Introduction

Funded by the NSF EPSCoR program, the Center for Regional Climate Studies (CRCS) will study linkages between regional climate, hydrologic processes, crop production, and autonomous farmer adaptions. The primary goal of the CRCS is to develop and apply integrated methods to assess and predict climate change impacts on regional hydrology and agricultural production. The hydrologic activities include field monitoring and watershed modeling. A set of field sites will be selected in North Dakota for collecting rainfall, snow, streamflow, and other meteorological and hydrologic data. New algorithms will be developed for automated topographic delineation and integrated hydrologic modeling.

Selected Publications

Bazrkar, M. H. and X. Chu. 2022. Development of category-based scoring support vector regression (CBS-SVR) for drought prediction. Journal of Hydroinformatics, 24(1), 202-222, doi:10.2166/hydro.2022.104.

Zeng, L., H. Shen, Y. Cui, X. Chu, and J. Shao. 2022. Incorporating the filling-spilling feature of depressions into hydrologic modeling. Water, 14, 652, doi:10.3390/w14040652.

Zeng, L. and X. Chu. 2021. Integrating depression storages and their spatial distribution in watershed-scale hydrologic modeling. Advances in Water Resources, 151, 103911, 1-14, doi:10.1016/j.advwatres.2021.103911.

Zeng, L. and X. Chu. 2021. A new probability-embodied model for simulating variable contributing areas and hydrologic processes dominated by surface depressions. Journal of Hydrology, 602, 126762, 1-15, doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2021.126762.

Bazrkar, M. H. and X. Chu. 2021. Ensemble stationary-based support vector regression for drought prediction under changing climate. Journal of Hydrology, 603, 127059, 1-14, doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2021.127059.

Wang, N., X. Chu, and X. Zhang. 2021. Functionalities of surface depressions in runoff routing and hydrologic connectivity modeling. Journal of Hydrology, 593, 125870, 1-16, doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2020.125870.

Tahmasebi Nasab, M. and X. Chu. 2021. Do sub-daily temperature fluctuations around the freezing temperature alter macro-scale snowmelt simulations? Journal of Hydrology, 596, 125683, 1-14, doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2020.125683.

Wang, N. and X. Chu. 2020. Revised Horton model for event and continuous simulations of infiltration, Journal of Hydrology, 589, 125215, 1-11, doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2020.125215.

Wang, N. and X. Chu. 2020. A new algorithm for delineation of surface depressions and channels. Water, 12(1), 7, 1-14, doi:10.3390/w12010007.

Zeng, L. J. Shao, and X. Chu. 2020. Improved hydrologic modeling for depression-dominated areas, Journal of Hydrology, 590, 125269, 1-12, doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2020.125269.

Bazrkar, M. H. and X. Chu. 2020. A new standardized baseflow index for identification of hydrologic drought in the Red River of the North Basin. Natural Hazards Review, 21(4), 05020011, 1-8, doi:10.1061/(ASCE)NH.1527-6996.0000414.

Bazrkar, M. H., J. Zhang, and X. Chu. 2020. Hydroclimatic aggregate drought index (HADI): A new approach for identification and categorization of drought in cold climate regions. Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment, 34(11), 1847-1870, doi:10.1007/s00477-020-01870-5.

Tahmasebi Nasab, M. and X. Chu. 2020. Macro-HyProS: A New Macro-scale Hydrologic Processes Simulator for Depression-dominated Cold Climate Regions. Journal of Hydrology, 580, 124366, 1-20, doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2019.124366.

Grimm, K. and X. Chu. 2020. Depression threshold control proxy to improve HEC-HMS modeling of depression-dominated watersheds, Hydrological Sciences Journal, 65(2), 200-211, doi:10.1080/02626667.2019.1690148.

Shabani, A., X. Zhang, X. Chu, T.P. Dodd, and H. Zheng. 2020. Mitigating impact of Devils Lake flooding on the Sheyenne River sulfate concentration. Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 56(2), 297-309, doi:10.1111/1752-1688.12825.

Chu, X., Z. Lin, M. Tahmasebi Nasab, L. Zeng, K. Grimm, M. H. Bazrkar, N. Wang, X. Liu, X. Zhang, and H. Zheng. 2019. Macro-scale grid-based and subbasin-based hydrologic modeling: joint simulation and cross-calibration. Journal of Hydroinformatics, 21(1), 77-91, doi:10.2166/hydro.2018.026.

