From May 26 to 30, 2025, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) held a technical meeting focused on the use of stable and radioactive isotopes for modelling applications in hydrological systems. The meeting, held in Vienna, Austria, was attended by participants from across the globe, and included the School for Climate Studies’ hydrologist, Dr Andrew Watson.
Models that include stable isotopes (isotope-enabled models) help researchers better understand and simulate the water cycle. They do this by comparing their model outputs with the actual isotope measurements found in rain, groundwater, rivers, and water vapor in the air.
The meeting focused on bringing together global specialists to discuss future developments and applications as well as the immergence of new techniques to include radioactive isotopes within modelling frameworks. Each participant presented their most recent developments related to isotope enabled climate and hydrological modelling, and discussions were had regarding the generation of a guideline report as well as other combined research outputs.
Photo caption
In person Technical Meeting participants: left to right, Kei Yoshimura (University of Tokyo, Japan), Atsushi Okazak (Chiba University, Japan), Hayoung BONG (NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies), Trinh An Duc (Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute, Vietnam), Chris Soulsbury (University of Aberdeen, UK), Maria Warter (Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Berlin, Germany), Ms Akshara Kaginalkar (Centre for Climate Change, ASKB Campus, Bengaluru, India), Andrew Watson (School for Climate Studies, Stellenbosch University), Not in picture Ana Maria Duran (University of Costa Rica, Costa Rica). Photo credit Kei Yoshimura.