Humberto Vergara, PhD

Principal Investigator, AHWA Lab
Assistant Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Biography

I have been a researcher in the field of Applied Hydrology since 2008, working with numerical models used to predict floods and flash floods. The focus of my work has been the development of forecasting tools for early warning systems. One of the highlights of my career is the successful transition of the Flooded Locations And Simulated Hydrographs (FLASH) system to warning operations in the US National Weather Service (NWS), an effort I significantly contributed to while a researcher at The University of Oklahoma's Cooperative Institute for Severe and High-Impact Weather Research and Operations (CIWRO) and NOAA's National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) in Norman, OK.

The main theme of my research at University of Iowa continues to be around early warning of flash floods. Of particular interest is one of the grand challenges in hydrology in the short-range prediction of precipitation, which is of critical importance for extending the lead-times of flash flood forecasts. Likewise, balancing the complexity of numerical representations of physical processes with computational capacity to produce timely hydrologic information that can support decision making.

The research we do at AHWA aims to improve the capacity for early warning of flash floods for Iowa, the United States, and the world.

Research areas
  • Hydrologic Modeling
  • Flash Flood Forecasting
  • Probabilistic Forecasting
  • Data Assimilation
Humberto Vergara
Phone
Education
PhD, Civil Engineering with focus in Water Resources, University of Oklahoma
MSc, Civil Engineering with focus in Water Resources, University of Oklahoma
BS, Environmental Engineering, El Bosque University, Colombia