SERDP & ESTCP Webinar Series
SERDP and ESTCP have launched a webinar series to promote the transfer of innovative, cost-effective and sustainable solutions developed through projects funded in five program areas. The webinar series targets Department of Defense and Department of Energy practitioners, the regulatory community and environmental researchers with the goal of providing cutting edge and practical information that is easily accessible at no cost.
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Webinar #92 (06/20/2019)
Developing Adaptation Strategies to Address Climate Change and Uncertainty
Dr. Yonas Demissie, Washington State University
Dr. Mark Wigmosta, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
June 20, 2019
12:00 PM ET (9:00 AM PT)
Abstracts
“Linked Rainfall and Runoff Intensity-Duration-Frequency in the Face of Climate Change and Uncertainty” by Dr. Yonas Demissie
The Department of Defense (DoD) recognizes the effects of a changing climate as a national security threat with potential impacts on its mission, installations and operations. One of the anticipated effects of climate change is the increase in intensity or frequency of extreme precipitation and subsequent flood events. Adaptation to this change requires proper design and management of stormwater facilities using improved characterization of the intensity-duration-frequency (IDF) of storms by considering their nonstationarity, the different sources of uncertainty and impacts of snow. The primary objective of this project is to revise and update the storm and flood IDF curves for the selected military installations by considering the changes in past and future storm and flood events, the effect of snowmelt, modeling and data uncertainties. Regional frequency analysis coupled with Bayesian uncertainty quantification and model averaging methods were used to update the rainfall IDF curves, which are then used in site-specific hydrologic models to develop the runoff IDF curves and to assess the vulnerability of military installations to flooding. The resulted rainfall and runoff IDF curves provide reliable, forward-looking, and spatially resolved characteristics of storm events and flooding risks for thorough review and update of the current stormwater design standards at the selected installations. An interactive web-based GIS interface was developed containing tabulated and geo-referenced IDF data and figures. This presentation will describe the project’s technical approach and demonstrate the updated IDF results and the GIS web interface.
“Enhancing Hydrologic Design through Next-Generation Intensity-Duration-Frequency Curves Considering Snowmelt and Climate Nonstationarity” by Dr. Mark Wigmosta
This project supports SERDP’s efforts to update hydrologic design to assist in the management of design risks encountered under changing climate conditions. In particular, this project developed improved understanding of, and responses to, changes in the timing and intensity of rainfall- and snowmelt-based runoff events. Observation-based precipitation intensity-duration-frequency (PREC-IDF) curves are a standard tool used to derive design floods for hydraulic infrastructure worldwide. In snow-dominated regions where a large percentage of flood events are caused by snowmelt and rain-on-snow events, precipitation alone can be a poor predictor of flood risk. We developed and successfully tested next-generation intensity-duration-frequency (NG-IDF) curves, which characterize the actual water reaching the land surface (all melt events plus rainfall on snow-free ground), as an alternative to the standard PREC-IDF curves. NG-IDF curves are available at 1/16° spatial resolution covering the Contiguous U.S. for both historical (1950–2005) and future periods (2006–2099) under the RCP8.5 scenario. GCM model structure uncertainties are also considered. Both historical and future NG-IDF curves are accessible electronically. This presentation will describe the development of NG-IDF curves and evaluate the accuracy of estimated flood frequency when they are used in standard methods of hydrologic design.
Speaker Biographies

Dr. Yonas Demissie is an Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Washington State University (WSU). His current research focuses on stochastic hydrology, hydro-climatology, data mining and machine learning, watershed hydrology, and stormwater management. He served as a principal investigator on multiple research projects focused on climate change and frequency analyses of floods and droughts. He has authored several articles and book chapters on the topics. Prior to joining WSU, he was a postdoctoral research associate in the Environmental Science Division at Argonne National Laboratory. He received a bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering from Haramaya University in Ethiopia, a master’s degree in water resources engineering and hydrology from Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Belgium, and a doctoral degree in civil engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Dr. Mark Wigmosta is a Chief Scientist and Technical Lead for the Computational Watershed Hydrology Team at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. He also has a dual appointment as a Distinguished Faculty Fellow in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Washington. He has 30 years of experience in distributed watershed hydrology, including the potential impacts of land-use and climate change on water resources and renewable energy. He has authored more than 55 peer-reviewed research papers and book chapters, including the 22nd most citied paper since 1965 in the American Geophysical Union Journal of Water Resources Research. He earned both a bachelor’s (1981) degree and a master’s degree (1983) in geology, and a doctoral degree (1991) in environmental engineering from the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington.
