Prof. Asher Schick

(1931-2002)

Abstract

Asher (Peter) Schick was born in Brno (Czechoslovakia) in 1931, and immigrated to Israel as an eight-year-old boy. Inspired by his geography teacher he became a lover and a dedicated investigator of the landscape around him. Asher started his academic career as a physical geographer in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His main scientific interest was in the understanding of earth surface processes as a tool for understanding landscape evolution and environmental management. From the very beginning of his academic career he understood the necessity to adopt an interdisciplinary approach, coupled with the need to conduct long-term observations and detailed measurements of rainfall, runoff, and sediment movement in the frame of a whole watershed. In view of the limited data base available on arid environments. Shortly after his return from a Post Doctorate at Johns Hopkins University, Asher established in the extremely arid desert of the Southern Negev of Israel the well-known experimental Nahal Yael Watershed. The approach adopted and the layout of the watershed served as a model for experimental watersheds constructed later on all over the globe. A unique record covering a period of 38 years is now available on the precipitation regime, hydrological processes, infiltration, groundwater recharge, transport and deposition of bedload and fine sediment along arid channels. The Yael watershed served as a field laboratory for many of his students and became a magnet for foreign students and colleagues from all over the globe. His devotion to his students was well known; above all he gave them full academic freedom in their attempts to explore new ideas. The extensive data collected in Nahal Yael served Asher and his students in understanding of the generation and routing of desert floods; in the evaluation of the impact of climate change on the arid environment, as well as for the assessment of urban hydrology on the planning of cities built on arid alluvial fans. Asher's careful and innovative work in the desert encountered admiration and respect by his colleagues abroad. Asher served as chairman of commissions in the frame of the International Geographical Union and the International Association of Hydrological Sciences. He is a recipient of the Linton Award. Asher stressed again and again the need to collect field data in order to base hydrological modelling on real world catchments processes. He often used to say: "Instead of just more numbers, we need more knowledge". We have no doubt that his colleagues and students will follow his legacy. His colleagues, friends and students, Department of Geography, the Hebrew University.

• Schick, A, 1955, The landscape of Palestine in the years 1870-1880. Atlas of Israel, Map and text (Hebrew), sheet VIII/I.
• Schick, AP., 1958, Marine Terraces on Tiran Island, Northern Red Sea. Geografiska Annaler 10:63-66.
• Schick, AP., 1958, Tiran: the straits, the islands and its terraces. Israel Exploration Journal 8: 120-130, 189-196.
• Amiran, D.H.K., D. Nir, AP. Schick, 1959, The "lake" of Dalton: Agam Dalton. Israel Exploration Journal 9:246-259.
• Schick, AP., 1962, On the origin of Agam Dalton (Hebrew). Bulletin, Israel Exploration Society 25:129-130.
• Schick, AP., 1963, The Aviel depression - a fossil sinkhole. Israel Exploration Journal 13 :224-228.
• Schick, AP., 1964, The suitability of the Israeli topographic map1 :20,000 for quantitative geomorphic analysis (Hebrew). Bulletin, Israel Exploration Society 28:44-54.
• Schick, AP., 1965, The effect of lineative factors on stream courses in homogeneous bedrock. Bulletin, International Association of Scientific Hydrology 10:5-11.
• Wolman, M.G., AP., Schick, 1967, The effect of construction on fluvial sediment, urban and suburban areas of Maryland. Water Resources Research 3:451-464.
• Schick, AP., 1968, The storm of 11 March 1966 in the Southern Negev and its geomorphic significance (Hebrew). Studies in the Geography of Israel 6:20-52.
• Schick, AP., 1970, Desert Floods: interim results of observations in the Nahal Yael research watershed, Southern Israel, 1965-1970. Bulletin, International Association of Scientific Hydrology, 96: 478493 (also Proceedings, International Symposium on the Results of Research on Representative and Experimental Basins, Wellington, 1970).
• Schick, AP., 1971, Desert floods: physical characteristics, effects on man, geomorphic significance, human adaptation. A case of the Southern Arava watershed. Jerusalem Studies in Geography 2:91-155. Schick, AP., M. Inbar, 1972, Some effects of man on the hydrological cycle of the upper Jordan - Lake Kinneret watershed. Freiburger Geographische Hefte, 12:27-43 (also 2nd Report of the IGUCommission on the International Hydrological Decade).
• Porath, A, AP. Schick, 1974, The use of remote sensing systems in monitoring deserts floods. International Association of Hydrological Sciences, 112: 133-139. (also Proceedings, Paris Symposium on Flash Floods, September 1974).
