COURSE DESCRIPTION 

This graduate seminar course will focus on the meteorological and climate-related causes of floods, both regionally and globally, and the overarching scientific issues related to floods.  After an overview of flood-generating processes, participants will examine and present case studies of a selection of past major flood events in the United States based on published post-flood reports (USGS, NOAA).  In tandem with these case studies, we will review and discuss relevant classic and current scientific literature on flood hydrometeorology, hydroclimatology, extreme precipitation events, and flooding & climate change.  The semester will also include readings and discussion on the policy and planning implications that emerge from this physically based, climate-linked understanding of the underlying causes of flooding variability. To critically evaluate and apply the knowledge gained, 3-unit participants will complete an individual or  class project,  such as the analysis of a selected watershed’s flood history to assess past, present, and (projected) future climate-related drivers of its floods, a study of the Rillito watershed decades after the 1983 and 1993 floods, a group publication manuscript, etc. Project options will be discussed and agreed upon in class.

2015 Syllabus  [ pdf ]

TENTATIVE CLASS SCHEDULE
with Some Proposed Readings

Useful links:     USGS Publication Warehouse           NOAA US Daily Weather Maps Project

Dates with *  - an alternative day, time and/or location may be set up for these dates, agreeable to all