Zahra Zahmatkesh

• PhD
• PostDoc Position at McMaster University

Designing urban runoff drainage systems is prominent in effectively managing floods due to increasing impermeable regions worldwide. However, although urban runoff drainage systems are configured mainly based on rainfall analysis, climate change influences their hydrological properties substantially. This research introduces an innovative methodolo...

Bivariate frequency analysis is an emerging method for the assessment of compound floods, especially in coastal regions. Changing climate, which usually leads to changes in characteristics of extreme hydrometeorological phenomena, makes the application of nonstationary methods more critical. In this research, a methodology is developed to apply fre...

In this study, a hybrid index called the aggregated drought index (ADI) is developed for drought assessment integrating various meteorological, hydrological, and agricultural features of the region. To this end, precipitation, reservoir storage, discharge, temperature, potential evapotranspiration, and the degree of vegetation based on remote sensi...

Drinking water distribution networks (DWDNs) are susceptible to various chemical and biological substances and their probable reaction with residual chlorine in the pipes. In this study, a framework is proposed to evaluate the network’s vulnerability, and to effectively respond to contamination incidents. The formulated index, to analyze the DWDN’s...

An integrated framework was employed to develop probabilistic floodplain maps, taking into account hydrologic and hydraulic uncertainties under climate change impacts. To develop the maps, several scenarios representing the individual and compounding effects of the models’ input and parameters uncertainty were defined. Hydrologic model calibration...

Statistical analysis of hydrologic variables is of great importance for water resources systems. Design and operation of these systems is often based on the assumption of data stationarity. However, long-term average of variables such as rainfall as well as sea level is observed to shift over time, mostly attributed to the climate change. These cha...

Urban drainage systems are generally designed based on the analysis of historical hydrologic variables, especially rainfall. Hydrologic analysis, however, has been shown to be affected by climate change. In response to the modified pattern of rainfall, stormwater management practices, such as Low Impact Developments (LIDs), need to be applied to su...

In snow-dominated basins, collection of snow data while capturing its spatio-temporal variability is difficult; therefore, integrating assimilation products could be a viable alternative for improving streamflow simulation. This study evaluates the accuracy of daily snow water equivalent (SWE) provided by the SNOw Data Assimilation System (SNODAS)...

This paper discusses flood forecasting procedures currently practiced at the Canadian provincial river flood forecast centers. In Canada, each province is responsible for collecting and managing meteorological and hydrometric data (through provincial authorities and/or under Federal/Provincial agreements), developing suitable hydrological models, a...

In this study, synchronized gridded precipitation and temperature generators were developed and evaluated in terms of their ability to reconstruct the spatial structure and other statistical properties of high-resolution CaPA (Canadian Precipitation Analysis) precipitation and GEM (Global Environmental Multiscale Model) temperature products. The pr...

Optimal water allocation for both supply and demand management as well as the investigation of climate change effects on water resource systems are nowadays inevitable with respect to water crisis. In this regard, the value of meteorological variables like precipitation and temperature for the future periods were estimated using General Circulation...

A stochastic hydro-geostatistical assessment approach is proposed to evaluate the predictability of streamflow simulation as a function of precipitation observation network density. This approach is based on the paradigm of a controlled data assimilation simulation algorithm, known as Observing System Simulation Experiment (OSSE). The OSSE-based al...

Optimal allocation of water resources for supply and demand management with respect to climate change effects on water systems is essential. The purpose of this study is to simulate and optimize various components of َAharchay water system under climate change conditions and evaluate different climate and management scenarios.The effect of climate...

Infrastructures are important facilities in urban areas servicing societies. Failure of these systems could pose a significant threat to the public. Increasing the infrastructure’s reliability is one way to ensure that these facilities preserve their performance during natural hazards such as flooding. In this study, a scheme is proposed for financ...

In urban areas, drainage systems for management of stormwater runoff are generally designed based on the historical hydrologic records. These records are assumed to be stationary; however, extensive studies have shown that climate change can impact and alter the patterns of hydrologic variables such as rainfall. In response to the modified rainfall...