• Schick, AP., 1974, Alluvial fans and desert roads - a problem in applied geomorphology. Abhandlungen der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Gottingen, Mathematische-Physikalische Klasse, 3. Folge, Nr. 29: 418-425 (also Proceedings of International Symposium on Geomorphic Process Combinations in Different Climates, Gottingen, 1973).
• Schick, AP., 1974, Formation and obliteration of desert stream terraces - a conceptual analysis. Zeitschrift fur Geomorphologie, Supplementband 21: 88-1 05.
• Schick, AP., 1977, A tentative sediment budget for an extremely arid watershed in the Southern Negev, in: "Geomorphology in Arid Regions" (D.O. Doehring, ed.), Publications in Geomorphology, State University of New York, Binghamton, N.Y., 139-163.
• Schick, AP., 1977, Study of sediment generation, transport and deposition in semi-arid zones. Hydrological Science Bulletin 12:535542.
• Schick, AP., 1978, Field experiments in arid fluvial environments: considerations for research design. Zeitschrift fur Geomorphologie, Supplementband 29:22-28.
• Schick, AP., D. Magid, 1978, Terraces in arid stream valleys - a probability model. Catena 5:237-250.
• Bull, W.B., AP. Schick, 1979, Impact of climatic change on an arid watershed in Nahal Yael, Southern Israel. Quaternary Research 11:153-171.
• Schick, AP., 1979, Fluvial processes and man in arid environmentsapplications to planning. GeoJournaI3:353-360.
• Inbar, M., AP. Schick, 1979, Bedload transport associated with high stream power, Jordan River, Israel. Proceedings, National Academy of Science (USA) 76 (6): 2515-2517.
• Shanan, L., AP. Schick, 1980, A hydrological model for the Negev Desert Highlands: effects of infiltration, runoff and ancient agriculture. Hydrological Sciences Bulletin 25:269-282.
• Schick, AP., 1. Lekach, 1981, High bedload transport rates in relation to stream power, Wadi Mikeimin, Sinai. Catena 8:43-47.
• Lekach, j., AP. Schick, 1982: Suspended sediment in desert floods in small catchments. Israel Journal of Earth Sciences 31:144-156. Lekach, 1., AP. Schick, 1983: Evidence for transport of bedload in waves: analysis of fluvial sediment samples in a small upland desert stream channel. Catena 10:267-280.
• Hassan, M., AP. Schick, J.B. Laronne, 1984: The recovery of flooddispersed coarse sediment particles - a three dimensional magnetic tracing method. Catena Supplement 5:153-162.
• Hassan, M.A, j. Lekach, AP. Schick, 1984: Bedload transport in desert streams (in Hebrew). Ofaqim be-geografia 11-12: 13-29. Schick, AP., ed., 1984: Channel Processes - Water, Sediment, Catchment Controls. Catena Supplementband 5, Catena Verlag, Cremlingen, 162 p.
• Schick, AP., J. Lekach, M.A Hassan, 1987: Bedload transport in desert floods - observations in the Negev. "Sediment Transport in Gravel-Bed Rivers" C.R Thorne, I.C. Bathurst, RD. Hey, editors, Wiley, Chichester, Ch. 20:617-642.
• Schick, AP., J. Lekach, M.A Hassan, 1987: Vertical exchange of coarse bedload in desert streams. in: "Desert Sediments: Ancient and Modern", LE. Frostick, I. Reid, editors, Special Publication, Geological Society of London, 35:7-15.
• Schick, AP., 1988, Hydrologic aspects of floods in hyper-arid environments. In "Flood Geomorphology", Y.R Baker, RC. Kochel, P.C. Patton, editors, Wiley, New York, Ch.12:189-203.
• Schick, AP., M.A Hassan, J. Lekach, 1987: A vertical exchange model for coarse bedload movement - nemerical considerations. In: Geomorphological Models: Theoretical and Empirical Aspects", F. Ahnert, editor, Catena Supplement 10:73-83.
• Schick, AP.,J. Lekach, 1987: A catastrophic flood in the Sinai desert. In: "Catastrophic Flooding", L Mayer, D.H. Nash, editors, Allen & Unwin, Boston, Ch. 18:381-409.
• Ben-Zvi, A, S. Massoth, AP. Schick, 1991: Travel time of runoff crests in Israel. Journal of Hydrology 122:309-320.
