BEE 4110 - Hydrologic Engineering in a Changing Climate

(CU-CEL, CU-SBY)

Fall. 3 credits. Letter grades only.

Prerequisite: CEE 3040 or ENGRD 2700, one hydrology course (BEE 3710) at the 2xxx level or higher or permission of instructor. Co-meets with BEE 6110.

S. Steinschneider.

This course introduces methods in hydrologic engineering to assess and cope with climate variability and change. The course will cover both statistical and physical approaches to analyzing and modeling hydrologic systems. Students will learn the core concepts of traditional statistical analysis in hydrology, and will also learn the limitations of these approaches in a changing climate. Students will become familiar with physical modeling approaches to understand hydrologic response under future climate projections and their limitations. Students will recognize the rapidly changing nature of the field of hydrologic engineering as it tries to adapt to the impacts of climate change. Topics include extreme event frequency analysis, trend detection, water balance modeling, and hydrologic simulations under projected climate change. Applications to stormwater and flood risk analyses are discussed and used as examples throughout the course.