Rajagopalan Balaji News

Rajagopalan Balaji joins elite group of honorary fellows in meteorology

Susan Glairon — Mon, 03 Feb 2025 18:51:05 +0000

Rajagopalan Balaji joins elite group of honorary fellows in meteorology Susan Glairon Mon, 02/03/2025 - 11:51

Susan Glairon

Professor Rajagopalan Balaji, a ��ϳԹ� professor of civil engineering and an expert in hydrology, climatology and water resources, was elected as an honorary fellow of the Indian Meteorological Society in December. The honor was received on his behalf at the inaugural ceremony of TROPMET 2024, India’s annual tropical meteorology conference.

Rajagopalan has dedicated more than 25 years researching Indian monsoon variability as a way to give back to his home country. His research aims to improve flood preparedness and explore the complex relationship between monsoonal climate and public health.

“Making significant advances in understanding Indian monsoon variability is a labor of love,” Rajagopalan says. “This honor is particularly meaningful and gratifying, especially being recognized as part of such a select group.”

Rajagopalan Is one of 21 honorary fellows, joining a distinguished group that includes the late A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, PhD, a former president of India. The honor recognizes those who have made significant contributions to meteorological research, education or practice, both in India and globally.

In 2023 Rajagopalan received a Fulbright-Kalam Climate Fellowship. His Fulbright work in India centered around developing monsoon forecasting models to aid residents in flood preparedness; exploring the intricate interplay between monsoonal climate and public health; and unraveling the monsoon variability over a timeframe of 5,000 to 10,000 years, along with its role in the peopling of the Indian subcontinent.

India, in particular, remains highly vulnerable to the monsoon’s variability, and the impact extends beyond floods or droughts. The monsoons also affect water quality, public health, agricultural output and even the Indian stock market, he says.

Weaker rainfall directly impacts the country’s GDP, given that at least 50 percent of the population resides in villages heavily reliant on agriculture. Crop failures often drive rural residents to migrate to urban areas in search of employment, placing sudden strain on urban resources. This has an impact on nutrition, poverty and public health, he says.

Founded in 1956, the Indian Meteorological Society was established to promote the advancement of meteorology in India and to provide a platform for scientists, researchers and professionals in the field to collaborate and share knowledge.

Professor Rajagopalan Balaji was named an honorary fellow of the Indian Meteorological Society for his pioneering research on Indian monsoon variability and its impacts on public health and flood preparedness.

Off

Traditional

White

Could wet winters start to refill Colorado River reservoirs? What researchers are saying

Susan Glairon — Fri, 06 Dec 2024 10:37:03 +0000

Could wet winters start to refill Colorado River reservoirs? What researchers are saying Susan Glairon Fri, 12/06/2024 - 03:37

Professor Balaji Rajagopalan research suggests that increased precipitation in the Colorado River basin over the next 25 years could boost river flows despite rising temperatures. However, he warns of more frequent extreme droughts, highlighting the need for improved reservoir management.

Off

Traditional

White

��ϳԹ� secures $750K to improve drought preparedness in Western U.S.

Anonymous — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 18:52:18 +0000

��ϳԹ� secures $750K to improve drought preparedness in Western U.S. Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 06/25/2024 - 12:52

Susan Glairon

The ��ϳԹ� has earned a major grant to boost drought monitoring and prediction on the Colorado River.

The $750,000 award from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) on campus and the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering (CEAE) is part of $4.9 million in funding being distributed nationally by the Biden-Harris Administration to help western communities better prepare for droughts.

The project, “Improving Hydroclimate Forecasts by Multi-Model Combination Approaches for Enhanced Reservoir Operations on the Colorado River,” aims to develop models that will help water managers and stakeholders enhance the reliability of water supply in the Colorado River Basin. CEAE Professor Rajagopalan Balaji, who is also a CIRES fellow, serves as the principal investigator of the project.

Professor Rajagopalan Balaji

Balaji said the Colorado River’s water supply, the "lifeblood of the southwestern U.S. socio-economy," has been under severe stress since 2000 due to streamflow reduction from the Millennium Drought and increasing demand.

“The lack of skillful streamflow forecasts beyond a season has likely contributed to suboptimal water management during this prolonged dry period, exacerbating the water supply stress,” he said. “Developing a skillful streamflow forecasting system is crucial for enabling efficient water resource management and ensuring a sustainable and reliable water supply in the river basin.”

The CEAE-led project will develop new Colorado River Basin streamflow forecast models at 0-24 months lead time. The project will use NOAA’s advanced seasonal prediction systems and new machine learning techniques to improve lead predictions key to water management in the Basin. In addition, the forecasts will be used in the Colorado River Basin Operational Prediction Testbed and with stakeholder engagement to enable efficient water resources decisions.