Past Webinars
- Installation Energy and Water (19)
- 11/18/2021 - Applying Open-Source Tools to Unlock Data and Optimize Building Operations
- 05/20/2021 - Advancing Microgrid Solutions
- 07/09/2020 - Securing DoD Control Systems and Infrastructure from Cyber Threats
- 02/06/2020 - Battery Storage Resiliency Results from Installation Microgrid Simulations and Opportunities for Field Demonstration
- 01/14/2020 - Improving Energy Efficiency through Advanced Building Controls
- 08/08/2019 - Building Energy and Water Efficiency Solutions
- 02/21/2019 - Utilization of Advanced Conservation Voltage Reduction for Energy Reduction on DoD Installations
- 07/12/2018 - Innovative Low-Cost Building Automation Sensors and Controls
- 03/22/2018 - Cloud Computing Services for DoD - We Are Going to The Cloud!
- 11/16/2017 - Building Envelope Technologies
- 06/15/2017 - Coupling Geothermal Heat Pumps with Underground Seasonal Thermal Energy Storage
- 04/20/2017 - Solutions for Installations' Participation in Energy Markets
- 01/12/2017 - Award Winning Projects: Energy and Water
- 10/06/2016 - Cyber Security and its Impacts on Installation Energy Management
- 07/14/2016 - Remote Methods for Water Conservation
- 05/05/2016 - Cost Effective and Resilient Building-Scale Microgrid Solutions for Increased Energy Security
- 10/15/2015 - LED-ing the Way: Sophisticated and Energy Efficient Exterior Lighting Systems for DoD Installations
- 02/19/2015 - Raise the Roof: Increased Rooftop Solar Efficiency Beyond Flat Panel PV
- 12/18/2014 - Energy Audits: From Clipboard to Cloud
- Environmental Restoration (61)
- 05/05/2022 - Predictive and Modeling Tools for Improved Assessments of PFAS Environmental Risks
- 04/07/2022 - Developments in Wastewater Treatment and Reuse at DoD Facilities
- 02/10/2022 - Quantifying Abiotic Transformation Rates and Mechanisms for Chlorinated Ethenes in Subsurface Environments
- 01/13/2022 - Applying Cometabolism for Treatment of Traditional and Emerging Contaminants at DoD Sites
- 12/09/2021 - Forensic Techniques for Differentiating PFAS Sources
- 10/21/2021 - Advances in Stormwater Monitoring and the Development of Best Management Practices for Treatment
- 09/23/2021 - Management of AFFF Impacts in Subsurface Environments and Assessment of Novel and Commercially Available PFAS-Free Foams (Part 2)
- 09/09/2021 - Management of AFFF Impacts in Subsurface Environments and Assessment of Novel and Commercially Available PFAS-Free Foams (Part 1)
- 06/03/2021 - PFAS Analytical Challenges and Opportunities
- 05/06/2021 - Fate, Transport and Treatment of Munitions Constituents in Soil and Groundwater
- 04/08/2021 - Advances in Understanding PFAS Ecological Risks
- 02/25/2021 - Managing Chlorinated Solvents in Groundwater Using Biological Treatment
- 01/28/2021 - Improved Approaches for PFAS Sampling and Treatment
- 01/20/2021 - Development of a Decision Support Tool for Vadose Zone Remediation of Volatile Contaminants
- 12/10/2020 - Approaches for Managing Contaminated Sediments
- 11/19/2020 - Abiotic Degradation of Chlorinated Solvents in Subsurface Environments
- 10/22/2020 - Managing Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF) Impacts to Subsurface Environments and Assessment of Commercially Available PFAS-Free Foams (Part 2)
- 10/08/2020 - Managing AFFF Impacts to Subsurface Environments and Assessment of Commercially Available PFAS-Free Foams (Part 1)