Wang, N., X. Zhang, and X. Chu. 2019. New model for simulating hydrologic processes under influence of surface depressions. Journal of Hydrologic Engineering, 24(5), 04019008, 1-13, doi:10.1061/(ASCE)HE.1943-5584.0001772.

Tahmasebi Nasab, M., K. Grimm, M. H. Bazrkar, L. Zeng, A. Shabani, X. Zhang, and X. Chu. 2018. SWAT modeling of non-point source pollution in depression-dominated basins under varying hydroclimatic conditions, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15, 2492, 1-17, doi:10.3390/ijerph15112492.

Grimm, K and X. Chu. 2018. Modeling of spatiotemporal variations in runoff contribution areas and analysis of hydrologic connectivity. Land Degradation & Development, 29(8), 2629-2643, doi:10.1002/ldr.3076.

Grimm, K., M. Tahmasebi Nasab, and X. Chu. 2018. TWI computations and topographic analysis of depression-dominated surfaces. Water, 10, 663, 1-12, doi:10.3390/w10050663.

Chu, X., X. Jia, and Y. Liu. 2018. Quantification of Wetting Front Movement under the Influence of Surface Topography. Soil Research, 56(4):382-395, doi:10.1071/SR17071.

Liu, X., N. Wang, J. Shao, and X. Chu. 2017. An automated processing algorithm for flat areas resulting from DEM filling and interpolation. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information, 6(11), 376:1-14, doi:10.3390/ijgi6110376.

Tahmasebi Nasab, M., J. Zhang, and X. Chu. 2017. A New Depression-Dominated Delineation (D-cubed) Method for Improved Watershed Modeling. Hydrological Processes. 31(19), 3364-3378, doi:10.1002/hyp.11261.

Tahmasebi Nasab, M., V. Singh, and X. Chu. 2017. SWAT modeling for depression-dominated areas: How do depressions manipulate hydrologic modeling? Water. 9(1), 58:1-14, doi: 10.3390/w9010058.

Wang, X., X. Chu, T. Liu, X. Cheng, and R. Whittecar. 2017. Water-soil-vegetation dynamic interactions in changing climate. Water, 9(10), 740:1-8, doi:10.3390/w9100740.

Chu, X. 2017. Delineation of pothole-dominated wetlands and modeling of their threshold behaviors. Journal of Hydrologic Engineering, 22(1), 1-11, D5015003, doi:10.1061/(ASCE)HE.1943-5584.0001224.

Habtezion, N., M. Tahmasebi Nasab, and X. Chu. 2016. How does DEM resolution affect microtopographic characteristics, hydrologic connectivity, and modelling of hydrologic processes? Hydrological Processes. doi:10.1002/hyp.10967.

Yang, J. and X. Chu. 2015. A new modeling approach for simulating microtopography-dominated, discontinuous overland flow on infiltrating surfaces. Advances in Water Resources, 78:80-93.

Chu, X., G. Padmanabhan, and D. Bogart. 2015. Microrelief-controlled overland flow generation: Laboratory and field experiments. Applied and Environmental Soil Science. Volume 2015, Article ID 642952, 11 pages, doi:10.1155/2015/642952.

Zhang, J. and X. Chu. 2015. Impact of DEM Resolution on Puddle Characterization: Comparison of Different Surfaces and Methods. Water, 7:2293-2313, doi:10.3390/w7052293.

Tahmasebi Nasab, M. and X. Chu. 2018. Topo-statistical analyses of ponding area versus ponding storage of depression-dominated regions for macro-scale hydrologic modeling, p415-424. In: Watershed Management, Irrigation and Drainage, and Water Resources Planning and Management, Proceedings of the 2018 ASCE World Environmental and Water Resources Congress, edited by Sri Kamojjala, American Society of Civil Engineers, doi: 10.1061/9780784481400.

Tahmasebi Nasab, M., K. Grimm, N. Wang, and X. Chu. 2017. Scale Analysis for Depression-Dominated Areas: How Does Threshold Resolution Represent a Surface? P164-174. In: Proceedings of the 2017 ASCE World Environmental and Water Resources Congress, Watershed Management, Irrigation and Drainage, and Water Resources Planning and Management, edited by Christopher N. Dunn and Brain Van Weele, American Society of Civil Engineers. doi: 10.1061/9780784480601.

Chu, X. 2017. Quantifying Discontinuity, Connectivity, Variability, and Hierarchy in Overland Flow Generation: Comparison of Different Modeling Methods, P1-15. Hydrologic Modeling. ISBN: 978-981-10-5800-4. Springer.