Additional collaborators on the project include the ��ϳԹ� Center for Advanced Decision Support for Water and Environmental Systems, NOAA Climate Prediction Center, NOAA Colorado Basin River Forecast Center, the US Bureau of Reclamation and the Southern Nevada Water Authority.

��ϳԹ� has received $750,000 from a NOAA grant to enhance drought monitoring and prediction on the Colorado River. The award, part of a $4.9 million initiative by the Biden-Harris Administration, supports efforts led by CIRES and the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering.

Off

Traditional

White

Rajagopalan Balaji elected fellow of ASCE

Anonymous — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 18:02:48 +0000

Rajagopalan Balaji elected fellow of ASCE Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 12/13/2023 - 11:02

Susan Glairon

Rajagopalan Balaji, a professor of civil engineering and fellow of the Cooperative Institute of Research in Environmental Sciences at the ��ϳԹ�, has been named a fellow by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Board of Direction. This prestigious recognition, awarded to only three percent of ASCE members, is "for celebrated contributions and developing creative solutions that change lives around the world."

Balaji’s specialization is hydroclimate variability and impacts on socio-economic infrastructure using statistical learning methods. His research is interdisciplinary, which focuses on understanding the drivers of year-to-year and multidecadal variability of regional hydrology (i.e., precipitation, streamflow, etc.), developing ensemble forecasting and coupling them to decision support systems for water resources management, drinking water quality, wastewater treatment resiliency, building systems energy, construction delay management due to weather and climate and agriculture management.

A faculty member at the ��ϳԹ� since 2000, Balaji also served as the chair of the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering from 2014 to 2022. Prior to joining the university, he was on the research faculty at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University in New York from 1995 to 2000.

Civil Engineering Source article 11.16.23

Rajagopalan Balaji, a professor of civil engineering, has been named a fellow by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Board of Direction. This prestigious recognition, awarded to only three percent of ASCE members, is "for celebrated contributions and developing creative solutions that change lives around the world."

Off

Traditional

White

Unlocking the monsoon mystery and its impact on society

Anonymous — Tue, 06 Jun 2023 20:01:27 +0000

Unlocking the monsoon mystery and its impact on society Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 06/06/2023 - 14:01

Susan Glairon

Balaji Rajagopalan grew up in a small railroad town near Hyderabad, India, in a home without running water. At night, the sound of water would often awaken him, prompting him to rush with cooking pots to collect water spurting from a pipe in the backyard. During the dry season, the pipe often ran dry, forcing him and his neighbors to queue up to manually pump a single bucket of groundwater.

Now a ��ϳԹ� professor of civil engineering and an expert in hydrology, climatology and water resources, Rajagopalan was recently honored with a Fulbright-Kalam Climate Fellowship and an opportunity to make a difference in his native country.

His Fulbright work in India centers around developing monsoon forecasting models to aid residents in flood preparedness; exploring the intricate interplay between monsoonal climate and public health; and unraveling the monsoon variability over a timeframe of 5,000 to 10,000 years, along with its role in the peopling of the Indian subcontinent.

“I want to give back,” said Rajagopalan, a first-generation college graduate. “The areas I am working on — climate and water — are central here.”

Starting in August, he will spend four to six months over a two-year period at four host institutions — the Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad, as well as Gandhinagar, Roorkee and Ashoka Universities. He plans to foster collaborations among these and other institutions in India and facilitate research exchanges between the universities in India and ��ϳԹ�.

Having served as the chair of ��ϳԹ�’s Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, Rajagopalan is also excited to observe how some of India’s top institutions teach civil engineering and to mentor and engage with early career scientists, including students and faculty.

Fascination of the Monsoon

For more than 20 years, Rajagopalan has dedicated his research to understanding and modeling the variability and predictability of flow in the Colorado River and the Indian monsoon.

He wonders aloud why the amount of water in the Colorado River has been declining for more than two decades and whether the decline is random or hints at a more systematic global climate pattern. He raises the same question about annual fluctuations in the Indian monsoon rainfall.

“Those questions fascinate me,” he said. “Both the Colorado River and the Indian monsoon are the lifeblood of the societies that depend on them.”

He recalls that in the late 19th century, during the British colonial rule of India, the monsoon mercilessly failed, leading to a devastating famine that claimed the lives of millions. In the wake of this catastrophic event, the British colonials established the Indian meteorological department to study the monsoon. Since then, there’s been more than a century of studies to understand this climatic phenomenon.

“But still, there are many more questions,” he says. “That’s the fascination of the monsoon.”