- 07/23/2020 - PFAS Fate, Transport and Treatment
- 06/18/2020 - Advances in the Treatment of 1,4-Dioxane in Mixed Contaminant Plumes
- 05/07/2020 - Innovative Technologies for PFAS Destruction in Investigation Derived Wastes
- 04/09/2020 - Ecological Risk Assessment Approaches at PFAS-Impacted Sites
- 03/12/2020 - Applying Compound-Specific Isotope Analysis to Document Contaminant Degradation and Distinguish Sources
- 12/12/2019 - Advances in Remediating Groundwater Contaminated with Chlorinated Solvents
- 11/07/2019 - Status of SERDP and ESTCP Efforts on PFAS and Innovative Approaches for Treatment of Waste Derived from PFAS Subsurface Investigations
- 10/24/2019 - Advances in Managing Contaminated Groundwater Using High Resolution Site Characterization and Contaminant Mass Flux Reduction
- 10/17/2019 - Managing AFFF Impacts to Subsurface Environments and Assessment of Commercially Available Fluorine-Free Foams
- 09/05/2019 - The Use of Advanced Molecular Biological Tools in Groundwater Contaminated with Chlorinated Solvents
- 06/20/2019 - Vapor Intrusion: Modeling Tools and Cost Effective Mitigation
- 05/23/2019 - Treatment Options for the Emerging Contaminants 1,2,3-Trichloropropane and 1,2-Dibromoethane
- 04/11/2019 - Managing Contaminated Sediments: Passive Sampling Methods and In Situ Treatment
- 02/07/2019 - The REMChlor-MD Groundwater Transport and Remediation Model for Sites with Matrix Diffusion
- 11/15/2018 - Stormwater Impacts on Sediment Recontamination
- 10/18/2018 - Restoration of Chlorinated Solvent Contaminated Groundwater Sites: The Value of Information Challenge
- 10/04/2018 - Managing Groundwater Impacts at Chlorinated Solvent Sites
- 08/09/2018 - Energy Sustainable Wastewater Treatment Systems for Forward Operating DoD Installations
- 06/28/2018 - Managing Sites Impacted by 1,4-Dioxane: New Developments in Molecular Tools and Conceptual Site Models
- 09/07/2017 - Research and Development Needs for Management of DoD's PFAS Contaminated Sites
- 07/27/2017 - Management of Energetic and Propellant Material Releases on Testing and Training Ranges
- 05/18/2017 - High-Resolution Site Characterization at Chlorinated Solvents Sites
- 04/06/2017 - 1,4-Dioxane Impacts and Innovative Cleanup Technologies at DoD Contaminated Sites
- 03/09/2017 - Award Winning Projects: Environmental Restoration
- 02/23/2017 - Monitoring and Risk Assessment of Environmental Risks Posed by Munitions Constituents in Aquatic Systems
- 12/15/2016 - Advances in the Assessment and In Situ Treatment of Contaminated Sediments
- 11/03/2016 - Bioavailability of Contaminants of Concern in Soils at DoD-Impacted Sites
- 09/08/2016 - Practical Assessment and Optimization of Redox-Based Groundwater Remediation Technologies
- 07/28/2016 - Geophysics 101 – Realistic expectations for geophysics when used for site characterization and remediation monitoring - Part 2
- 06/30/2016 - Geophysics 101 – Realistic expectations for geophysics when used for site characterization and remediation monitoring - Part 1
- 06/02/2016 - Insensitive Munitions: Environmental Health Criteria, Fate and Transport
- 04/21/2016 - Long Term Monitoring Issues at Chlorinated Solvent Sites
- 01/28/2016 - Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs): Analytical and Characterization Frontiers
- 01/14/2016 - Vapor Intrusion: Regulatory Update and Advances in Assessment Tools
