HESS cover
Executive editors : Theresa Blume, Alberto Guadagnini, and Thom Bogaard & Hilary McMillan
eISSN: 1607-7938

Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (HESS) is a not-for-profit international two-stage open-access journal for the publication of original research in hydrology. HESS encourages and supports fundamental and applied research that advances the understanding of hydrological systems, their role in providing water for ecosystems and society, and the role of the water cycle in the functioning of the Earth system. A multi-disciplinary approach is encouraged that broadens the hydrological perspective and the advancement of hydrological science through integration with other cognate sciences and cross-fertilization across disciplinary boundaries.

Journal metrics

HESS is indexed in the Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar, etc. We refrain from displaying the journal metrics prominently on the landing page since citation metrics used in isolation do not describe importance, impact, or quality of a journal. However, these metrics can be found on the journal metrics page.

News

30 Jun 2026 The Norwegian University of Science and Technology partners with Copernicus Publications to support open-access publishing

Copernicus Publications has signed a new institutional agreement with Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). Please read more.

30 Jun 2026 The Norwegian University of Science and Technology partners with Copernicus Publications to support open-access publishing

Copernicus Publications has signed a new institutional agreement with Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). Please read more.

13 Feb 2026 University of Western Ontario partners with Copernicus Publications to support open-access publishing

Copernicus Publications has signed a new agreement with Western Libraries at the University of Western Ontario, providing a 50% APC reduction for eligible corresponding authors submitting from 1 January 2026. Please read more.

13 Feb 2026 University of Western Ontario partners with Copernicus Publications to support open-access publishing

Copernicus Publications has signed a new agreement with Western Libraries at the University of Western Ontario, providing a 50% APC reduction for eligible corresponding authors submitting from 1 January 2026. Please read more.

03 Dec 2025 New MS Word template available for manuscript preparation

The existing MS Word template for authors has been significantly expanded and now includes many important notes on the standard sections that must be included in the manuscript. Please visit the "Submission" page, section "Templates for your manuscript file" and download the new template before writing your next manuscript.

03 Dec 2025 New MS Word template available for manuscript preparation

The existing MS Word template for authors has been significantly expanded and now includes many important notes on the standard sections that must be included in the manuscript. Please visit the "Submission" page, section "Templates for your manuscript file" and download the new template before writing your next manuscript.

Recent papers

01 Oct 2026
Vegetation, drainage and peat depth control ecosystem scale nitrogen loading from a cultivated peatland
Miika Läpikivi, Maarit Liimatainen, Milla Niiranen, Valtteri Hyöky, Hermanni Aaltonen, Bjørn Kløve, and Hannu Marttila
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-5602,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-5602, 2026
Preprint under review for HESS (discussion: open, 0 comments)
Short summary
01 Oct 2026
Dynamic critical groundwater depth as a predictor of irrigation-intensified salinization in lowland Hungary
Zsolt Zoltán Fehér, Gift Siphiwe Nxumalo, and Attila Nagy
External preprint server, https://doi.org/10.31223/X5GJ1N,https://doi.org/10.31223/X5GJ1N, 2026
Preprint under review for HESS (discussion: open, 0 comments)
Short summary
01 Oct 2026
Friction over gravitational forcing: Disentangling the controls of Hortonian overland flow and erosion through energy-centred process modelling
Doğa Yahşi, Samuel Schroers, Ulrike Scherer, Núria Martínez-Carreras, and Erwin Zehe
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-4957,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-4957, 2026
Preprint under review for HESS (discussion: open, 0 comments)
Short summary
01 Oct 2026
Assessing the seasonal compartmentalization of water fluxes in the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum of a high-elevation mountain grassland
Alessio Gentile, Davide Gisolo, Stefano Brighenti, Giulia Zuecco, Chiara Marchina, Davide Canone, Tanzeel Hamza, Stefano Ferrari, Stefano Bechis, and Stefano Ferraris
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 30, 6131–6157, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-6131-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-6131-2026, 2026
Short summary
30 Sep 2026
Divergent responses of streamflow reanalysis errors to precipitation reanalysis errors modulated by catchment heterogeneity
Qiang Li, Tongtiegang Zhao, Zexin Chen, and Zeqing Huang
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 30, 6115–6129, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-6115-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-6115-2026, 2026
Short summary

Highlight articles

25 Aug 2026
Learning evaporative fraction with memory
Wenli Zhao, Alexander J. Winkler, Markus Reichstein, Rene Orth, and Pierre Gentine
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 30, 5373–5394, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-5373-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-5373-2026, 2026
Short summary Editorial statement
15 Jul 2026
Wildfire-induced disruptions to evapotranspiration, runoff, and water-balance closure across California's water supply watersheds
Ziying Han, Han Guo, Michael L. Goulden, and Roger C. Bales
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 30, 4367–4382, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-4367-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-4367-2026, 2026
Short summary Editorial statement
29 Jun 2026
Understanding changes in Iceland's streamflow dynamics in response to climate change
Hordur Bragi Helgason, Andri Gunnarsson, Óli G. B. Sveinsson, and Bart Nijssen
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 30, 3979–3999, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-3979-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-3979-2026, 2026
Short summary Editorial statement
27 May 2026
A novel classifier-guided ensemble framework for global terrestrial evapotranspiration estimates
Le Ni, Weiguang Wang, Jianyu Fu, and Mingzhu Cao
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 30, 3283–3312, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-3283-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-3283-2026, 2026
Short summary Editorial statement
23 Apr 2026
Technical note: High Nash–Sutcliffe Efficiencies conceal poor simulations of interannual variance in seasonal regimes
Sacha W. Ruzzante, Wouter J. M. Knoben, Thorsten Wagener, Tom Gleeson, and Markus Schnorbus
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 30, 2337–2355, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-2337-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-2337-2026, 2026
Short summary Editorial statement

Notice on APC invoices

In accordance with current European restrictions, Copernicus Publications does not step into business relations with and issue APC invoices (articles processing charges) to Russian and Belarusian institutions. The peer-review process and scientific exchange of our journals including preprint posting is not affected. However, these restrictions require that the first contact (contractual partner of Copernicus) has an affiliation and invoice address outside Russia or Belarus.