Fall Meeting 2022

December 12 - 16, 2022

The physics of runoff generation and runoff transport in watersheds involve nonlinear multiscale processes that result in streamflow fluctuations that span multiple spatial scales. From ditches to creeks to large rivers, fluctuations of streamflow in the channels of the river network also span multiple temporal scales that range from minutes to interdecadal. Prof. Gupta championed the use of non-linear geophysical approaches over the span of his 50-year long career to investigate multiscale phenomena in watershed hydrology in pursue of a unifying theory to describe streamflow fluctuations in space and time. His contributions include descriptions of scaling of space-time rainfall fields as the major driver of rapid streamflow fluctuations in rivers, the scaling of peak flows and low flows associated to floods and droughts of different frequency, scaling of evaporation resulting from vegetation organized in riparian corridors, and the scaling in hydraulic geometry, all mediated by the self-similar river network that drains the landscape.

This session aims to honor the memory of Vijay highlighting active areas of research that are the product of his contributions. In the words of Vijay there is a critical need for novel “non-linear techniques [and theories] (e.g., scaling, fractals, complex networks, causality and information transfer) to uncover the underlying, non-trivial symmetries, information transfer across scales, causal effects and driving forces as well as their applications to data analysis and modeling of these complex systems and phenomena.”