Xin Li received the Ph.D. degree in remote sensing and GIS from Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) in 1998. He has been a full professor at Cold and Arid Regions of Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, CAS, since 2000. He is presently a professor at Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, CAS. He is a member of WCRP GEWEX scientific steering committee, a member of the International Science Advisory Panel of Global Water Futures program, and the secretary general of the UNESCO IHP G-WADI Asia network. He is on the editorial board of Journal of Hydrology, Science Bulletin, Vadose Zone Journal, and Remote Sensing. He is the lead scientist of WATER (Watershed Allied Telemetry Experimental Research, 2007-2010) and HiWATER (2012-2016). His primary research interests include land data assimilation, application of remote sensing and GIS in hydrological and cryospheric sciences, and integrated watershed study.

 Harry Vereeckenreceived the Ph.D. degree in agricultural sciences from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium (1988). He obtained his habilitation in hydrogeology at Bonn University, Germany (1997). Since 2000 he is full professor at Faculty of Agriculture, Bonn University, and director of the Agrosphere Institute (IBG-3), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH. He is editor of Vadose Zone Journal and member of the Nordrhein-Westfälische Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Künste (member of the North Rhine-Westphalia Academy for Sciences and Arts, Germany). He is coordinator of TERENO which is a network of environmental observatories in Germany, director of the GeoAlliance ABC/J (Germany), and chair of the International Soil Modeling Consortium (ISMC). His research interests include hydrology, hydrogeophysics, and soil science.