International Symposium on Rainfall-Runoff ModellingAuthor(s): V. GardinerSource: Area, Vol. 13, No. 4 (1981), p. 292Published by: The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers)Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20001746 .

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International symposium on rainfall-runoff modelling

Report of a symposium held at Mississippi State University, USA, 18-21 May, 1981.

Over 270 participants representing thirty countries from six continents met at MSU to exchange views on various aspects of rainfall-runoff modelling. With 150 papers presented in 24 sessions, usually four being concurrent, any impression of the meeting as a whole can only be a personal and selective one. However most participants seemed agreed that it had provided a useful inter disciplinary forum for exchange of views and techniques amongst workers from engineering, hydrology, agriculture, forestry and geography.

Papers containing geographical work were presented in many sessions. Topics covered included geomorphological developments in hydrological modelling, the use of remote sensing data sources, and the application of modelling techniques to studies of geomorphological processes. Whilst the meeting was concerned primarily with physical modelling, economic and social implications were occasionally implied by some speakers. For example it was suggested that for oil-rich countries in the Middle East it is economically more attractive to reduce the infiltration capacity of the land surface by spraying it with crude oil than to use the oil to run desalination plants. It was also shown how land use studies are being revolutionised by tech niques being developed in remote sensing, and how management of water resources can be effectively based on some of the statistical forecasting models proposed.

As well as the formal sessions the meeting provided adequate opportunity for informal exchange of views, and the programme was enlivened by a banquet and a visit to the MSU winery. Perhaps the most fundamental benefit from the meeting however was that it stimulated closer links between physical geographers and workers in other disciplines, especially hydrology and engineering. The relevance of geographical work to these disciplines was highlighted several times, and those geographers present gained much from the stochastic and deterministic models presented.

It is hoped to publish the proceedings of the symposium in a selected form by the end of 1981; enquiries should be addressed to: Water Resources Research Institute, PO Drawer AD,

Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA.

V. Gardiner University of Leicester

International Higher Hydrological Course: Moscow 1982 Moscow State Lomonosov University has recently announced the programme for the thirteenth session of the UNESCO-USSR sponsored International Higher Hydrological Course in June-August 1982. The purpose of the course is to familiarise post-doctoral hydrologists ' with recent achievements and problems of Soviet and foreign scientific hydrology, as well as with trends and methods of further research '. The session is entitled ' Scientific principles of water resources management, control and protection ' and the topics include a very wide range most of

which will be of considerable interest to geographer-hydrologists. The course is held in Russian and English with simultaneous interpretation. Accommodation, a subsistence allowance and local travel are provided for foreign participants.

Application forms and details can be obtained from the Course Director, Geography Department, Moscow State University, 117234, Moscow V-234, USSR.

G. E. Hollis University College London

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