Next Meeting November 17, 2011

Dr. Brian Ebel will be speaking on “Hydrologic Response After the 2010 Fourmile Canyon Wildfire”. Dr. Ebel is a Mendenhall Fellow at the USGS.

ABSTRACT:

Wildfire is one of the most significant disturbance regimes in the Rocky Mountains and can drastically alter hydrologic and geomorphologic processes. Flash floods and debris flows are known post-wildfire hazards to human lives and the built environment, yet process-based understanding of these events has proven elusive. This talk will present a synopsis of ongoing U.S. Geological Survey studies within the area burned by the 2010 Fourmile Canyon Fire near Boulder, Colorado. The primary objective of this work is quantification of changes in hydrologic states, properties, and fluxes following wildfire using field measurements, laboratory characterization, and numerical simulation.