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Understanding the impacts of a changing climate and human activities on the hydrology in High Mountain Asia

February 6, 2023, 3:45 pm - 5:00 pm
Location Center for Environmental and Life Sciences - 120
Posted InCollege of Science and Mathematics
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Fadji Z. Maina, Hydrological Sciences Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, presents this week's seminar.

About Dr. Maina

Dr. Fadji Maina is an Associate Research Scientist at NASA GSFC. She received her Ph.D. in Hydrology in 2016 from the University of Strasbourg (France). Before joining NASA, Fadji has been working on the development of mathematical models to address water resources issues in the western USA (at LBNL), Europe (CNRS France and Polytechnic School of Milan), and Africa. Fadji uses mathematical models along with remotely sensed datasets to understand the impacts of a changing climate and human activities on water resources. 

About the Seminar

High Mountain Asia (HMA), the third pole, encompasses Asia’s most prominent rivers such as the Ganges, the Indus, and the Yangtze. HMA, home to over a billion people, experiences warming at a rate that is double the global average making it one of the most vulnerable water towers on Earth in addition to a significant decline in groundwater due to anthropogenic activities and high vegetation greening rates. Understanding the changes in water budgets in HMA and their drivers is essential for water management and climate change mitigation strategies. We used remotely sensed datasets to represent the hydrology of the region over the past two decades. Our model has allowed us to disentangle the impacts of a changing climate and human activities on the water cycle in HMA.