Tahmasebi Nasab, M., X. Jia, and X. Chu. 2016. Modeling of subsurface drainage under varying microtopographic, soil and rainfall conditions, Paper Number 162499952, p133-138. 10th International Drainage Symposium, ASABE, Minneapolis, Minnesota, September 7-9, 2016. doi: 10.13031/ids.202499952.

Selected Conference Presentations

Bazrkar, M. H. and X. Chu. 2021. Category-based Scoring Support Vector Regression (CBS-SVR) to Overcome Mis-categorization in Drought Prediction. AGU Fall Meeting, December 13-17, 2021, New Orleans, LA.

Chu, X., X. Jia, N. Wang, M. H. Bazrkar, L. Zeng, and D. Roy. 2021. Modeling of Infiltration and Unsaturated Flow under Cold Climate Conditions. ASCE 2021 World Environmental and Water Resources Congress, Virtual Online, June 7-11, 2021.

Bazrkar, M. H. and X. Chu. 2021. How Non-Stationarity in a Changing Climate Impacts Drought Prediction? UCOWR/NIWR Annual Water Resources Conference, June 8-10, 2021, Greenville, SC.

Bazrkar, M. H. and X. Chu. 2021. Drought Identification, Categorization, and Prediction (DIC-Predict). ND EPSCoR 2021 State Conference, Virtual, April 14, 2021.

Bazrkar, M. H., G. Gust, and X. Chu. 2021. Characterization of Flash Droughts in Cold Climate Regions. American Association of Geographers (AAG) Annual Meeting 2021, Virtual, April 7-11, 2021.

Wang, N. and X. Chu. 2020. The Roles of Depressions in Hydrologic Processes of the Devils Lake Watershed. 37th Red River Land & Water International Summit Conference, Red River Basin Commission, January 14-16, 2020, Fargo, ND.

Bazrkar, M. H., M. Tahmasebi Nasab, L. Zeng, K. Grimm, N. Wang, and X. Chu. 2020. Macro-scale Grid-based Hydrologic Modeling and Drought Identification in the Red River of the North Basin. 37th Red River Land & Water International Summit Conference, Red River Basin Commission, January 14-16, 2020, Fargo, ND.

Chu, X. 2019. The Puzzle of Topographic Depressions: A Decade-long Effort to Put the Pieces Together. AGU Fall Meeting, December 9-13, 2019, San Francisco, CA.

Tahmasebi Nasab, M. and X. Chu. 2019. Macro-scale Hydrologic Modeling for Depression-Dominated Cold Climate Regions. AGU Fall Meeting, December 9-13, 2019, San Francisco, CA.

Wang, N. and X. Chu. 2019. Spatial Distribution of Depressions and Their Retention Capability at a Watershed Scale. AGU Fall Meeting, December 9-13, 2019, San Francisco, CA.

Zeng, L. and X. Chu. 2019. Modeling of Dynamics of Runoff Contributing Areas in Depression-dominated Areas. AGU Fall Meeting, December 9-13, 2019, San Francisco, CA.

Bazrkar, M. H. and X. Chu. 2019. Application of Joint Probability Distribution Function to Customize Drought Categorization based on Spatial and Temporal Distributions of Drought. AGU Fall Meeting, December 9-13, 2019, San Francisco, CA.

Chu, X., X. Jia, M. H. Bazrkar, and L. Zeng. 2019. Modeling of Soil Water Drainage and Redistribution during Dry Time Periods. ASCE 2019 World Environmental and Water Resources Congress, May 19-23, 2019, Pittsburgh, PA.

Tahmasebi Nasab, M. and X. Chu. 2019. Developing Macro-HyProS: A Macro-scale Hydrologic Processes Simulator. ASCE 2019 World Environmental and Water Resources Congress, May 19-23, 2019, Pittsburgh, PA.

Tahmasebi Nasab, M. and X. Chu. 2019. Impacts of Sub-daily Temperature Fluctuations on Macro-scale Snowmelt Simulations in the Missouri River Basin. ND EPSCoR 2018 State Conference, March 27, 2019, Fargo, ND.

Wang, N. and X. Chu. 2019. A New Daily Semi-distributed Hydrologic Model for Depression Dominated Areas. ND EPSCoR 2018 State Conference, March 27, 2019, Fargo, ND.