• Schwarz, U. AP. Schick, 1990: Water in alluvial fill in an area of extreme aridity. Ofaqim be-Geografia (Horizons in Geography) 31: 109-122. (in Hebrew).
• Schick, AP., 1990: Floods in environments of extreme aridity: hydrological aspects. Ofaqim be-Geografia (Horizons in Geography) 31 :227-243. (in Hebrew).
• Schick, AP., Amit, R., Ginat, H, Grossman, S., Greenbaum, N., Weissbrod, T., Wachs, D., Lekach, J., Sneh, A, 1990: Geomorphology of the Southern Arava. Field Trip G-4, Geological Excursion Guide, Annual Meeting, Israel Geological Society, Elat 1990, 20-27 (in Hebrew).
• Lekach, J., AP. Schick, A Schlesinger, 1992: Bedload yield and in channel provenance in a flash-flood fluvial system. In: Billi, P. et aI., eds., Dynamics of Gravel-Bed Rivers, Wiley, Chapters 27:537-554.
• Schick, AP., 1992: Models of Drainage Networks: Drainage Density and Steiner Trees. Studies in Geography 13:149-155 (in Hebrew). .
• Schick, AP., 1993: Geomorphology in Israel. In: Walker, HJ. and W.E. Grabau, eds., The Evolution of Geomorphology - a Nation by Nation Summary of Development. Internat. Assoc. ofGeomorph., Publ. No.1, Wiley, Chapter 26:231-237.
• Schick, AP., J. Lekach, 1993: Storage versus input-output accuracy: an evaluation of two ten-year sediment budgets, Nahal Yael, Israel. Physical Geography 14:225-236.
• Kuells, C., U. Schwartz, Ch. Leibundgut, AP.Schick, 1995: Channel infiltration study using dye tracers. In: Application of Tracers in Arid Zone Hydrology (Proc. Vienna Symp., Aug. 1994), IARS Publ. 232:429-436.
• Hassan, M.A, AP. Schick, P. Shaw, 1995: Movement of pebbles on a sand bed river, Botswana. In: Application of Tracers in Arid Zone Hydrology, E.M. Adar and Ch. Leibundgut, eds., (Proc. Vienna Symp., Aug. 1994), IARS Publ. 232:437-442.
• Lekach, J., AP. Schick, 1995: Trajectories of bed load particles within the active layer of an ephemeral stream. In: Application of Tracers in Arid Zone Hydrology (proc. Vienna Symp., Aug. 1994), IARS Publ. 232:443-452.
• Schick, AP., 1995: Fluvial processes on an urbanizing alluvial fan: Eilat, Israel. In: Natural and Anthropogenic Influences in Fluvial Geomorphology, J. E. Costa et aI., eds., Geophysical Monograph (Am. Geoph. Union) 89:209-219.
• Rozin, u., AP. Schick, 1996: Land use change, conservation measures and stream channel response in the Mediterranean/semiarid transition zone: Nahal Hoga, Southern Coastal Plain, Israel. In: Erosion and Sediment Yield: Global and Regional Perspectives (Proc. Exeter Symp., July, 1996), IARS Publ. 236:427-444.
• Ben David, H., AP. Schick, 1997: The response of Acacia tree populations on small alluvial fans to changes in the hydrological regime: Southern Negev Desert, Israel. Catena 29:343-351.
• Frumkin, A, N. Greenbaum, AP. Schick, 1998: Paleohydrology of the northern Negev: a comparative evaluation of two catchments. In: Water, Environment and Society in Times of Climatic Change, N. Brown & A Issar, eds., Kluwer, 97-111.
• Greenbaum, N., A Margalit, AP. Schick, Sharon, D., VR. Baker, 1998: Reconstruction of a high-magnitude rainstorm-flood in Nahal Zin - a large hyperarid catchment in the Negev Desert, Israel. Hydrological Processes 12: 1-23.
• Lange, J., Ch. Leibundgut, N. Greenbaum, AP. Schick, 1998: Modelling high-magnitude events in large arid catchments - a fieldbased approach in Nahal Zin, Israel. In: Hydrology, Water Resources and Ecology in Headwaters (Proc., Headwater Conf., Meran/Merano, Italy, April 1998) IARS Publ. 248:561-567.
• Lekach, J., R. Amit, T. Grodek, AP.Schick, 1998: Fluvio-pedogenic processes in an ephemeral stream channel, Nahal Yael, Southern Negev, Israel. Geomorphology 23:353-369.
