Water, in all its forms - liquid, solid and frozen - plays a central role on our planet. As climate change continues to impact the global water cycle, a deeper understanding of the Earth's water resources and their dynamics is becoming increasingly crucial. Recent advances demonstrate the potential of seismological methods to detect, image, and monitor hydrological processes at various scales, including soil moisture variations, groundwater dynamics, permafrost thaw, and water-driven geohazards. These methods offer essential new information that could complement conventional hydrological and remote sensing observations.
This session invites contributions that advance methodological developments and showcase applications of seismology to hydrosphere-related processes. Topics include, but are not limited to:
... Groundwater and aquifer characterization, including seismic imaging and monitoring of groundwater distribution, dynamics, depletion, anthropogenic impacts, and the localization of aquitards.
... Impacts of climate change on the water cycle observed seismically, including ocean wave climate, sea-level rise, ice melt, permafrost decline, droughts, and altered precipitation patterns.
... Water-related geohazards, such as landslides, floods, avalanches, and cascading events triggered by permafrost degradation or water infiltration.
... Water resources in the critical zone, including water storage, surface and root-zone soil moisture, and surface water
bodies (rivers, lakes, wetlands).
... Fundamental studies of wave propagation in water-bearing media, including theoretical, laboratory, and methodological developments.
The session aims to foster discussion on how seismic methods can provide new insights into the water cycle, improve hazard assessment, and support sustainable management of water resources under changing climate conditions.