Zeng, L. and X. Chu. 2019. Development of a Puddle-Based Unit Oriented SWAT (SWAT-PBU) Model for Simulating Depression-Dominated Rainfall-Runoff Processes. ND EPSCoR 2018 State Conference, March 27, 2019, Fargo, ND.

Bazrkar, M. H. and X. Chu. 2019. Hydroclimatic Aggregate Drought Index for Identification of Droughts in Cold Climate Regions. ND EPSCoR 2018 State Conference, March 27, 2019, Fargo, ND.

Tahmasebi Nasab, M. and X. Chu. 2019. A New Macro-scale Hydrologic Model for Depression-dominated Cold Climate Regions. 111th Annual Meeting, North Dakota Academy of Science, March 8, 2019, Grand Forks, ND.

Chu, X. and Z. Lin. 2018. Water Quantity and Quality Issues in Western North Dakota: Overview and Two Case Studies. Water Resources of the US Great Plains Region: Status and Future, October 24-26, 2018, Lincoln, NE.

Chu, X., Z. Lin, M. Tahmasebi Nasab, L. Zeng, K. Grimm, M. H. Bazrkar, X. Liu, and N. Wang. 2018. Joint Grid-based and Subbasin-based Hydrologic Modeling and Application. ASCE 2018 World Environmental and Water Resources Congress, June 3-7, 2018, Minneapolis, MN.

Tahmasebi Nasab, M. and X. Chu. 2018. Topo-statistical analyses of ponding area versus ponding storage of depression-dominated regions for macro-scale hydrologic modeling. ASCE 2018 World Environmental and Water Resources Congress, June 3-7, 2018, Minneapolis, MN.

Grimm, K. and X. Chu. 2018. Depressional Threshold Control Proxy to Simulate Dynamic Hydrologic Connectivity in Depression-dominated Areas. ASCE 2018 World Environmental and Water Resources Congress, June 3-7, 2018, Minneapolis, MN.

Wang, N. and X. Chu. 2018. A New Model for Rainfall-runoff Simulation in Depression Dominated Areas. ASCE 2018 World Environmental and Water Resources Congress, June 3-7, 2018, Minneapolis, MN.

Bazrkar, M. H., M. Tahmasebi Nasab, L. Zeng, K. Grimm, N. Wang, and X. Chu. 2018. Drought Identification in Cold Climate Regions: How Can Macro-scale Hydrologic Models Assist Drought Analysis? 16th Annual Climate Prediction Applications Science Workshop, May 22-24, 2018, Fargo, ND.

Grimm, K. and X. Chu. 2018. SWAT Modeling to Evaluate the Impacts of Geographically-isolated Wetlands on Hydrologic Processes. ND EPSCoR/IDeA 2018 State Conference, April 17, 2018, Grand Forks, ND.

Tahmasebi Nasab, M., L. Zeng, K. Grimm, M. H. Bazrkar, N. Wang, X. Liu, Z. Lin, X. Zhang, H. Zheng, and X. Chu. 2018. Joint Modeling and Cross-calibration of Different Scale Hydrologic Models. ND EPSCoR/IDeA 2018 State Conference, April 17, 2018, Grand Forks, ND.

Wang, N. and X. Chu. 2018. A Novel Modeling Framework for Simulating Dynamic Water Release from Depressions. ND EPSCoR/IDeA 2018 State Conference, April 17, 2018, Grand Forks, ND.

Bazrkar, M. H. and X. Chu. 2018. Application of Macro-scale Hydrologic Model for Drought Identification in Cold Climate Regions. ND EPSCoR/IDeA 2018 State Conference, April 17, 2018, Grand Forks, ND.

Zeng, L. and X. Chu. 2018. A Modified Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) for Hydrologic Modeling in Depression-dominated Areas. ND EPSCoR/IDeA 2018 State Conference, April 17, 2018, Grand Forks, ND.

Tahmasebi Nasab, M., K. Grimm, M. H. Bazrkar, and X. Chu. 2018. Hydrologic and Water Quality Modeling in Depression-Dominated Basins. ND Water Quality Monitoring Conference, March 6-8, 2018, Bismarck, ND.

Chu, X., M. Tahmasebi Nasab, N. Wang, and N. Habtezion. 2017. Scale Analysis for DEM-based Delineation and Modeling of Prairie Wetlands. ASCE 2017 World Environmental and Water Resources Congress, May 21-25, 2017, Sacramento, CA.

