2026.02.22
Paper
An international collaborative research paper on historical aridity index (AI) analysis in Europe has been published in an international journal.
An international collaborative research paper, "Spatiotemporal assessment of aridification in Europe (1950–2024) using bias-corrected high-resolution reanalysis dataset," has been published in the international journal "Atmospheric Research."
This study analyzed aridification across Europe from 1950 to 2024 using the aridity index (AI), defined as the ratio of precipitation to reference evapotranspiration. Its key novelty lies in correcting and integrating the latest high-resolution reanalysis dataset, ERA5-Land, with ground-based observations, enabling highly detailed analysis over Europe’s complex terrain. The results reveal a fundamental 21st-century shift in the primary driver of aridification from declining precipitation to increasing evapotranspiration, indicating an acceleration of aridification.
2026.02.28
Info
Website Launched
The website of the Hydrology Lab, Kumamoto University, has been launched.
2026.01.14
Lecture
Invited Talk at the 39th Shiga Geotechnical Lecture
An invited talk was delivered at the 39th Shiga Geotechnical Lecture held in Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture. The presentation covered the investigation of heavy rainfall damage that occurred in Kumamoto in August 2025 and the mechanisms behind the extreme rainfall event.
2026.01.06
Lecture
Invited Talk at METU, Turkey
We were invited to a symposium held at Middle East Technical University (METU) in Turkey, where we presented our research activities.
2025.12.08
Event
J-PEAKS Symposium
We organized the J-PEAKS Environmental Load and Infrastructure Countermeasures Unit Symposium, themed "Creating New Knowledge with Comprehensive Generality and Practicality for Specific Problem Solving." Distinguished guests from Taiwan, including the Director of the Department of General Affairs of the Executive Yuan and the Vice Director of the Disaster Prevention Research Center at National Cheng Kung University, were invited to deliver talks.
2025.11.27
Student
Students Presented at ICAST 2025, Taiwan
Master's students Satori Teruya, Koichi Nagata, and Junsei Shichida presented their research at the 20th ICAST 2025 Chiayi, held on November 26-27, 2025 in Taiwan.
2025.10.31
Student
Student Received Best Poster Award at JSCE Annual Meeting
Satori Teruya, a second-year master's student, received the Best Poster Presentation Award at the 80th JSCE Annual Meeting (Japan Society of Civil Engineers) held in September 2025.
The study utilized nationwide geotechnical data published by the National Ground Information Center to analyze the relationships among physical properties—particularly hydraulic conductivity—and to evaluate the accuracy of estimation formulas. By examining the relationship between hydraulic conductivity and grain size distribution and comparing results with the existing Hazen formula, the study demonstrated the limited applicability of simplified empirical formulas. This work is expected to contribute to groundwater prediction through better utilization of geotechnical data, with future plans to improve estimation accuracy using machine learning techniques.
2025.10.30
Event
Japan-China-Korea Water Science Forum
With the aim of strengthening collaboration in the field of water science in East Asia, researchers from Japan, China, and South Korea were invited to Kumamoto University on October 30, 2025. The forum featured a keynote speech by Prof. Feng, Vice President of Southern University of Science and Technology and Professor at Tsinghua University, followed by research presentations and discussions by 18 participants on cutting-edge topics.
