Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Environmental Engineering
Catastrophic “Hyperclustering” and Recurrent Losses: Diagnosing U.S. Flood Insurance Insolvency Triggers
Published: 2025-03-28
Subjects: Environmental Engineering, Environmental Studies, Natural Resources Management and Policy, Risk Analysis, Systems Engineering
Although a cornerstone of U.S. flood risk preparedness since 1968, the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), is burdened by insolvency. Despite pricing and risk assessment reforms, systemic failures persist, resulting in accumulation of billions in federal debt. This study presents an interdisciplinary framework integrating qualitative synthesis, unsupervised machine learning, and game theory [...]
Multivariate Regression Analysis for Identifying Key Drivers of Harmful Algal Bloom in Lake Erie
Published: 2025-03-28
Subjects: Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment, Multivariate Analysis
Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs), predominantly driven by cyanobacteria, pose significant risks to water quality, public health, and aquatic ecosystems. Lake Erie, particularly its western basin, has been severely impacted by HABs, largely due to nutrient pollution and climatic changes. This study aims to identify key physical, chemical, and biological drivers influencing HABs using a multivariate [...]
Impact of GHG mitigation measures in sanitation service chains: focusing on septic tanks and sewers
Published: 2025-03-26
Subjects: Environmental Engineering, Environmental Monitoring, Sustainability
Sanitation service chains (SSC) in many cities in low- and middle-income countries are complex and comprise poorly managed on-site and centralized technologies that emit greenhouse gases (GHG). In this study, we aimed to estimate the impact of GHG mitigation measures along SSCs and account for the interdependencies of SSC components with respect to GHG emissions. Using an SSC in Hanoi, we [...]
Global estimates of groundwater withdrawal trends and uncertainties
Published: 2025-03-20
Subjects: Environmental Engineering, Water Resource Management
Groundwater, Earth’s largest source of liquid freshwater, is essential for sustaining ecosystems and meeting societal demands. However, accurately quantifying global groundwater withdrawals remains a significant challenge due to inherent uncertainties in input data, sectoral allocation assumptions, and model parameterization. In this study, we analyze global groundwater withdrawals from 2001 to [...]
City-Scale Digital Twin Framework for Flood Impact Analysis: Integrating Urban Infrastructure and Real-time Data Analytics
Published: 2025-03-17
Subjects: Computer Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Risk Analysis, Transportation Engineering
Urban areas are increasingly vulnerable to flooding due to climate change and rapid urbanization. Traditional mapping and decision-support tools lack the capability to integrate real-time data or analyze cascading disruptions across interconnected urban systems. Digital twins offer a promising solution by enabling real-time monitoring, simulation, and optimization of urban environments. This [...]
Towards HydroLLM: A Benchmark Dataset for Hydrology-Specific Knowledge Assessment for Large Language Models
Published: 2025-03-15
Subjects: Environmental Engineering
The rapid advancement of Large Language Models (LLMs) has enabled their integration into a wide range of scientific disciplines. This paper introduces a comprehensive benchmark dataset specifically designed for testing recent large language models in hydrology domain. Leveraging a collection of research articles and hydrology textbook and, we generated a wide array of hydrology-specific questions [...]
Beyond Single Hazard Framework: Multi-Hazard Worst Case Scenarios from Ensemble Tropical Cyclone Forecasts
Published: 2025-02-21
Subjects: Environmental Engineering, Hydrology, Meteorology, Oceanography, Risk Analysis
Ensemble forecasting is a powerful tool for supporting informed decision-making in managing multi-hazard risks associated with tropical cyclones (TCs). Although TC ensemble forecasts are widely used in operational numerical weather prediction systems, their potential for disaster prediction and management has not been fully exploited. Here we propose a novel, efficient, and practical method to [...]
Evaluating coastal multifunctionality: sand nourishment strategies at decadal timescales
Published: 2025-02-06
Subjects: Environmental Engineering, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment
Globally, there is a growing societal need for multifunctional coastal climate adaptation of sandy shores in the coming decades. Sand nourishment strategies are increasingly regarded as promising nature-based approaches, as they may increase flood safety and mitigate erosion while enhancing recreational and ecological functioning. However, their multifunctional potential has not yet been assessed [...]
