Announcing a seminar on flooding & climate:
Spring 2011
HWRS 696F Section 002
Advanced Topics in Surface Hydrology and Modeling
Flood Hydrometeorology & Hydroclimatology
—Implications
for Global
Change
and
Extreme Hydrology
NEW TIME!
1-3 units on Thursdays 5:15 – 7:45 pm
in
Harshbarger 232
NOTE: To accommodate students attending ATMO
or GEOS weekly
seminars, class will begin at 5:15 pm.
Instructor:
Katie Hirschboeck
Associate Professor of
Climatology
Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research & Chair, Global Change GIDP
(joint appointments in HWR, ATMO, GEOG and ALRS)
Additional course details will be posted here as the semester draws
near.
Course Description:
This graduate seminar course will focus on the meteorological and
climate-related causes of floods, both regionally and globally.
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 the relevant classic and
current scientific literature on flood hydrometeorology,
hydroclimatology, extreme precipitation events, and flooding and climate
change. To apply the
knowledge gained, participants will conduct a detailed analysis of a
selected watershed’s flood history to assess the past, present, and
(projected) future climate-related drivers of the watershed’s flooding
variability. The semester
will close with 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.
Format: This 1-3-unit class will meet once a week for 3 hours and will involve lectures, guest speakers, readings, student-led discussion on selected publications, student presentations on case studies of past floods, and — for those signed up for 3 units — a term project on the flood hydrometeorology and hydroclimatology of a selected watershed. Those signed up for 1 or 2 units will be required to participate in the class proportionately.
Prerequisites:
This course will have an interdisciplinary focus.
Participants should have a college-level background in the basics
of one or more of the following areas:
hydrology, meteorology, climatology, geomorphology and/or water
resources. In addition, an
understanding of basic statistics (probability) will be assumed.
Questions? For more information, contact Katie Hirschboeck: katie@ltrr.arizona.edu