Date: May 14, 2025
Lecture Topic: Simulating 2D Hydrodynamics at 30 m Resolution for the Entire Planet

Speaker: Paul Bates
Affiliation: University of Bristol, UK

Speaker Profile: Professor Paul Bates is Professor of Hydrology at the University of Bristol, UK, and Chair of the flood risk analytics company Fathom (www.fathom.global). He has long been engaged in the development of numerical solutions to the shallow water equations and in integrating satellite and airborne remote sensing data for global flood modeling, helping to extend hydrodynamic research from local to planetary scales. His work has been widely applied in flood risk management by research institutions, non-governmental organizations, multinational corporations, and the insurance industry.
Previously, Professor Bates served as Dean of the School of Geographical Sciences at the University of Bristol and held visiting research positions at the Laboratoire National d’Hydraulique et Environnement (LNHE) in Paris, Princeton University, and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society and the American Geophysical Union, and has received major awards from the UK insurance industry, the European Geosciences Union, and the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Lecture Overview: Over the past fifteen years, advances in hydrodynamic modeling have expanded the scope of simulations from individual river reaches to the global terrestrial scale. By adopting models with a spatial resolution of approximately 30 meters, it is now possible to construct and run high-precision two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations across the entire planet. This breakthrough has not only greatly expanded the frontiers of scientific research, but has also enabled the investigation of practical questions that were previously difficult to address, such as quantifying global-scale hydrological and biogeochemical cycles, improving flood risk management decisions, assessing the resilience of insured assets under extreme climate conditions, and predicting the impacts of climate change on flood hazards.
The lecture will introduce the scientific breakthroughs that enabled the transition from local to global modeling, discuss current challenges in global flood modeling—such as boundary condition treatment, flood defense data availability, and model validation—and explore how upcoming satellite missions, including SWOT and NISAR, can be leveraged to further enhance predictive capabilities.

Lecture Time:
Beijing Time: May 14, 20:00
UK Time: May 14, 13:00
Lecture Link:
https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/361b6a66-8204-4c3d-8b16-fbc72b04945d@cf264fc0-aeb8-449f-9054-82ce4454084b

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