Dr Albert Van Dijk leads the development of land and water resources monitoring technology, combining prediction models with field and satellite measurements.

Dr Albert Van Dijk: improving our knowledge of water resources

Dr Van Dijk combines satellite and field data with prediction models to understand and measure our land and water resources.

• 26 July 2008 | Updated 3 January 2012

• Current activities
• Background 
• Academic qualifications and publications
• Achievements
• Professional activities

Current activities

Dr Albert Van Dijk leads the leads the Water Resources Assessment research stream in the Integrated Water Information Systems Theme of the Water for a Healthy Country Flagship. The projects in this stream investigate and develop new technology to support water resources management.

Dr Van Dijk is lead developer of the Australian Water Resources Assessment (AWRA) system, a water resources monitoring system that integrates ground and satellite data with models. The AWRA system underpins the production of the National Water Account and other water resources assessment reports by the Bureau of Meteorology.

He also leads a team of researchers in CSIRO Land and Water's Environmental Earth Observation program. This team develops technologies to monitor our natural resources and investigates the interactions between climate, water, soil, ecosystems and carbon.

Background

Dr Van Dijk's expertise includes:

• land use impacts on the water, carbon, energy, sediment and nutrient cycles
• measuring and predicting water resources, water quality and ecosystem processes
• earth observation for natural resources monitoring and management.

Dr Van Dijk was academic researcher at VU University (Amsterdam, Netherlands) from 1997 to 2003.

Since joining CSIRO in 2003, Dr Van Dijk has led more than ten projects and consultancies comprising teams of up to 40 staff, including strategic science projects and projects advising Australian Federal and State governments, the Murray-Darling Basin Commission, National Water Commission, and Bureau of Meteorology.

He was lead author on ‘Risks to Our Shared Water Resources’ report to the Murray-Darling Basin Commission (2006) and was part of the leadership team of the Murray-Darling Basin Sustainable Yields project.

Academic qualifications and publications

Dr Van Dijk has been awarded a:

• Master of Science from Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• Doctor of Philosophy, also from Vrije Universiteit.

Dr Van Dijk has authored more than 140 publications, including more than 40 international journal articles and more than 40 other peer-reviewed publications.

He has supervised more than 20 Masters or PhD students and postdoctoral researchers.

Achievements

Dr Van Dijk’s achievements have been recognised by the following awards and honours:

• CSIRO Chairman’s Medal (2008)
• Finalist, Eureka prize for Water Research and Innovation (2008, 2009).

Professional activities

Dr Van Dijk has served as external advisor for several national and international projects and contributed to Senate enquiries related to water management, bush fires and plantation forestry.

He is Chair of the international working group on Seasonal Forecasting for Hydrological Applications in Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX), and is a member of several GEWEX and Group on Earth Observations/Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEO/GEOSS) working groups.

Find out more about the work of the Water for a Healthy Country Flagship.