Reinert Huseby Karlsen
📍 Sweden/Norway | ✉️ rhkarls@proton.me | 🐙 github.com/rhkarls
Work Experience · Education · Publications · Technical Skills
I am a senior hydrologist with more than 10 years of experience in hydrological research and investigations. My academic research has focused on catchment hydrology and runoff processes, and on the importance of landscape composition for partitioning of water, water storage, and runoff dynamics. I work mainly with data analysis, geographical information systems (GIS), field measurements, and hydrological modelling. I have extensive experience with field measurement techniques and instrumentation for surface water, as well as the processing, quality control, and quality assurance of water level and discharge timeseries in particular, as well as other types of hydrometeorological data. I enjoy programming and make extensive use of Python for data management, pipelines, analysis, hydrological modelling, and general purpose programming. Apart from broad field experience within a Nordic setting, I have also worked in the Netherlands and Mexico.
Work Experience
Hydrologist · IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute · Stockholm/Gothenburg, Sweden
September 2017 – Present
Post-doctoral Researcher · Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) · Uppsala, Sweden
September 2020 – August 2023
Evidence-based hydrological ecosystem services from wetlands, part-time post doc researcher.
Researcher · Uppsala University · Uppsala, Sweden
April 2017 – March 2018
Quantifying hydrological connectivity in boreal catchments.
Researcher · Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) · Umeå, Sweden
November 2016 – March 2017
Developing protocols and methods for processing stream flow time series data for the Krycklan Catchment Study.
Research Assistantship · Uppsala University · Uppsala, Sweden
September 2011 – October 2016
Part-time assistantship in parallel to doctoral studies, including lecturing, teaching assistance, project work, data management, and public outreach.
Research Internship · Waternet · Leiduin, The Netherlands
January 2009 – August 2011
Part-time internship at Amsterdam drinking water supply with focus on hydrogeochemical modelling of artificially infiltrated groundwater.
Education
PhD in Hydrology · Uppsala University, Sweden · 2011 – 2016
Thesis: Spatiotemporal streamflow variability in a boreal landscape: Importance of landscape composition for catchment hydrological functioning
Master of Science in Hydrology · Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands · 2007 – 2010
Cum Laude · Specialization: Eco/Surface Hydrology
Bachelor of Science in Environment and Resources (major: Geography) · University of Bergen, Norway · 2004 – 2007
Including exchange semester at Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain, Dept. of Geography (August 2006 – February 2007).
Publications
Nijp J.J., Karlsen R.H., Nilsson M.B., Bishop K. 2025. Ecohydrological feedbacks increase water storage, streamflow, and resilience of natural peatlands. Journal of Hydrology 664: Part A. DOI: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2025.134282
Karlsen R.H., Westerberg I. 2025. Vattenföringsmätningar i Rakkurijokis avrinningsområde: Årsrapport för 2024. Series C report, IVL Svenska Miljöinstitutet. Link to report (diva)
Westerberg I., Karlsen R.H. 2024. Sharing perceptual models of uncertainty: On the use of soft information about discharge data. Hydrological Processes 38(5): e15145. DOI: 10.1002/hyp.15145
Karimi S., Leach J., Karlsen R.H., Seibert J., Bishop K., Laudon H. 2023. Local- and network-scale influence of peatlands on boreal catchment response to rainfall events. Hydrological Processes 37(10): e14998. DOI: 10.1002/hyp.14998
Karlsen R.H., Westerberg I., Koutsouris A. 2021. Vattenföringsmätningar i Liukattijoki och Mertaseno. Årsrapport för 2020. Series C report, IVL Svenska Miljöinstitutet. Link to report (diva)
Strandberg J., Karlsen R.H., Malmaeus M., Olshammar M., Valley S., Lind E., … Fridén H. 2020. Dricksvattenproduktion när spelreglerna ändras – Digitalisering och automation som hjälp för klimatanpassning. Series B report, IVL Svenska Miljöinstitutet. Link to report (diva)
Karlsen R.H., Bishop K., Grabs T., Ottosson-Löfvenius M., Laudon H., Seibert J. 2019. The role of landscape properties, storage and evapotranspiration on variability in streamflow recessions in a boreal catchment. Journal of Hydrology 570: 315–328. DOI: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2018.12.065
Teutschbein C., Grabs T., Laudon H., Karlsen R.H., Bishop K. 2018. Simulating streamflow in ungauged basins under a changing climate: The importance of landscape characteristics. Journal of Hydrology 561: 160–178. DOI: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2018.03.060
Jutebring Sterte E., Johansson E., Sjöberg Y., Karlsen R.H., Laudon H. 2018. Groundwater-surface water interactions across scales in a boreal landscape investigated using a numerical modelling approach. Journal of Hydrology 560: 184–201. DOI: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2018.03.011
Karlsen R.H., Grabs T., Bishop K., Buffam I., Laudon H., Seibert J. 2016. Landscape controls on spatiotemporal discharge variability in a boreal catchment. Water Resources Research 52(8): 6541–6556. DOI: 10.1002/2016WR019186
Karlsen R.H., Seibert J., Grabs T., Laudon H., Blomkvist P., Bishop K. 2016. The assumption of uniform specific discharge: unsafe at any time? Hydrological Processes 30(21): 3978–3988. DOI: 10.1002/hyp.10877
Winterdahl M., Wallin M.B., Karlsen R.H., Laudon H., Öquist M., Lyon S.W. 2016. Decoupling of carbon dioxide and dissolved organic carbon in boreal headwater streams. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences 121(10): 2630–2651. DOI: 10.1002/2016JG003420
Teutschbein C., Grabs T., Karlsen R.H., Laudon H., Bishop K. 2015. Hydrological response to changing climate conditions: Spatial streamflow variability in the boreal region. Water Resources Research 51(12): 9425–9446. DOI: 10.1002/2015WR017337
Karlsen R.H., Smits F., Stuyfzand P., Olsthoorn T.N., van Breukelen B.M. 2012. A post audit and inverse modeling in reactive transport: 50 years of artificial recharge in the Amsterdam Water Supply Dunes. Journal of Hydrology 454–455: 7–25. DOI: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2012.05.019
Karlsen R.H. 2016. Spatiotemporal streamflow variability in a boreal landscape: Importance of landscape composition for catchment hydrological functioning. PhD thesis, Uppsala University. Supervisors: J. Seibert, K. Bishop, T. Grabs. Link to thesis (diva)
Karlsen R.H. 2009. Stormflow Processes in a Mature Tropical Montane Cloud Forest Catchment, Coatepec, Veracruz, Mexico. 130 pp. MSc thesis, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Supervisors: Dr. A. Gomez-Tagle, Prof. dr. L.A. Bruijnzeel.
Karlsen R.H. 2010. Postaudit and automatic parameter estimation of a 1D reactive transport model of artificial recharge in the Amsterdam Water Supply Dunes. 107 pp. Waternet and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
Technical Skills
Programming
- Python — advanced: data management, analysis, visualisation, numerical modelling, GUI development, and general-purpose programming
- Go, Matlab, R — basic level
Data & Databases
- SQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite — database design and management
GIS & Spatial Analysis
- Python, QGIS, Whitebox, GRASS, SAGA
Hydrological Modelling & Tools
- HBV, HYPE, PEST
- Aquarius Time-Series — water data management software and database
Field Instrumentation & Monitoring
- Proficient with sensors and logging equipment from Campbell Scientific, OTT, STS, Teledyne RDI, Nivus, Unidata, and others
- Expert knowledge across a range of stream gauging techniques
General
- Git, Linux environments, MS Office suite