Table Of ContentTHE VALUE OF USING HYDROLOGICAL DATASETS FOR
WATER ALLOCATION DECISIONS: EARTH
OBSERVATIONS, HYDROLOGICAL MODELS, AND
SEASONAL FORECASTS
ALEXANDER JOSÉ KAUNE SCHMIDT
Thesis committee
Promotor
Prof. Dr C.M.S. de Fraiture
Professor of Hydraulic Engineering for Land and Water Development
IHE Delft Institute for Water Education and Wageningen University & Research
Co-promotor
Dr M.G.F. Werner
Associate Professor of Hydraulic Engineering
IHE Delft Institute for Water Education
Other members
Prof. Dr F. Ludwig, Wageningen University & Research
Prof. Dr J. Barron, University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
Prof. Dr P. van der Zaag, IHE Delft Institute for Water Education / TUDelft
Dr H.C. Winsemius, TUDelft / Deltares
This research was conducted under the auspices of the SENSE Research School for Socio-
Economic and Natural Sciences of the Environment
The value of using hydrological datasets for water allocation decisions:
earth observations, hydrological models, and seasonal forecasts
Thesis
submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of
the Academic Board of Wageningen University and
the Academic Board of the IHE Delft Institute for Water Education
for the degree of doctor
to be defended in public
on Friday, September 27th, 2019 at 3.30 p.m.
in Delft, the Netherlands
by
Alexander José Kaune Schmidt
Born in Hamburg, Germany
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.18174/479159
To my loving family,
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Over the past five years I have been working towards the completion of this dissertation.
Back in 2014, I was working in Costa Rica after my MSc studies in IHE-Delft. Micha suggested
to start a full-time PhD research, which meant that I had to come back to the Netherlands. I
resigned to my job and I accepted the PhD challenge. It has been the biggest challenge until
now. Now that it is over, I want to thank many people that helped and supported me along the
way. Certainly, without them, this work would have been impossible to finish successfully.
I would like to deeply thank Micha Werner and Charlotte de Fraiture for offering me the
opportunity to carry out this PhD research in IHE-Delft and Wageningen University. Your
guidance and scientific advice was the cornerstone of this successful PhD dissertation. I am
grateful for your constant support, encouragement and guidance. Micha, thank you for always
motivating me to improve my work and target the level of quality that is required to obtain a
PhD. More than an excellent mentor, you are truly an extraordinary person. Charlotte, thank
you for your guidance, advice and patience. Thanks for your efforts to help our Land and Water
group to write better papers and get our message across. Also, special thanks to Erasmo
Rodríguez for offering the opportunity to do an internship in the National University in
Colombia. Your guidance and scientific advice in hydrological modelling has been extremely
valuable. Thanks to Poolad Karimi for offering your help since the beginning and sharing
valuable references and advice in irrigation management.
Special thanks to all members of the evaluation committee. It is an honor to have all of you
assessing this PhD work. Also, thanks to all the scientific experts who reviewed the publications
included in this thesis.
I gratefully acknowledge the EartH2Observe project for funding this PhD research, including
all the trips, conferences and publications. It has given me the opportunity to work with great
and amazing experts from all around the world. Thanks to the incredible team of the Water
Resources Research Group of National University of Colombia (GIREH) in Bogotá, especially
to Erasmo, Inés, Albeiro, David, Nicolás, Pedro Felipe y Pedro Javier. Thanks for our scientific
discussions and social events in Bogotá. Also, thanks to CSIRO Land and Water team in
Canberra, Australia. Special thanks to Juan Pablo Guerschman, Marc Kirby and James Bennett
for your scientific advice. I also acknowledge CONICIT/MICIT (Programa de Innovación y
Capital Humano para la Competitividad, PINN) for the additional finance provided to include
a case study from Costa Rica in this PhD research. Thanks for the data provided by the Instituto
Meteorológico Nacional (IMN) and the Servicio Nacional de Aguas Subterráneas, Riego y
Avenamiento (SENARA) de Costa Rica. Also, special thanks to CeNAT (PRIAS and
Observatorio Climático) in Costa Rica for the internship position and information exchange.
