Steponas Kolupaila's contribution to hydrological science development

• Main Author: G. Valiuškevičius
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Copernicus Publications 2017-08-01
• Series: History of Geo- and Space Sciences
• Online Access: https://www.hist-geo-space-sci.net/8/57/2017/hgss-8-57-2017.pdf

Steponas Kolupaila (1892&ndash;1964) was an important figure in 20th century hydrology and one of the pioneers of scientific water gauging in Europe. His research on the reliability of hydrological data and measurement methods was particularly important and contributed to the development of empirical hydrological calculation methods. Kolupaila was one of the first who standardised water-gauging methods internationally. He created several original hydrological and hydraulic calculation methods (his discharge assessment method for winter period was particularly significant). His innate abilities and frequent travel made Kolupaila a universal specialist in various fields and an active public figure. He revealed his multilayered scientific and cultural experiences in his most famous book, <i>Bibliography of Hydrometry</i>. This book introduced the unique European hydrological-measurement and computation methods to the community of world hydrologists at that time and allowed the development and adaptation of these methods across the world.