- 12/17/2015 - Watershed Assessment and Stormwater Management Optimization Tools
- 12/03/2015 - Emerging Contaminants: DoD Overview and State of Knowledge on Fluorochemicals and 1,4-Dioxane
- 10/29/2015 - Assessment and Treatment of Contaminated Sediments
- 08/20/2015 - Characterization and Remediation in Fractured Rock Environments
- 05/28/2015 - New Tools for Characterizing and Remediating Munitions and Energetics at Military Ranges
- 03/19/2015 - Quantitative Framework and Management Expectation Tool for the Selection of Bioremediation Approaches at Chlorinated Solvent Sites
- 01/08/2015 - DNAPL Source Zone Management Approaches
- 11/20/2014 - New Tools for Improving the Management of Contaminated Sediment Sites
- 10/30/2014 - Key Advances in Vapor Intrusion Assessments at Contaminated Sites
- Munitions Response (17)
- 03/24/2022 - Parameterizing Munitions Mobility and Burial in Riverine Environments
- 08/05/2021 - Improved Characterization, Monitoring and Management of Submerged Munitions in Marine Environments
- 02/11/2021 - Advances in the Detection of Submerged Unexploded Ordnance in Marine Environments
- 09/24/2020 - Munitions Mobility and Burial in Underwater Environments
- 04/23/2020 - Progress on Underwater Unexploded Ordnance Remediation
- 07/25/2019 - Understanding Underwater Munitions Mobility and Behavior on the Beach Face and in Shallow Muddy Environments
- 08/23/2018 - Sediment Volume Search Sonar Development
- 11/02/2017 - Platforms for Underwater and Near-Shore Munitions Surveys
- 06/01/2017 - Classification of Military Munitions using Electromagnetic Induction Data
- 02/09/2017 - Award Winning Projects: Munitions Response
- 06/16/2016 - Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) for Advanced Geophysical Classification Investigations – Part 2
- 05/19/2016 - Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) for Advanced Geophysical Classification Investigations – Part 1
- 02/25/2016 - Recent Advances in the Classification of Underwater Munitions near a Water-Sediment Boundary
- 11/12/2015 - Munitions Response: Land Based Program Closeout
- 09/17/2015 - Munitions Response: Underwater Geophysical Sensors
- 05/07/2015 - Factors Affecting Munitions Mobility Underwater and In Situ Measurements
- 02/05/2015 - Acoustic Methods for Underwater Munitions
- Resource Conservation and Resiliency (30)
- 05/19/2022 - DoD Natural Resource Management Through Unmanned Aircraft System Technology
- 03/10/2022 - Fuel Characterization and Fire and Smoke Modeling for Understanding Fire Behavior on Military Lands
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- 06/17/2021 - Changes in Pathogen Exposure Pathways Under Non-Stationary Conditions
- 04/22/2021 - Innovative Approaches to Monitor and Survey At-Risk Species on DoD Lands
- 03/11/2021 - New Resource Conservation Paradigms on DoD Lands
- 11/05/2020 - Changes in Pathogen Exposure Pathways under Non-Stationary Conditions and Their Implications for Wildlife and Human Exposure on Department of Defense Lands
- 08/20/2020 - Addressing Threatened and Endangered Species on DoD Lands
- 05/21/2020 - Analysis of Defense Related Ecosystem Services
- 03/26/2020 - Long-Term Ecological Studies: Evaluating Responses to Ecosystem Restoration and Optimizing Recovery of Plant Communities
- 10/03/2019 - Variation in Phenological Shifts: How do Annual Cycles and Genetic Diversity Constrain or Enable Responses to Climate Change?
