Philip B. Bedient

Research Interests:  I am interested in studying the effects of development on urban watersheds in Houston. I am particularly interested in studying the effects of impervious cover, soil type, and vegetation on infiltration rates, and applying these to hydrologic models to simulate different development conditions.

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Current Project:  My current project involves modeling the San Jacinto River watershed with a spatially-distributed hydrologic model and a two-dimensional unsteady hydraulic model in order to predict the flooding impacts of potential future development conditions.

Research Interests:  My research interest lies in floodplain modelling as well as in understanding rainfall trends using statistical models. Currently, I am focusing on analyzing accessibility of Houston transportation network during extreme rainfall events, employing hydrologic & hydraulic modelling tools. The aim of this study is to provide emergency crew with maps of possible routes that are not inundated during severe flooding.

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Current Project:  Developing 1D hydrologic and coupled 1D/2D hydraulic models for Greens Bayou located in northern Houston, for roadway network accessibility analysis.

Research Interests: Working on the integration of hydrologic and hydraulic modeling with other frameworks (reservoir operations, land use prediction, machine learning, and weather prediction) for the developing the next generation of real-time flood warning systems and flood management models.

 

Current Project: Developing a modular surrogate modeling framework for distributed hydrodynamic models to compute inundation maps in real-time.

Research interests: My research interests are in sustainable flood mitigation strategies that help Houston become a resilient city as it grows. I am particularly interested in innovative solutions (both structural and non-structural) to riverine and local flooding.

 

Current Project: I am working on upgrading the FAS4 (Flood Alert System) for Texas Medical Center. As the Brays Bayou watershed and the TMC area develops, and as more advanced hydrology/hydraulics modeling tools come out, needs and opportunities emerge for an upgraded flood warning system.