Tahmasebi Nasab. M. and X. Chu. 2017. Depressions as Gatekeepers: How Do Depressions Control Hydrologic Modeling? ASCE 2017 World Environmental and Water Resources Congress, May 21-25, 2017, Sacramento, CA.

Tahmasebi Nasab. M., K. Grimm, N. Wang, and X. Chu. 2017. Hydrologic Monitoring and Modeling for Quantifying Prairie Pothole Dynamics. ASCE 2017 World Environmental and Water Resources Congress, May 21-25, 2017, Sacramento, CA.

Tahmasebi Nasab. M., K. Grimm, N. Wang, and X. Chu. 2017. Scale Analysis for Depression-Dominated areas: How Does Threshold Resolution Represent a Surface? ASCE 2017 World Environmental and Water Resources Congress, May 21-25, 2017, Sacramento, CA.

Grimm, K. and X. Chu. 2017. Modeling of Spatio-temporal Variations in Hydrologic Connectivity and Contributing Areas. ND EPSCoR/IDeA 2017 State Conference, April 12, 2017, Fargo, ND.

Tahmasebi Nasab, M. and X. Chu. 2017. A New Physical-Based Gridded Model for Macro-Scale Hydrologic Modeling. ND EPSCoR/IDeA 2017 State Conference, April 12, 2017, Fargo, ND.

Wang, N. and X. Chu. 2017. A New Model for Simulating Hydrologic Processes under Influence of Depressions. ND EPSCoR/IDeA 2017 State Conference, April 12, 2017, Fargo, ND.

Chu, X., J. Zhang, and M. Tahmasebi Nasab. 2017. A New Perspective on Watershed Delineation and Modeling. ASCE-EWRI 9th International Perspective on Water Resources and the Environment, January 4-6, 2017, Wuhan, China.

Tahmasebi Nasab, M., X. Jia, and X. Chu. 2016. Modeling of Subsurface Drainage under Varying Microtopographic, Soil and Rainfall Conditions. ASABE 10th International Drainage Symposium, September 6-9, 2016, Minneapolis, MN.

Chu, X., M. Tahmasebi Nasab, and J. Zhang. 2016. Modeling of Hydrologic Connectivity for Topography-Dominated Wetlands. ASCE 2016 World Environmental and Water Resources Congress, May 22-26, 2016, West Palm Beach, FL.

Tahmasebi Nasab, M. and X. Chu. 2016. A New Puddle-based Unit Approach for Watershed Delineation and Modeling. ND EPSCoR/IDeA 2016 State Conference, April 19, 2016, Grand Forks, ND.

Grimm, K. and X. Chu. 2016. Comparison of Contributing Areas from Different Watershed Models. ND EPSCoR/IDeA 2016 State Conference, April 19, 2016, Grand Forks, ND.

Chu, X. 2016. Threshold Hydrology: Quantifying Discontinuity, Connectivity, Variability, and Hierarchy in Overland Flow Generation, Keynote presentation, International Conference on Water, Environment, Energy and Society, March 15-18, 2016, Bhopal, India.

Chu, X., J. Zhang, and M. Tahmasebi Nasab. 2015. DEM-based Watershed Delineation – Comparison of Different Methods and applications. AGU Fall Meeting, December 14-18, 2015, San Francisco, CA.

Chu, X. 2015. DEM-based Wetland Delineation and Application in the Prairie Pothole Region. ASCE 2015 World Environmental and Water Resources Congress, May 17-21, 2015, Austin, TX.

Habtezion, N. and X. Chu. 2015. Effects of Multiple Rainfall Events on Soil Water Dynamics and Surface Hydrologic Response. ASCE 2015 World Environmental and Water Resources Congress, May 17-21, 2015, Austin, TX.

Chu, X., G. Padmanabhan, D. Bogart, and N. Leelaruban. 2015. Overland Flow Generation under the Influence of Microrelief, Soil, and Rainfall. ASCE 2015 World Environmental and Water Resources Congress, May 17-21, 2015, Austin, TX.

Grimm, K. and X. Chu. 2015. Comparison of Different Watershed Delineation Methods. ND EPSCoR 2015 State Conference, April 22, 2015, Fargo, ND.

Links

EPSCoR Center for Regional Climate Studies (CRCS) (CRCS Website)

North Dakota EPSCoR (NDEPSCoR Website)

Global Data Network (GDN Website)

HyQuest Solutions (HS Website)

Hydrological Services America (HSA Website)

SonTek (SonTek Website)

Pictures