A Comprehensive Bibliometric Analysis of Large Language Models in Hydrology and Environmental Sciences
Published: 2025-02-05
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Engineering, Environmental Engineering
The application of large language models (LLMs) in hydrology and environmental sciences is expanding rapidly, but a comprehensive understanding of their potential, best practices and application areas are studied extensively. This study conducts a bibliometric analysis of recent scientific literature to evaluate publication trends, citation impact, and the key contributors in LLM-related research [...]
Comprehensive Assessment of Flood Risk and Community Impact of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations in Iowa
Published: 2025-02-05
Subjects: Agriculture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Civil Engineering, Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Hydraulic Engineering, Life Sciences
Flooding presents a significant risk to Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs), especially in regions increasingly affected by extreme weather events. This study uses advanced geospatial analysis techniques to assess the environmental and economic vulnerabilities of 12,703 CAFOs across Iowa, United States. We focused on the exposure of CAFOS to 100-year and 500-year floodplains, [...]
Recent rise of water levels of Lake Nakuru, Kenya: Unraveling the Changing Precipitation Regime and its Climatic Drivers
Published: 2025-01-20
Subjects: Atmospheric Sciences, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Meteorology, Oceanography, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology
The Kenyan Rift Valley has experienced an abrupt and significant rise in its lake levels since 2010, followed by a more rapid rise since 2020. This paper examines the dynamic changes in precipitation patterns and their climatic drivers in the Kenyan Rift Valley region from 1981 to 2021, focusing on Lake Nakuru. Notably, in 2010, a pivotal change point in precipitation aligns with the rising water [...]
HydroLang FRAM: Web-Based Framework for Comprehensive Flood Risk and Mitigation Assessment and Communication
Published: 2024-12-31
Subjects: Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Hydraulic Engineering
As the frequency and impact of floods continue to rise, real-time systems for assessment and sharing flood risk and mitigation information are crucial for proactive stakeholder engagement, effective decision-making, and public education on flood risks. This study introduces an innovative web-based framework designed to revolutionize access and utilization of flood information for flood risk and [...]
AI-Driven Decision-Making for Water Resources Planning and Hazard Mitigation Using Automated Multi Agents
Published: 2024-12-26
Subjects: Civil Engineering, Computational Engineering, Computer and Systems Architecture, Computer Engineering, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Education, Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Geotechnical Engineering, Higher Education, Hydraulic Engineering, Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering, Risk Analysis, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, Systems Engineering, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology, Transportation Engineering
This project simulates the Multi-Hazard Tournament (MHT) framework, a decision support system designed for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, using AI agents to enhance decisionmaking processes for flood mitigation and water resource management. The objective of the framework is to develop optimal strategies for protecting water resources, habitats, and communities within a defined budget. The [...]
Heat Vulnerability Analysis And Mapping (HEVAM): Analysis of United States power grids vulnerability to climate changes
Published: 2024-12-20
Subjects: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Power and Energy
The importance of the power grid under the energy sector umbrella is difficult to overstate, as it enables the function of nearly all critical infrastructure systems. The interconnected assets within electrical substations enable the function of our society and economy. With such a vast system of interconnected nodes, threats to the stability of this network come in many forms, from natural [...]
A Conversational Intelligent Assistant for Enhanced Operational Support in Floodplain Management with Multimodal Data
Published: 2024-12-19
Subjects: Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Computer Sciences, Databases and Information Systems, Earth Sciences, Environmental Engineering, Environmental Sciences, Environmental Studies, Hydraulic Engineering, Hydrology, Water Resource Management
Floodplain management is crucial for mitigating flood risks and enhancing community resilience, yet floodplain managers often face significant challenges, including the complexity of data analysis, regulatory compliance, and effective communication with diverse stakeholders. This study introduces Floodplain Manager AI, an innovative artificial intelligence (AI) based virtual assistant designed to [...]