Publications

(*) denotes I’m a corresponding author.

Highlights

Montanari, A., Nguyen, H. T. T. , Rubinetti, S., Ceola, S., Galelli, S., Rubino, A., & Zanchettin, D. (2023). Why the 2022 Po River drought is the worst in the past two centuries. Science Advances, 9(32). https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adg8304

Khan, N., Nguyen, H. T. T. (*), Galelli, S., & Cherubini, P. (2022). Increasing Drought Risks Over the Past Four Centuries Amidst Projected Flood Intensification in the Kabul River Basin (Afghanistan and Pakistan)—Evidence From Tree Rings. Geophysical Research Letters, 49(24). https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL100703

Nguyen, H. T. T. (*), Galelli, S., Xu, C., & Buckley, B. M. (2022). Droughts, Pluvials, and Wet Season Timing Across the Chao Phraya River Basin: A 254-Year Monthly Reconstruction From Tree Ring Widths and δ18O. Geophysical Research Letters, 49(17). https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL100442

Nguyen, H. T. T. (*), Galelli, S., Xu, C., & Buckley, B. M. (2021). Multi‐Proxy, Multi‐Season Streamflow Reconstruction With Mass Balance Adjustment. Water Resources Research, 57(8). https://doi.org/10.1029/2020WR029394

Full list of publications, preprints, and manuscripts under review below.

2023

Why the 2022 Po River Drought Is the Worst in the Past Two Centuries

Alberto Montanari, Hung T.T Nguyen, Sara Rubinetti, Serena Ceoloa, Stefano Galelli, Angelo Rubino, & Davide Zanchettin. Science Advances.

  • We show that the 2022 Po River drought is the worst in over two centuries, and it is not an isolated events, but part of a trend, due to declining snowmelt, declining snow fraction, and increasing irrigation.

  • This paper originated from a tweet!

Article

2022

Increasing Drought Risks Over the Past Four Centuries Amidst Projected Flood Intensification in the Kabul River Basin (Afghanistan and Pakistan)—Evidence From Tree Rings

Nasrullah Khan, Hung T.T. Nguyen(*), Stefano Galelli, & Paolo Cherubini. Geophysical Research Letters 49(24)

  • Robust, skillful precipitation reconstruction of the Kabul River Basin from tree rings

  • Steady decline in the low end of the precipitation distribution implies increasing drought risks

  • Prolonged droughts are being replaced by shorter, more frequent ones, interspersed with more frequent pluvials

Article Data & Code Slides Asian Scientist coverage More News

Uncertain Benefits of Using Remotely Sensed Evapotranspiration for Streamflow Estimation-Insights from a Randomized, Large-Sample Experiment

Tam Van Nguyen, Hung T.T Nguyen(*) , Vinh Ngoc Tran, Manh-Hung Le, Binh Quang Nguyen, Hung Thanh Pham, Tu Hoang Le, Doan Van Binh, Thanh Duc Dang, Hoang Tran, & Hong Xuan Do (*)

  • The relationship between model skills for streamflow and evapotranspiration is explored using a stochastic approach

  • The value of remotely sensed evapotranspiration for streamflow estimation varies with regions, satellite products, and performance indices

  • The probability of having good model skill for streamflow does not always increase with increasing model skill for evapotranspiration

Preprint

Megadroughts in the Common Era and the Anthropocene

Benjamin Cook et al., including Hung T.T. Nguyen. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment

  • We suggest that the term “megadroughts” be reserved for “persistent, multi-year drought events that are exceptional in terms of severity, duration, or spatial extent when compared to other regional droughts during the instrumental period or the Common Era”.

  • Past megadroughts caused major ecological and societal disturbances over the last two millennia and were forced primarily by persistent ocean states, with possible secondary contributions from internal atmospheric variability, volcanic and solar forcing, and land–atmosphere interactions.

  • Some of the most active megadrought regions in the past are also areas where anthropogenic climate change is projected to increase future drought risk through declines in precipitation, increases in evaporative demand, and/or changes in plant water use.

  • Megadroughts have the potential to substantially strain modern water-management systems, although understanding of the risks of such events, and their ultimate impacts, is still limited by imperfect knowledge of past and future megadrought dynamics.

Article

Droughts, Pluvials, and Wet Season Timing Across the Chao Phraya River Basin: A 254-Year Monthly Reconstruction From Tree Ring Widths and δ18O

Hung T.T. Nguyen(*), Stefano Galelli, Chenxi Xu, & Brendan Buckley. Geophysical Research Letters 49(17)

  • Monthly-resolved reconstructions of streamflow across the Chao Phraya River Basin are produced from ring widths and δ18O

  • Droughts and pluvials across the Chao Phraya show both coherence and heterogeneity in time and space

  • The reconstruction reveals the spatiotemporal variability of wet season timing

Article Data & Code

2021

The Greater Mekong’s Climate-Water-Energy Nexus: How ENSO-Triggered Regional Droughts Affect Power Supply and CO2 Emissions

A. F. M. Kamal Chowdhury, Thanh Duc Dang, Hung T. T. Nguyen, Rachel Koh, & Stefano Galelli

  • Extreme weather events doom long-distance power transfers between Laos and Thailand to temporary failures

  • Regional droughts increase power production costs and CO2 emissions by about US$ 120 million and 2.5 million metric tonnes per year

  • The influence of El Niño Southern Oscillation trickles down from summer monsoon to power system behavior

Article News

Time to Use Dendrohydrological Data in Water Resources Management?

Stefano Galelli, Hung T.T. Nguyen, Sean Turner, & Brendan Buckley. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management 147(8)

  • Dendrohydrology dates back to Hardman and Reil (1936)—the first streamflow reconstruction from tree rings. Since then, streamflow records have been reconstructed worldwide, but streamflow reconstructions still see limited use in operational water management.

  • We point out the gaps between the dendrochronology and hydrology communities and suggest the way forward.

Article