- 08/22/2019 - Pacific Island Ecology and Management: Recovery of Native Plant Communities Following Removal of Non-Native Species
- 06/20/2019 - Developing Adaptation Strategies to Address Climate Change and Uncertainty
- 05/09/2019 - Roles of Soil Microbial Communities in Ecosystem Restoration
- 03/14/2019 - Determining the Temporal and Spatial Scales of Non-Stationarity in Temperature and Precipitation across the Continental United States
- 11/01/2018 - Plant Diversity and Biological Nitrogen Fixation in Longleaf Pine Ecosystems at Military Installations
- 09/20/2018 - Plant Diversity and Biological Nitrogen Fixation in Longleaf Pine Ecosystems at Military Installations
- 09/06/2018 - Informing Restoration Programs for Threatened and Endangered Plant Species
- 06/14/2018 - Approaches to Managing Threatened, Endangered and At-Risk Bird Species
- 05/03/2018 - Overview of the Defense Coastal/Estuarine Research Program (DCERP)
- 03/08/2018 - Quantifying and Modeling Fugitive Dust Emissions from DoD Activities
- 12/07/2017 - Management of Novel Hawaiian Ecosystems
- 10/05/2017 - New Resource Conservation Insights to Desert Environments
- 06/29/2017 - Future Vulnerabilities to Alaskan Ecosystems and Tools for Permafrost Assessment
- 02/23/2017 - Award Winning Projects: Resource Conservation and Resiliency
- 10/20/2016 - DoD Decision Making and Climate Change
- 09/22/2016 - Managing the Brown Treesnake Headache: Assessment of the Aerial Acetaminophen Bait Drop on Guam
- 04/07/2016 - Use of Climate Information for Decision Making and Impacts Research
- 03/26/2015 - Innovative Tools for Species Inventory, Monitoring, and Management
- 11/06/2014 - New Tools for Advancing Our Understanding of Marine Mammal Behavioral Ecology
- Weapons Systems and Platforms (28)
- 04/21/2022 - Additive Manufacturing and Reuse of Waste Materials
- 02/24/2022 - Key Advances in Waste to Energy Demonstrations
- 11/04/2021 - Corrosion Mitigation and Predictive Analysis for DoD Weapons Systems
- 07/08/2021 - Energetic Materials and Munitions
- 03/25/2021 - Advancing Coating Systems for Army Tactical Assets: A Fred Lafferman Tribute Webinar
- 09/10/2020 - Reducing Hazardous Materials in Weapons Systems: Advances in Waterjet Applications and Cold Spray Technologies
- 06/04/2020 - Waste Reduction and Treatment in Armed Forces Vessels
- 02/27/2020 - Advances in the Development of Environmentally Friendly Pyrotechnic and Propellant Formulations
- 10/31/2019 - Developing and Demonstrating Non-Toxic and Sustainable Coating Systems for Military Platforms
- 09/19/2019 - Life Cycle Assessment and Developmental Environment Safety and Occupational Health Evaluation: Tools for Sustainment and Health
- 06/06/2019 - Developing and Demonstrating Non-Toxic and Sustainable Coating Systems for Military Platforms
- 04/25/2019 - Accelerated Corrosion and Ageing Studies
- 05/31/2018 - Resonant Acoustic Mixing of Energetic Material Formulations
- 04/05/2018 - Advanced Nanocrystalline Alloys as Alternatives for Repair and Replacement of High Wear Parts
- 02/08/2018 - Improved Methods to Evaluate Aerial Emissions and Develop Pollutant Emission Factors
- 10/19/2017 - Laser De-Paint and Surface Preparation Mechanism and Technologies
- 08/17/2017 - Zinc Nickel Dip and Brush Plating
- 05/04/2017 - Novel Coatings Systems for Use as High Performance Chemical Resistant Powder Topcoats
- 01/26/2017 - Award Winning Projects: Weapons Systems and Platforms
- 08/11/2016 - An Environmentally Acceptable Alternative for Fast Cook-Off Testing, Demonstration, Validation and Implementation Efforts
- 03/24/2016 - Cadmium and Chromate Elimination Efforts: Implementation Plans and Strategic Roadmaps for Three DoD Depots
- 02/11/2016 - Chromate/Hazardous Material Free Coating Systems for Military Aircraft and Ground Support Equipment
- 10/01/2015 - Hexavalent Chrome Elimination from Hard Chrome Surface Finishing
- 07/16/2015 - Sustainable Pyrotechnics: Flares and Projectiles
- 04/16/2015 - Blast Noise Measurements and Community Response
- 03/05/2015 - Understanding and Mitigating the Risks Associated with Lead-Free Electronics
- 01/22/2015 - Bio-Based Methodologies for the Production of Environmentally Sustainable Materials
- 12/04/2014 - Waste to Energy Options for Base Camps: Efficient Tar Management and Rotary Kiln Gasification
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