Ir. Rolf Hut

Research interest

MacGyver science

My main interest and source of a fun is using existing technology in a new and innovative way to measure the earth’s weather and climate. I like to take apart machines and see what I can do with the components in it. The results of this MacGyvering is proof of concept  testing of new measurement devices.  The results of these efforts are used in the various projects that I am involved in, such as the Trans African Hydro Meteorological Observatory (TAHMO) and Climate City Campus (CCC).

The role of networks in long term persistence

Long term persistence is a phenomena that appears in almost all of the “real-world” time series used in science. Time series that exhibit this behavior have longer periods of low, or high, states than would be expected from classical analyses. It is sometime called the Joseph effect after the 7 years of surplus, followed by 7 years of famine in the biblical story of Joseph. It is closely linked to fractals and distorts our ability to predict the future. I’m looking to see if long term persistence in time series can be explained from the behavior of “agents” who work in networks. Those agents can be traders on the stock exchange, the network would be their colleagues. In the case of water / climate issues, the agents can be different regions and the networks can be formed by, for example, the rivers connecting them.

Personal Background

I got my Bsc and MSc in physics at Delft University of Technology. The topic of my MSc thesis was “Cochlear modeling as time-frequency analysis tool” (published in Acta Acoustica, see publication list). During my MSc years I did an internship with fellow students in Kenya, where we investigated the flow of groundwater around sub surface dams. This brought me in first contact with the water resources management group of the civil engineering faculty of Delft University of Technology. After finishing my MSc thesis, I started working part time for this group, starting my PhD. I also work part time at Statistics Netherlands, the National Statistical Institute of the Dutch government. There, I work in the department that collects, orders and publishes statistics on the amount of people living on social welfare, unemployment- and disability-benefits (and their backgrounds) in the Netherlands.

A list of publications can be found following this link.