Flooding in Mumbai, India, 2017. Photo credit Paasikivi

Flood Forecasting

Rajagopalan points out a challenge specific to India: During the monsoon months of June, July and August, precipitation falls as water rather than being stored as snow, as happens in Colorado. Without sufficient infrastructure to store and manage the excess water, much of it will flood the landscape and drain into the adjoining seas, he says.

He emphasizes the pressing need for improving flood forecasting in India, given the significant percentage of the population that lives near rivers.

Reliable forecasts would enable disaster managers to make well-informed decisions regarding public evacuations. Planning agencies could prepare in advance if they knew whether the upcoming season would bring above-average rainfall. Similarly, reservoir managers need that information before the monsoon season begins to anticipate the volume of water they may collect and whether they need to open gates early to create additional capacity.

At the seasonal time scale, the significance of an accurate monsoon rainfall forecast has broad implications. A forecast indicating a below-normal summer monsoon season can exert pressure on agriculture commodities, resulting in reduced spending capacity for individuals. Farmers rely on these forecasts to make informed decisions regarding agriculture, either by cultivating more drought-resistant crops or by irrigating.

Rajagopalan also highlights the importance of data modeling and understanding the underlying physics behind floods and droughts to develop effective forecasting tools.

“Developing predictive tools is of huge importance for anywhere, but especially for India as the monsoon rainfall drives agriculture, water resources, ecology and public health,” he says. “The monsoon threads through the entire socio-economic fabric.”

Public Health

“Everything is connected to the monsoon in some way,” Rajagopalan said.

During his research, Rajagopalan will delve into the profound impact of monsoons on public health. Monsoonal rains create stagnant water in ponds, providing ideal breeding grounds for malaria and dengue in disease-carrying mosquitoes. Additionally, poor water quality during this period contributes to illnesses like diarrhea.

“There is a direct link between monsoon rainfall and public health, and that is a whole new and important area to climate connection, " he said.

Monsoons over time

The third aspect of Rajagopalan’s research involves studying the monsoon’s variability across the current geological epoch, known as the Holocene period. Gaining insight into the monsoon’s fluctuation throughout this 5,000- to 10,000-year time period can unlock the secrets behind the rise and fall of societies, and human migration, Rajagopalan said.

Civilizations typically flourished during robust monsoons and declined when the monsoons became weaker. Combining statistical methods with contemporary and ocean sediment core data, his research aims to reconstruct the variability of climate and vegetation over Indian subcontinent and Eurasia during the Holocene. This will be used to understand the role of climate in the migration of societies during this period.

“People move for all kinds of reasons, but often climate tends to be the catalyst, even in contemporary times,” he said. “Even through civil wars, people tend to stay. The natural human tendency is to live where one grew up and among familiar surroundings.”

Water Resources Professor Balaji Rajagopalan grew up in a small railroad town near Hyderabad, India, in a home without running water. Now an expert in hydrology, climatology and water resources, Rajagopalan was recently honored with a Fulbright-Kalam Climate Fellowship and an opportunity to make a difference in his native country.

Off

Traditional

White

Satellites reveal widespread decline in global lake water storage

Anonymous — Thu, 18 May 2023 18:52:25 +0000

Satellites reveal widespread decline in global lake water storage Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 05/18/2023 - 12:52

More than 50 percent of the largest lakes in the world are losing water, according to a groundbreaking new assessment published today in Science. The article was coauthored by Professor Balaji Rajagopalan and Associate Professor Ben Livneh, both from ��ϳԹ�'s Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering. Fangfang Yao, a CIRES visiting scholar, was the lead author.

Off

Traditional

White

Research in Focus: Climate Variability Past & Present with Rajagopalan Balaji

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Jan 2022 20:26:27 +0000

Research in Focus: Climate Variability Past & Present with Rajagopalan Balaji Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 01/10/2022 - 13:26

Rajagopalan Balaji is a ��ϳԹ� professor and chair of the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, and he is changing the way we see climate change.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGC3Awsy61k]

Off

Traditional

White

Rajagopalan Balaji News

Rajagopalan Balaji joins elite group of honorary fellows in meteorology

Off

Could wet winters start to refill Colorado River reservoirs? What researchers are saying

Off

���ϳԹ� secures $750K to improve drought preparedness in Western U.S.

Off

Rajagopalan Balaji elected fellow of ASCE

Off

Unlocking the monsoon mystery and its impact on society

Fascination of the Monsoon

Flood Forecasting

Public Health

Monsoons over time

Off

Satellites reveal widespread decline in global lake water storage

Off

Research in Focus: Climate Variability Past & Present with Rajagopalan Balaji

Off

��ϳԹ� secures $750K to improve drought preparedness in Western U.S.