• Lange, J., Ch. Leibundgut, T. Grodek, 1. Lekach, AP. Schick, 1998: Using artificial tracers to study water losses of ephemeral floods in small arid streams. In: Karst Hydrology, Ch. Leibundgut, 1. Gunn, A Dassargues, eds., IARS Publ. 243: p. 31-40.
• Lekach, J., Amit, R., Grodek, T., Schick, AP., 1998: Fluviopedogenic processes in an ephemeral stream channel, Nahal Yael, Southern Negev, Israel. Geomorphology 23:353-369.
• Schick, AP., 1998: Discussion of 'Cross-stream variability of bedload flux in narrow and wide ephemeral channels during desert flash floods', In: Gravel-Bed Rivers in the Environment, P.C. Klingeman et aI., eds, Water Resources Publ., LLC, 194-196.
• Lange, J., Leibundgut, Ch., Schick, AP., 1999: Recent techniques in large arid catchments - ways to overcome model calibration. In: Integrated Methods in Catchment Hydrology - Tracer, Remote Sensing and new Hydrometric Techniques, Ch. Leibundgut et al., eds., IARS Publ.258:231-239.
• Hassan, M.A, Schick, AP., Shaw, P., 1999: The transport of gravel in an ephemeral sandbed river. Earth Surf. Proc. and Landforms 24:623-640.
• Lange, J., Leibundgut, Ch., Greenbaum, N., Schick, AP., 1999: A non-calibrated rainfall-runoff model for large arid catchments. Water Resources Research.35(7):2161-2172.
• Schick, AP., T. Grodek, M.G. Wolman, 1999: Hydrologic processes and geomorphic constraints on urbanization of alluvial fan slopes. Geomorphology 31: 325-335.
• Greenbaum, N., AP. Schick, V.R. Baker, 2000: The paleoflood record of Nahal Zin -- a hyperarid catchment in the Negev Desert, Israel. Earth Surf. Proc. & Landforms 25:951-971.
• Grodek, T., Lekach, J., Schick, AP., 2000: Urbanizing alluvial fansas flood-conveying and flood-reducing systems: lessons from the October 1997 Eilat flood. In: The Hydrology-Geomorphology Interface: Rainfall, Floods, Sedimentation, Land Use (Proc. Jerusalem Conference, May 1999, M.A Hassan et aI., eds.) IARS Publ.261 :229-250.
• Husary, S., Lange, J., Leibundgut, Ch., Hassan, M.A, Nativ, R., Schick, AP., 2000: A trilateral research on the impact of urbanization on different hydrological aspects in the vicinity of Ramallah. Water and Environment (Palestinian Hydrology Group) 4:36-39.
• Lange, J., Leibundgut, Ch., Schick, AP., 2000: The importance of single events in arid zone Clapp, E.M., Bierman, P.R., Schick, AP., Lekach, J., Enzel, Y., Caffee, M., 2000: Differing rates of sediment production and sediment yield. Geology 28(11):995-998.d...
• Greenbaum, N., Schwartz, U., Schick, AP., Enzel, Y., 2002: Paleofloods and the estimation of long-term transmission losses and recharge to the lower Nahal Zin alluvial aquifer, Negev Desert, Israel, In: Ancient Floods, Modem Hazards: Principles and Applications of Paleoflood Hydrology, Water Science and Application, vol. 5, P. Kyle House et aI., eds., American Geophysical Union, 311-328.
• Lange, J., Greenbaum, N., Husary, S., Ghanem, M., Leibundgut, Ch., Schick, AP., in press: Runoff generation from successive simulated rainfalls on a rocky, semi-arid, Mediterranean hillslope. Hydrological Processes..
• Lange, J., Leibundgut, Ch., Husary, S., Hassan, M., Schick, AP., 2001: Non-calibrated models in the dry hydrologic regime - from the arid to the mediterranean zone. In: Runoff Generation and Implication for River Basin Modelling, Leibundgut, Ch. et aI., eds. Freiburger Schrift. z. Hydrol. 13: 199-205.
• Greenbaum, N., Enzel, Y., Schick, AP., 2001 Magnitude and Frequency of paleofloods and historical floods in the Arava Basin, Negev Desert, Israel. Israel J. Earth Sci. 50: 159-186
• Lange, J., Leibundgut, Ch., Husary, S., Nativ, R., Hassan, M., Schick, AP., 2001: A field-based hydrological model to study the impacts of urbanization on regional water resources. In: Regional Management of Water Resources, Schumann, AH. et aI., eds., IARS PubI.268:255-261.