Hydrosystems Group alumni, Dr. Kathrine Schlef (now at Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science and Western New England University) is the lead author on a paper titled “Atmospheric Circulation Patterns Associated with Extreme United States Floods Identified via Machine Learning“.  The paper was recently published in Scientific Reports and finds that extreme floods across the continental United States are associated with four broad atmospheric patterns.  The analysis used a machine learning algorithm to place floods into groups based on the underlying atmospheric pattern happening at the time.  Four broad atmospheric patterns primarily associated with extreme floods include tropical moisture exports, tropical cyclones, low pressure systems, and melting snow.  Dr. Schelf additionally developed an interactive web tool with detailed information about extreme floods across the continental US.

Spatial Domain where each Pattern is Dominant. Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-43496-w.pdf