It is imperative for cities to develop sustainable water management and planning strategies in order to best serve urban communities that are currently facing increasing population and water demand. Water resources managers are often chastened by experiencing failures attributed to natural extreme droughts and floods. However, recent changes in wat...

Estimating maximum possible rainfall is of great value for flood prediction and protection, particularly for regions, such as Canada, where urban and fluvial floods from extreme rainfalls have been known to be a major concern. In this study, a methodology is proposed to forecast real-time rainfall (with one month lead time) using different number o...

The continued development efforts around the world, growing population, and the increased probability of occurrence of extreme hydrologic events have adversely affected natural and built environments. Flood damages and loss of lives from the devastating storms, such as Irene and Sandy on the East Coast of the USA, are examples of the vulnerability...

Accurate simulation of rainfall-runoff process is of great importance in hydrology and water resources management. Rainfall–runoff modeling is a non-linear process and highly affected by the inputs to the simulation model. In this study, three kinds of soft computing methods, namely artificial neural networks (ANNs), model tree (MT) and multivariat...

Superstorm Sandy and Hurricane Irene on the East Coast of the United States were wake-up calls that the floodplain delineation and flood damage estimation models need major overhaul. The first step in flood-related studies is frequency analysis. A great challenge has emerged on the validity of the data stationarity assumption. In hydrologic studies...

climate variability and expansion of communities and their infrastructure have increased vulnerability of coastal regions to flood. Flooding can cause failure of infrastructure, which could result in seriously interrupting or even paralyzing the daily life in those communities. Manhattan in New York City is a coastal metropolitan area surrounded by...

Climate variability and expansion of communities and their infrastructure have increased vulnerability of coastal regions to flood. Flooding can cause failure of infrastructure, which could result in seriously interrupting or even paralyzing the daily life in those communities. Manhattan in New York City is a coastal metropolitan area surrounded by...

Due to increasing flood severities and frequencies, studies on coastal vulnerability assessment are of increasing concern. Evaluation of flood inundation depth and extent is the first issue in flood vulnerability analysis. This study has proposed a practical framework for reliable coastal floodplain delineation considering both inland and coastal f...

A great challenge has been appeared on if the assumption of data stationary for flood frequency analysis is justifiable. Results for frequency analysis (FA) could be substantially different if non-stationarity is incorporated in the data analysis. In this study, extreme water levels (annual maximum and daily instantaneous maximum) in a coastal part...

Drinking water distribution networks (DWDNs) are vital urban infrastructures. These systems are susceptible to widespread contamination. It is necessary to provide a minimum level of performance for DWDNs by decreasing their vulnerability to contamination. In this paper, a framework is proposed for the evaluation of DWDN response to biological and...

Flood resilience is a desirable state of natural and built environments in dealing with hazards such as extreme rainfalls, storm surges, and hurricanes. Here, resilience means the capacity to reach an acceptable level of functionality during and after a flood. Observations of the recent history of flood disasters in New Orleans and New York City (N...

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) have a significant role in urban systems' serviceability. These infrastructures, especially in coastal regions, are vulnerable to flooding. To minimize vulnerability, a better understanding of flood risk must be realized. To quantify the extent of efforts for flood risk management, a unified index is needed for e...

Floods are the most devastating natural hazards in the United States, and these events lead to significant economic consequences. Estimation of damages and losses at different parts of the floodplain can be used to identify the vulnerable areas susceptible to flood. Flood-plain maps combined with damage assessment could identify high-flood-risk are...

Simulation of rainfall-runoff process in urban areas is of great importance considering the consequences and damages of extreme runoff events and floods. The first issue in flood hazard analysis is rainfall simulation. Large scale climate signals have been proved to be effective in rainfall simulation and prediction. In this study, an integrated sc...

New York City, surrounded by interconnected water bodies is prone to coastal flooding. Flooding in these coastal areas can be resulted from different causes including high tide sea level rise, and storms surges due to hurricanes and super storms. Manhattan, the most densely populated borough of New York City, is enclosed by water from all direction...

doi: 10.1061/(ASCE)WR.1943-5452.0000497

Optimal reservoir operation and water allocation are critical issues in sustainable water resource management due to increasing water demand. Multiplicity of stockholders with different objectives and utilities makes reservoir operation a complicated problem with a variety of constraints and objectives to be considered. In this case, the conflict r...

