Praveen Kumar

Research Interests

• Machine learning, Data mining, AI
• Information Theory
• Ecohydrology
• Hydroclimatology
• Critical zone science
• Innovative solutions to water and sustainability challenges
• Hydrocomplexity, the quantitative understanding and prediction of emergent patterns of form and function that arise from complex non-linear multi-scale interactions between soil, water, climate, vegetation and human systems

Research Statement

Dr. Kumar’s research deals with Hydrocomplexity, the quantitative understanding and prediction of emergent patterns of form and function that arise from complex non-linear multi-scale interactions between soil, water, climate, vegetation and human systems; and how this understanding can be used for innovative solutions to water and sustainability challenges. His research has been funded by federal agencies such as NSF, NASA, and NOAA. He presently serves as the Director of the Critical Zone Observatory for Intensively Managed Landscapes. He is also the lead on NSF-supported EarthCube project on Geo-Semantics, and a co-lead on NSF-supported SEAD and Brown Dog projects for the development of cyber-infrastructure for structured and unstructured long-tail data and models.

Primary Research Area

• Water Resources Engineering and Science

Research Areas

• Energy-Water-Environment Sustainability
• Water Resources Engineering and Science

Books Authored or Co-Authored (Original Editions)

• Kumar, P., J. Alameda, P. Bajscy, M. Folk and M. Markus, Hydroinformatics: Data Integrative Methods in Computation, Analysis and Modeling, Authored Handbook, CRC Press, 534 pp., 2005.

Books Edited or Co-Edited (Original Editions)

• Sivapalan, M., T.Wagner, S. Uhlenbrook, X. Liang, V. Lakshmi, P. Kumar, E. Zehe, and Y. Tachikawa, eds., Predictions in Ungauged Basins: Promise and Progress, IAHS Pub. 303, UK, 2006.
• Foufoula-Georgiou, E. and P. Kumar, editors, Wavelets in Geophysics, Academic Press, 373 pp., 1994.

Chapters in Books

• Saco, P. and P. Kumar, “Hydrologic Dispersion in Fluvial Networks,” in “River Confluences, Tributaries and the Fluvial Network” Edited by Stephen P. Rice, Andr´e G. Roy and Bruce L. Rhoads, 2008
• Amanda, A.B. and P. Kumar, “Statistical Data Mining,” in Hydroinformatics: Data Integrative Methods in Computation, Analysis and Modeling, by Kumar et al., 2005.
• Ruddell, B.L. and P. Kumar, “Modelshed Data Model,” in Hydroinformatics: Data Integrative Methods in Computation, Analysis and Modeling, by Kumar et al., 2005.
• Ruddell, B.L. and P. Kumar, “Hydrologic Data Models”, in Hydroinformatics: Data Integrative Methods in Computation, Analysis and Modeling, by Kumar et al., 2005.
• Ruddell, B.L. and P. Kumar, “Unified Modeling Language,” in Hydroinformatics: Data Integrative Methods in Computation, Analysis and Modeling, by Kumar et al., 2005.
• Kumar, P., “Multiple Scale Conditional Simulation,” Scaling Methods in Soil Physics, edited by Pachepsky, Selim and Pachepsky, 179 192, 2003.
• Kumar, P. and E. Foufoula-Georgiou, “A Multicomponent Self-Similar Characterization of Rainfall Fluctuations,” in Environmental Studies, edited by Mary Wheeler, Springer-Verlag, New York, 239-254, 1996.
• Kumar, P. and E. Foufoula-Georgiou, “Wavelet Analysis in Geophysics: An Introduction,” in Wavelets in Geophysics, edited by E. Foufoula-Georgiou and P. Kumar, 1-43, 1994.

Selected Articles in Journals

• Dutta, D., A. Goodwell, P. Kumar, R. Darmody, J. E. Garvey, R.Jacobson, D. P. Beretta, and J. Greenberg, "On the Feasibility of Characterizing Soil Properties from AVIRIS Spectrometer Data", to appear in IEEE Trans. In Geosci. & Remote Sensing, 53(9), 5133-5147, 2015, doi:10.1109/TGRS.2015.2417547
• Bagley, J., D. M. Rosenthal, U. M. Ruiz-Vera, M. Siebers, P. Kumar, D. R. Ort, and C. J. Bernacchi, "The influence of photosynthetic acclimation to rising CO2 and warmer temperatures on leaf and canopy photosynthesis models", Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 29, 194-206, DOI: 10.1002/2014GB004848, 2014.
• Woo, D. K., J. Quijano, P. Kumar, S. Chaoka, and C. J. Bernacchi, "Threshold Dynamics in Soil Carbon Storage for Bioenergy Crops", Env. Sci. and Tech., 2014, 48(20), pp. 12090-12098, doi:10.1021/es5023762. 2014.
• Shafiee-Jood, M., X. Cai, L. Chen, X. Liang, and P. Kumar, "Assessing the value of seasonal climate forecast information through an end-to-end forecasting framework: Application to U.S. 2012 drought", Water Resources Research, DOI: 10.1002/2014WR015822, 2014.
•  Pathak, A., S. Ghosh, and P. Kumar, "Precipitation Recycling in the Indian Subcontinent During Summer Monsoon", J. of Hydrometeorology, 15(5), 2050-2066, 2014. DOI:10.1175/JHM-D-13-0172.1.
•  Phong, V., V. Le and P. Kumar, "Power Law Scaling Characteristics of Topographic Depressions and Their Hydrologic Connectivity", Geophysical Res. Letters, Doi: 10.1002/2013GL059114, March 2014, DOI:10.1022/2013GLO59114.
• Goodwell, A., Z. Zhu, D. Dutta, J. Greenberg, P. Kumar, M. Garcia, B. Rhoads, G. Parker, R. Holmes, D. Beretta, "Assessment of Floodplain Vulnerability during Extreme Mississippi River Flood 2011", Environ. Sci. Technol., 2014, 48 (5), pp 2619–2625, DOI: 10.1021/es404760t.
• Ruddell, B.R., I. Zaslavsky, D. Valentine, B. Beran, M. Piasecki, Q. Fu, P. Kumar, "Sustainable Long Term Scientific Data Publication: Lessons Learned from a Prototype Observatory Information System for the Illinois River Basin", to appear in Env. Modeling and Software, 2014.

Honors

• Chief Guest, Convocation Function of the Department of Civil Engineering Convocation Function, IIT Bombay, Bombay, India (2020)
• Harleman Leture, PennState University (2017)
• Wolman Lecture, CUAHSI Fifth Biennial Colloqium, Sheperdstown, WV (2016)
• Engineering Council Award, For Excellence in Advising (2013)
• Associate, Center for Advanced Studies, University of Illinois (2011-2012)
• Xerox Award for Faculty Research (2005)
• Faculty Fellow, National Center for Supercomputing Applications (2001-2002, 2006-2007)
• Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi Samman (Non-Resident Honor) Award given by the NRI (Non Resident Indian) Welfare Society of India (2018)
• Distinguished Alumnus Award, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India (2018)
• Fellow, AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science) (2024)
• Fellow, AMS (American Meteorological Society) (2018)
• Fellow, AGU (American Geophysical Union) (2015)