Event date:
Feb 9 2022 6:00 pm

Detection and mapping of shifts in dominant hydrologic processes, plant water stress and drought cascade using satellite data

Speaker(s)
Professor, Barcadi and Stockholm Water Foundations Chair Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Abstract
In the hydrologic sciences, as in other scientific and engineering disciplines, notable advances follow the introduction of new types of measurements. New types of measurement shed light on processes that are not apparent with prior observing systems. Models too are affected. Models are developed to best match observations. Once a new type of observation becomes available, it poses new questions for models. In the hydrologic sciences, soil moisture has always been the state-variable of models, linking fluxes such as runoff, drainage and evapotranspiration. in situ sensors for measuring soil moisture are sparse and inadequate for mapping and for practical use in constraining models. In the recent few years, the capability to measure this state-variable has emerged with new technologies for microwave remote sensing. Global fields of surface soil moisture and vegetation water content are now available. In this presentation, the following three questions are addressed, given the recent availability of the new type of measurements: 1) how are the land surface water and energy balance coupled and what does this imply for regional vulnerability to climate change?, 2) how and when do vegetation and crops respond to water stress?, and 3) how do droughts develop and expand across the landscape?

“Models, Learning and Sensing in Hydrology” is a webinar series initiated by The Center for Water Informatics & Technology at LUMS. This new series (MLSH) is primarily meant for discussing serious scholarship in the emerging topics of physics-guided machine learning, evolutionary dynamical systems, data assimilation of mobile sensors, AI-powered edge computing systems, and autonomous systems in water, agriculture and similar application areas.   The series celebrates distinguished works in the field and is aimed towards researchers, practitioners, and technical experts in hydrology-related areas.  Please note that many of the speakers may or may not have a direct interest in the Indus or South Asia’s other basins.

Series organizers 

  • Jawairia Ashfaq Ahmad  Post Doctorate Fellow and Adjunct Faculty, Center for Water Informatics & Technology (WIT), LUMS
  • Talha Manzoor  Assistant Professor of Research, Center for Water Informatics & Technology (WIT), LUMS
  • Zahra Lakdawala  Associate Professor of Mathematics, LUMS
  • Abubakr Muhammad   Associate Prof. & Chair, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Executive Director, Center for Water Informatics & Technology (WIT), LUMS

For more Details: https://wit.lums.edu.pk/MLSH2022

Registration link
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