Biography
Dr. Sivapalan's research has focused on making predictions in ungauged basins, increasingly in the context of human-induced environmental changes. A basic aim of his research has been to understand observed space-time variability of rainfall-runoff processes at a wide range of scales, including their extremes, and to interpret these in terms of underlying climate-soil-vegetation-topography interactions. Increased focus on hydrologic change has led him to launch the new sub-field of socio-hydrology that aims to explore the dynamic feedbacks between social and hydrological systems lying at the heart of the many critically important water management challenges. Dr. Sivapalan is especially keen towards ensuring that advances in predictions based on socio-hydrologic understanding are used to address acute water management challenges in developing countries where resources are scarce and social and environmental vulnerabilities are intertwined. He has led major efforts towards developing an international network of scientists to address critical water management challenges in the emergent Anthropocene.
Education
- Ph.D., Civil Engineering, Princeton University
- M.A., Civil Engineering, Princeton University
- M.Eng., Water Resources Engineering, Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand
- B.S., Civil Engineering, University of Ceylon, Sri Lanka
Additional Campus Affiliations
Professor, Geography and Geographic Information Science
Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Chester and Helen Siess Endowed Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Recent Publications
Aksoy, H., Cetin, M., Eris, E., Burgan, H. I., Cavus, Y., Yildirim, I., & Sivapalan, M. (2021). Critical drought intensity-duration-frequency curves based on total probability theorem-coupled frequency analysis. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 66(8), 1337-1358. https://doi.org/10.1080/02626667.2021.1934473
Lu, Y., Tian, F., Guo, L., Borzì, I., Patil, R., Wei, J., Liu, D., Wei, Y., Yu, D. J., & Sivapalan, M. (2021). Socio-hydrologic modeling of the dynamics of cooperation in the transboundary Lancang-Mekong River. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 25(4), 1883-1903. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-1883-2021
Pouladi, P., Badiezadeh, S., Pouladi, M., Yousefi, P., Farahmand, H., Kalantari, Z., Yu, D. J., & Sivapalan, M. (2021). Interconnected governance and social barriers impeding the restoration process of Lake Urmia. Journal of Hydrology, 598, [126489]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2021.126489
Wu, S., Zhao, J., Wang, H., & Sivapalan, M. (2021). Regional Patterns and Physical Controls of Streamflow Generation Across the Conterminous United States. Water Resources Research, 57(6), [e2020WR028086]. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020WR028086
Chen, X., & Sivapalan, M. (2020). Hydrological Basis of the Budyko Curve: Data-Guided Exploration of the Mediating Role of Soil Moisture. Water Resources Research, 56(10), [e2020WR028221]. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020WR028221