The contribution of a number of colleagues of IHE-Delft, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and
Deltares was crucial for the completion of this work. Special thanks to Clara Linés, Gonzalo
Peña, Juan Carlos Chacón, Gabriela Cuadrado, Patricia López, Anouk Gevaert and Ted
Veldkamp. Ted and Anouk, thanks for our conversations and scientific discussions about our
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paper, it certainly motivated me to work better, and be more organized. Clara, thanks for your
support and help, especially at the beginning of our PhD when we were trying to figure out
what to do. Gonzalo and Juan Carlos, you have been friends in IHE since the beginning, thanks
for your coding advice, you saved me more than once. Gaby, thanks for our conversations about
Costa Rica and our paper idea and development. It was certainly a new challenge during the
last stages of my PhD, which also contributed to my writing. Patricia, I cannot thank you enough.
Our meetings in IHE were crucial, at a time when I had many ideas, but I had no clue if they
made any sense. Thanks for listening and asking the right questions. At the end the “value of
additional information” found its way
The last year of my PhD, I started to work at a research and consultancy company called
FutureWater. Starting to work again, helped me to be more organized and more efficient, both
at work and in my PhD. Special thanks to my colleagues Sonu, Jonna, Martijn, Gijs, Peter,
Arthur, Corjan, Johannes, Raed and Sergio.
To the endless colleagues and friends I met in Delft. Many of you are still around, others have
gone with the years. I deeply value your friendship, and advice. Conversations and discussions
about life, culture, political views, religion, football or just relaxing with friends and colleges,
has made this part of my life pretty unique and memorable. Friends are many, and possibly I
am leaving more than one out of this list. Thanks to Mohan, Mohaned, Omar, Yared, JuanCa,
Neiler, Maurizzio, Aki, Gaby, Francesco, Alessandro, Maria, Musaed, Alida, Mario, Vitali,
Eiman, Jonatan, Shahnoor, Thaine, Gonzalo, Miguel, Sida, Clara, Nadine, Abdi, Chris, Polpat,
Quan, Tarn, Natalia, Sofia, Maria, Mauricio, Mary, Iosif and Jeewa, and so many others. In
Colombia, special thanks to Gonzalo, a truly exceptional friend, hope to see you again soon! In
Bolivia, special thanks to Angi, a loyal friend since the MSc studies, gracias totales! In Brasil,
special thanks to Chris, a truly kind heart. Thanks for our coffees in IHE, which were needed
to escape the routine. Un fuerte abrazo! Special thanks to Cesar and Adriana, who helped me
unconditionally during my stay in Bogotá and in other endeavors in my PhD. Special thanks
also to Benno. Talking with you gave me another perspective of reality outside the PhD life,
which was needed and important to go forward. Thanks for all your advice.
My friends, “the gang” from high school and university back in Costa Rica always had
something to say and we stay in contact after so many years. A special acknowledgment to
them, because I missed many activities and special occasions due to the distance, and still today
I can count on them and they count on me for sharing our challenges and successes. The 300
WhatsApp messages when I wake up in the mornings were always giving me motivation to
start the day . Special thanks to “the gang” Nela, Migue, Albert, JuanCa, Julio, Ale, Ponchi,
Dani, Iker and Adrian. Nela thank you for always listening, you have the biggest heart. Un
abrazo gigante!
Mami y papi, hermanos. What a family! A truly example of unity, hard work and success. I
love them all very deeply. My brothers Andrés, Daniel and Marcel, you are part of my life. We
lived so many years together, sharing things, partying and playing sports, but then also so many
years separated. In the last years Andrés got married and had a beautiful daughter. I hope we
can reunite and share many nice moments again in the future. To my father, you have been my
role model and inspiration. Thanks to your unconditional support, I am here now receiving this
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PhD degree. To my mother, you have always been there for me. Always listening, caring and
giving advice, but also knowing when to give us space for our benefit. You are an essential part
of my success. I love you all!
Dear Audry, we met at the beginning of my PhD, and during this time our relationship grew
stronger, we will get married soon and start our own family. Nevertheless, during my PhD, you
had to deal with my stresses and sometimes bad humor. It was only because of your patience
and support that we managed to go forward and grow as a couple. Thank you so much for all
your kindness and love, and for all the adventures we have together. Now that this PhD is
finished, I want to focus more on our plans and dreams. Te amo!
Alex Kaune
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