Collaborative course in hydroclimatologic modeling

Tue, 03 Dec 2013 19:00:00 -0500

Professors Reed Maxwell from the Colorado School of Mines and Shu-Hua Chen from UC Davis collaborated to offer a course in hydroclimatologic modeling. The course included atmospheric dynamics, principles of hydrology, the theory of numerical methods, and an introduction to WRF -- one of the leading mesoscale climate models, PARFLOW, which is a watershed model that incorporates both surface and subsurface flow, and the hydroclimate model PF.WRF. The latter is the only modeling platform in the world that can be used to dynamically couple regional climate and integrated hydrology at the subcontinental scale and at high resolution. Enrolled students consisted of four from the Colorado School of Mines, three CCWAS trainees, and seven other UC Davis students, including a Chilean CCWAS associate. The two campuses were linked by a videoconference system that allowed students at both sites to view slides projected onto a screen and the faculty member and students at the other institution.