doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2012.02703.x
  • van der Ent, R. J., & Savenije, H. H. G. (2011). Length and time scales of atmospheric moisture recycling. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 11(5), 1853–1863. doi.org/10.5194/acp-11-1853-2011
  • van der Ent, R. J., Savenije, H. H. G., Schaefli, B., & Steele-Dunne, S. C. (2010). Origin and fate of atmospheric moisture over continents. Water Resources Research, 46(9), W09525. doi.org/10.1029/2010WR009127

2017 Boussinesq Lecture 2017: Precipitation, Boussinesq Center for Hydrology, “Origin and residence times of precipitation, and why that matters in hydrology”, 26 October 2017, Delft, Netherlands.

2011 TU Delft Alumni Symposium, “Where the rain comes from, and where evaporation goes to”, 12 October 2017, Delft, Netherlands.

2017 Web article: 12 February 2017, Wereldwijd potentieel waterkracht: 33% van de totale energiebehoefte, in Engineersonline.nl. http://www.engineersonline.nl/nieuws/id27946-wereldwijd-potentieel-waterkracht-33-van-de-totale-energiebehoefte.html

2017 Magazine article: 10 February 2017, Waterkracht in theorie goed voor 1/3 energievraag, in De Ingenieur. https://www.deingenieur.nl/artikel/waterkracht-in-theorie-goed-voor-1-3-energievraag

2014 Newspaper article: Aan de Brugh, M. (6 September 2014), Regen komt vaak uit verre landen - hydroloog Ruud van der Ent berekende hoe belangrijk landverdamping is in NRC Handelsblad, Wetenschap. http://www.nrc.nl/handelsblad/van/2014/september/06/regen-komt-vaak-uit-verre-landen-1415733

2014 Radio interview: Dirks, J. (3 September 2014), Waar komt de regen vandaan - interview Ruud van der Ent, in Radio 5, De kennis van nu. http://avondweekend.radio5.nl/uitzendingen/2014-09-03/uitzendingen.html 

2014 Radio interview: van het Hek, T. (2 September 2014), Hydrological cycle - interview Ruud van der Ent, in BNR Nieuwsradio, De ochtendspits. http://www.bnr.nl/?player=archief&fragment=20140902065120240. 

2011 Web article: 5 July 2011, Waar komt die regen toch vandaan? -  Ruud van der Ent wint WMO prijs, in Kennislink.nl. http://www.kennislink.nl/publicaties/waar-komt-de-regen-vandaan

2011 Web article: 28 June 2011, Land use change influences continental water cycle - Ruud van der Ent wins WMO award, in Sciencedaily.com. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110628111842.htm

2011 Magazine article: 23 June 2011, Ik kijk naar de hele wereld - interview Ruud van der Ent, in TU Delta, 43(20), p. 2, TU Delft, Delta. http://www.delta.tudelft.nl/nl/archief/artikel/-ik-kijk-naar-de-hele-wereld/23395

Systems of interestWRM IssuesRelevant Tools
Global systems          Climate change   Models
River basinsDroughtsRemote sensing
Urban areas FloodsStatistic and probability

Ruud van der Ent

Assistant Professor

Deel deze pagina: