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Water Environment Systems Lab
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The lab studies water circulating over land, river organisms, and water-related disasters.
AboutAbout the lab
From the water cycle to living things and disasters
The Water Environment Systems Lab studies the movement of water over land and the water problems that arise there.
Using satellite data and observation records, the lab investigates the mechanisms of the water cycle, including rainfall, snowfall, evapotranspiration, groundwater storage, and runoff.
The lab examines how river organisms relate to the water environment through field surveys, biological experiments, and simulations.
Using numerical climate models, the lab also clarifies how global warming affects floods, sediment disasters, and the environment of lakes and marshes.
Key terms
- Water cycle
- The flow of water around the Earth: rain and snow fall, water runs over the ground and through rivers, evaporates, and becomes clouds again
- Evapotranspiration
- Water returning to the atmosphere, combining water that evaporates from the ground and water released from plant leaves
- Numerical climate model
- A computational framework that reproduces the movement of the atmosphere and oceans on a computer to estimate what the future climate will be like
NewsLab news
Assistant Professor Hiraga receives the Paper Award of the Japan Society of Hydrology and Water Resources
An undergraduate student receives the Outstanding Poster Award at the Global Environment Symposium
Assistant Professor Hiraga receives the JHPCN Excellent Research Project Award
A student receives the Research Encouragement Award of the Tohoku Branch of the Japan Society of Civil Engineers
Assistant Professor Hiraga receives the 25th Intelligent Cosmos Encouragement Award
ResearchResearch themes
The lab evaluates water circulating over land across wide areas and works to clarify its mechanisms. Through observation, experiments, and simulation, it investigates the relationship between water and living things, as well as water-related disasters caused by climate change.
*Illustrative imageThe water cycle over land
Using satellite data, National Land Numerical Information, and precipitation observation data, the lab evaluates the water cycle across wide land areas. It examines each process and how the processes relate to one another, from the distribution of rainfall and snowfall, snow accumulation and snowmelt, evapotranspiration, and groundwater storage to runoff prediction, in order to understand the system as a whole.
*Illustrative imageEcology and the water environment
Organisms that live in rivers, such as fireflies and medaka, are strongly influenced by the river environment. Using field surveys, biological experiments such as DNA analysis, simulations of water movement, and remote sensing, the lab aims to understand the relationship between watershed ecosystems and their habitats and to preserve future biodiversity.
*Illustrative imageClimate change and water-related disasters
As global warming alters the water cycle, a variety of effects are expected, including floods and sediment disasters caused by heavy rain and cyanobacterial blooms in enclosed sea areas as temperatures rise. Using numerical climate models, the lab clarifies the impact of climate change on the water environment and water-related disasters.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Water Environment Systems Lab are faculty members, project researchers, technical staff, secretaries, administrative assistants, and doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- ProfessorSo Kazama
- Assistant ProfessorYusuke Hiraga
- Assistant ProfessorNanako Inokawa
- Project Assistant ProfessorMbugua Jacqueline Muthoni
- Project Assistant ProfessorTao Yamamoto
- Project Assistant ProfessorLi Yi-Xian
- Project Assistant ProfessorRajapaksha Mudiyanselage Janaka Bamunawa
VoicesStudent voices
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Yoneshiro River 201911” Wc018 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- The water cycle over land: “Snow on Japan's Honshu Island (MODIS )” MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC / Public domain (cropped)
- Ecology and the water environment: “Oryzias latipes(Hamamatsu,Shizuoka,Japan,2007)-1” Seotaro / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Climate change and water-related disasters: “Flooding” March TA02 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Water Environment Informatics Lab): “Beach of Tottori-sakyu” Kennosuke Yamaguchi from Tokyo, Japan / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab ([International Research Institute of Disaster Science] Disaster Prevention Education and Practice Lab): “1933 Long Beach earthquake damage 1” W.L.Huber, USGS / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Environmental Ecosystem Engineering Lab): “Matsushima miyagi z” Chensiyuan / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Regional Planning and Resilience Planning Lab): “E5 Series Shinkansen and the X-shaped Bridge viewed from AER” neuropower / Public domain (cropped)
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