Copy
Meet Fernando Aristizabal in this month's edition of, "Meet the CUAHSI Community!"
CUAHSI.1.1.1.jpg
mailchimplinesdivider2.gif
Dear Colleagues,
Summer is winding down, but CUAHSI's news is still heating things up!
Meet Fernando Aristizabal, in this month's edition of "Meet the CUAHSI Community!" 
 
As always, please contact commgr@cuahsi.org with any questions or comments.
mailchimplinesdivider2.gif
A Message from the Executive Director 

 
Dear Friends of Water Science,
 
I want to tell you about an exciting new resource that we have in HydroShare.

Hurricane Harvey, a Category 4 hurricane with maximum winds of about 130 mph, was a devasting natural disaster that occurred in 2017 with the greatest impacts in the Houston, Texas region. NOAA estimated that the storm produced at $125 billion in damage, second only to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which caused 1,833 fatalities compared to 105 from Harvey. Most of the impacts from Katrina were from storm surge, whereas Harvey damages were the result of massive amounts of rainfall. The storm produced the largest recorded 5-day rainfall total in the U.S. at 60.58 inches, and Harvey likely produced the greatest volume of rainfall of any storm occurring in the U.S. The greatest 24-hour rainfall amount also was in Texas, during Tropical Storm Claudette in 1979 when about 42 inches of rain fell. 

Hurricane Harvey not only produced great human suffering, but also was a historical hydro-meteorological event, offering lessons that could lead to improved response and prediction for future events. Through an NSF RAPID grant (OAC-176173), CUAHSI was able to create a unique collection of Hurricane Harvey data in HydroShare for the hydrology community.

The Hurricane Harvey 2017 Archive Story Map provides a simple interface for exploring the data archived in the collection. Archived flood information includes data collected by USGS (streamflow, high-water marks), FEMA (flood depth grids, damage assessments and claims), and Texas Civil Air Patrol (oblique aerial photos). NOAA National Water Model streamflow and inundation forecasts also are included, as are forecasts from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting. Other data include transportation infrastructure, almost 20 million address points in Texas, a CDC social vulnerability index for census tracts in the Harvey-impact region, height above nearest drainage (HAND) maps, and imagery and photographs.

We hope that you will find this collection valuable, and we welcome your feedback on this resource.  We also welcome contributions of data or information that relates to Hurricane Harvey Archive. Please note that also are Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Marie collections, which currently are being developed. You can share and publish data directly in HydroShare by creating an account at www.hydroshare.org. Contact help@cuahsi.org if you need any guidance in doing this. 
 
For more information on the Hurricane Harvey project, visit CUAHSI's Projects webpage

All the best,
Jerad
 
mailchimpdotsdivider3.gif

Application period now open for CUAHSI's Hydroinformatics Innovation Fellowship.

CUAHSI is pleased to announce the Hydroinformatics Innovation Fellowship, a new grant program targeting graduate students, post-docs, and early career faculty.

Fellows will receive up to $5,000 to produce a hydroinformatics product to be disseminated to the water science community. Example products include software, including apps which can be integrated into CUAHSI's Water Data Services; new data products of interest to the community, including data-rescue products; technical publications, or STEM curriculum. An example of a useful app might be a product which can operate on CUAHSI's Hydrologic Information System or HydroShare data resources to produce some outcome useful to the community. Applications are due September 30, 2018

Questions? Please contact Jon Pollak at jpollak@cuahsi.org
 

*****

CUAHSI's 2018 Fall Cyberseminar Series: Major Challenges in Key River Basins Around the World

 
CUAHSI's 2018 Fall Cyberseminar Series is coming soon! This year's topic is Major Challenges in Key River Basins Around the World, hosted by CUAHSI's very own, Kathrine Schlef. 

In this seminar series, you will hear perspectives from a diverse set of emerging researchers regarding the challenges and possible solutions facing major transboundary river basins in the world, such as the Indus River Basin in Pakistan, the American and Sacramento River Basins in California, the Ohio River Basin in the United States Midwest, and the Nile River Basin in Ethiopia. You will gain an increased appreciation for the complexity of water management in such basins and will be inspired by the innovative and novel methods being used to solve the many challenges they face. 

Dates, Speakers, and Topics are listed below. Registration is free!
  • September 20, 4 p.m. ET: Scott Steinschneider, Cornell University
  • September 27, 4 p.m. ET: Hassaan Furqan Khan, Stanford University
  • October 4, 3 p.m. ET: Y.C. Ethan Yang, Lehigh University 
  • October 11, 4 p.m. ET: Mariam Allam, University of Massachusetts Amherst
  • October 18, 4 p.m. ET: Patrick Ray, University of Cincinnati
mailchimpdotsdivider3.gif

CUAHSI's Data Down-low



CUAHSI Workshop Provides Biennial Participants with Tools for Managing Data
Last week at the CUAHSI Biennial, CUAHSI staff partnered with the HydroShare team, and the ODM2 team to provide a workshop on CUAHSI Tools and Services for Managing Research Data. The workshop introduced CUAHSI-supported tools which include the hydrologic information system (HIS), observations data model version 2 (ODM2), ODM2Admin data management portal, and HydroShare. Attendees were given an overview of CUAHSI-supported tools that support research activities progressing from (1) simple time series data, to (2) advanced earth observations, and finally, (3) complex data types.

Interested in hosting a CUAHSI water data services workshop? Contact help@cuahsi.org.