Climate change has resulted in sea level rise and increasing frequency of extreme storm events around the world. This has intensified flood damage especially in coastal regions. In this study, a methodology is developed to analyze the impacts of climate change on sea level changes in the coastal regions utilizing an artificial neural network model....

doi: 10.1061/(ASCE)HE.1943-5584.0001064

doi: 10.1061/(ASCE)IR.1943-4774.0000770

Destruction caused by recent hurricanes on natural and built environment along New York City coastlines emphasize the significance of delineating coastal floodplain and mapping the potential area of inundation followed by coastal floods. Floodplain delineation and appropriate planning in these areas could help mitigate some flood damage. In this st...

Climate change is projected to have significant impacts on patterns of weather variables all around the world. To study the impacts of climate change on rainfall, different global climate models (GCMs) and climate scenarios are used to build projections for probable future patterns of rainfall. Using the rainfall projections, the change in runoff p...

Resilience is a desirable property of coastal systems in facing a range of potential stresses, including extreme rainfall events, devastating hurricanes, storm surges, sea level rise, and climate change impacts. Urban resilient areas are able to withstand extreme natural disasters, such as flood, without suffering devastating losses and damage, or...

Climate change can alter rainfall runoff regimes in urban areas by changing rainfall patterns and consequently increasing runoff peaks and volumes. Low impact developments (LIDs) and green infrastructure techniques are strategies that can be employed to control and decrease stormwater runoff in urban areas. In this study the potential for green inf...

Water Distribution Systems (WDSs) are indispensable infrastructures for urban societies. Due to vitality of continuous supply of drinking water in urban areas, it is necessary to have a performance evaluation and monitoring system to provide the expected level of security in water distribution systems. A main weakness point of these systems is the...

Societies are facing major challenges in allocating water resources to growing water demands due to population growth and industrial and agricultural developments. With increasing water scarcity, the need to increase agricultural water productivity is receiving significant attention in developing countries. Among alternative options for meeting inc...

Different studies around the world have proved that the mean sea level is rising globally in the last century. The flood plains are mapped to determine the extent of flood hazard and zoning for construction, coastal protection, and evacuation if needed. In this study, the mean high high and extreme water level in New York City is analyzed to determ...

Climate change has highly affected the natural water system as well as the ocean-atmosphere relationship over the world. Recent investigations show that increasing sea levels in different regions is a result of climate-change impacts. Sea-level rise increases the risk of coastal floods. Coastal areas are projected to be more frequently flooded ever...

Most of the water disasters such as flood, main breaks, and water contamination can be anticipated and controlled. Lack of effective and documented communication between water related sectors/users and agencies before, during, and after disasters is one of the main causes for the osculating disasters and the existing gap that prevents urgent action...

Climate change and its impacts on hydrometeorological variables and surface runoff have been demonstrated in many investigations around the world. General circulation models (GCMs) are widely used in climate change studies; however, their applications are limited because of low resolution for regional investigations. Different downscaling models ha...

Water Distribution Networks (WDNs) are highly vulnerable to failures of the system components especially pipes. Availability of a map showing different levels of WDN vulnerability will help to set the priority of rehabilitation and maintenance activities in different parts of the system. For developing vulnerability zones, it is needed to have an e...

The climate change phenomena and its impact on water cycle have been investigated in recent decades. Due to climate change effects, temperature and its daily extreme as well as rainfall values are changing. This will also affect equivalent water depth of snow. In regions where runoff is dependent on snowmelt, this may result in increasing vulnerabi...

Geotextiles are one of the most widely used synthetic materials in filtration and drainage applications. Since in real applications, geotextiles are subjected to various hydraulic gradients and confining stresses, hydraulic behavior of geotextiles under different circumstances is of great practical importance. In this study filtration and drainage...

Water demand analysis is needed for design, operation and management of urban water supply systems. Rapid urbanization, economical and industrial developments, and growth of population especially in developing countries have resulted in increasing water deficiency. The problem is more intensified in urban areas with a high density of population and...