 

*****


CUAHSI Data Featured at Hack for the Sea
Hack for the Sea will be held on September 21-23, 2018 in Gloucester, MA. Hack for the Sea is a marine science hackathon that features challenges and data sets from many organizations, including CUAHSI. This year's challenge, How does a changing coastal watershed impact coastal waters? is an attempt to prove out the efficacy of citizen science when it comes to water quality. Participants will combine data from the USGS, and Massachusetts Watershed Resources Authority with that of the Charles River Watershed Association and present their results on Sunday, September 23, 2018. 
 
Be sure to visit hackforthesea.tech to learn more!
mailchimpdotsdivider3.gif
2018 CUAHSI Biennial Colloquium 


 
The 2018 CUAHSI Biennial Colloquium on Hydrologic Connections: Climate, Food, Energy, Environment, and Society came and went like the torrential rains sweeping the Eastern U.S. last week.

Thank you to all those who joined us in Shepherdstown, WV! We hope you enjoyed it despite the heat, humidity, and rainstorms. For those who could not make it, we hope to see you in 2020!

Below are some highlights of the conference. (For more photos and detailed program, click here.)
 
  • The conference kicked off with the ever passionate Linda Lilienfeld, Program Director of Let’s Talk About Water, screening a short film called The Last Ice Merchant. The film tells a story of the cultural change surrounding harvesting glacial ice in Ecuador and indigenous lifestyle of three brothers who have dealt with change in different ways. 
  • Keynote speakers George Hornberger (Vanderbilt University), Larry Band (University of Virginia), and Jeanne VanBriesen (Carnegie Mellon University) gave lectures on their respective research interests.
  • As part of the Community Service Awards, we honored Scott Tyler (University of Nevada Reno) for the development of community resources to support hydrologic science, and David Gochis and the NCAR Team for the development of the WRF-Hydro modeling system to support atmospheric and hydrologic sciences. We surprised Branko Kerkez (University of Michigan) with the Water Drop Award for his dedicated service to CUAHSI’s Instrumentation Standing Committee and Community Services. 
  • The U.S. Global Change Research Program’s Integrated Water Cycle Group (IWCG) led a town hall with Jennifer Saleem Arrigo (U.S. Global Change Research Program), Stacey Archfield (USGS), Jared Entin (NASA), Karen Metchis (U.S. EPA), and Gary Geernaert (DOE Office of Science). The CUAHSI community learned more about the IWCG and the federal agencies were able to hear from the CUAHSI community perspectives on the state and direction of water science.
  • The poster session saw over 60 poster presenters and included demos from Branko Kerkez on open-source sensors and from Ben Ruddell (Northern Arizona University) on CrowdHydrology.
  • Scott Tyler and Beth Boyer (Pennsylvania State University) hosted a blended in-person and virtual Instrumentation Panel which included presentations from 11 national scale multi-user facilities.
  • The conference ended on a high note as we hosted the CTEMPS workshop, HydroShare Meeting and Board of Directors Summer Meeting.

*****

2018 Summer Institute


 
This July marked the end of the fourth National Water Center Innovators Program Summer Institute (SI) in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The SI program is a partnership between the National Weather Service's Office of Water Prediction and CUAHSI, with the goal of engaging the broader hydrologic research community in collaborating around the mission of the National Water Center (NWC). This summer, twenty-three graduate students spent seven weeks at the NWC diving in National Water Model science and developing research questions to contribute to the NWC's goals. Fellows formed groups and completed projects in one of the following themes: Hyper Resolution Modeling, Groundwater Flow Modeling, and Computational Aspects of Hydrologic Modeling. On July 26, the SI ended with a Capstone Presentation at the University of Alabama, where students presented their research projects and celebrated seven weeks of hard work. 
 
Shortly, CUAHSI will issue a Technical Report documenting the student projects completed at the 2018 SI. We are excited to begin planning for the 2019 Summer Institute. Look for more information in the coming months! 
 
mailchimpdotsdivider3.gif
Meet the CUAHSI Community
 
This is the next installment of our series as we shine the spotlight on a member of the CUAHSI community.

[Know a CUAHSI member that deserves to be highlighted? Contact commgr@cuahsi.org with a nomination!]
 
This month’s Meet the CUAHSI Community introduces you to one of our 2018 Summer Institute Course Coordinators, Fernando Aristizabal. Fernando is a Graduate student at the University of Florida, studying at the Center for Remote Sensing in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering.
 

What are your research interests? / What types of projects are you currently involved in?
My current research interest and project involves the fusion of high spatial resolution remote sensing observations with ancillary data by employing statistical/machine learning classification. This methodology is applied to detecting surface water inundation for the purposes of hydrologic & hydraulic model validation as well as operational, near real-time applications during flood events.

How did you get involved with CUAHSI? 
My advisor forwarded a call for applications to participate in the 2017 Summer Institute (SI) at the National Water Center in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Attending the SI was an excellent opportunity to advance my technical expertise, technical resources, and professional network. CUAHSI did a great deal to facilitate this positive experience by providing logistical, administrative, and technical support.

What has been your proudest professional accomplishment to date?
My proudest professional accomplishment is the one I’m working towards at the time. Currently, that is trying to contribute to the advancement of remote sensing in hydrology. 

Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give to graduate students who are embarking on careers in water science?
Network and collaborate early in your studies. As a graduate student, it is easy to get bogged down with coursework, papers, and individual research. However, there is a lot of value in collaborating and networking so be proactive at conferences and other venues to reach out to others in the community. This activity has a quick and sizeable return on investment. 

What are some of your favorite hobbies outside of work?
Traveling, hiking, camping, beach volleyball, wakeboarding, water skiing, and almost anything else in the water. Stereotypical Florida activities.
 
 
mailchimplinesdivider2.gif

Copyright © 2018 Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. (CUAHSI), All rights reserved.



mailchimplinesdivider2.gif