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Ali Behrangi

Associate Professor of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences

Short Biography

I joined the Department of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Arizona as an associate professor in January 2018. My doctoral work at the University of California, Irvine was on developing high-resolution precipitation products using satellite images and my postdoctoral work at California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) was on analysis of cloud and precipitation products from multiple sensors. As a NASA JPL scientist (2012-2018) I was involved in several projects (as principal investigator or co-investigator) on various topics including precipitation retrieval, pathfinder for microwave sounding instrument, tropical cloud and precipitation, water and energy budget studies, GRACE based water storage anomaly, hydrologic modeling, extreme weather and climate studies, mission concept and proposal development, and using diverse data sets across multiple disciplines to quantify precipitation amount and distribution over cold regions. I co-led efforts for extending the application of the Atmospheric Infrared Sensor data to drought monitoring in support of the U.S. drought monitor. Current research within my group at the University of Arizona follows my previous interests and, given the recent project grants, will also include advancing the global precipitation climatology project in high latitudes using diverse data sets. I also contribute to the efforts in support of the Earth Dynamics Observatory goals at the University of Arizona, the international precipitation working group (IPWG), and WCRP/GEWEX weather and climate extreme grand challenges.

Degrees

Ph.D. Civil Engineering/Remote Sensing/ Hydrometeorology
- University of California Irvine (UCI), California, United States
M.S. Civil Engineering/Hydrology/Water resources
- Sharif University of Technology (SUT)
B.S. Civil Engineering
- Sharif University of Technology (SUT)

Work Experience

Associate Professor, University of Arizona, Dept of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences ( also Joint appointment with Dept. of Civil Engineering-Engineering Mechanics) (2018 - Ongoing)
Visiting Associate Researcher, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Joint Institute for Regional Earth System Science and Engineering (2015 - 2017)
Scientist, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology (2012 - 2018)
Research Associate, California Institute of Technology (Caltech)/JPL (2010 - 2012)

Awards

NASA JPL award for development of AIRS based drought indicator and prediction
- NASA JPL, Fall 2017
Fellow, Kavli Frontiers of Science, National Academy of Sciences
- Kavli Frontiers of Science, National Academy of Sciences, Summer I 2017
NASA JPL Scince Devition team award
- NASA JPL, Spring 2017
NASA Early Career Achievement Medal
- NASA HQ (Headquarter), Fall 2016
WCRP/GEWEX Outstanding Early Career Award
- World Climate Research Programme (WCRP), Summer I 2014
NASA JPL Team Award
- NASA JPL, Fall 2013
NASA JPL Outstanding Postdoc Research Award
- NASA JPL, Spring 2012

Interests

Teaching

Remote sensing of precipitation and water cycle , Hydrology,

Research

• Multi-sensor multi-spectral remote sensing of precipitation• High latitude/cold region/mountainous rain and snow retrievals and analysis• Weather and climate extremes (extreme precipitation, drought, heatwaves) and societal impact• Global water and energy budget analysis• Hydrologic/watershed modeling and optimization• Developing precipitation products for hydrological applications.• Using advanced satellite and in-situ data to improve quantification of hydrologic variables • Representation of precipitation in climate models• Land-atmosphere interaction • Using GRACE for hydrometeorology• Precipitation and ground water recharge

Courses

Earth: Our Watery Home

HWRS 170A1 (Spring 2019)

Intro Atmo & Hydro Rem Sensing

ATMO 455 (Fall 2018)
ATMO 555 (Fall 2018)

Selected Publications

Chapters

Hsu, K., Behrangi, A., Imam, B., & Sorooshian, S. (2010). Extreme precipitation estimation using satellite-based PERSIANN-CCS algorithm. In Satellite Rainfall Applications for Surface Hydrology(pp 49--67). Springer, Dordrecht.

Journals/Publications

Aumann, H. H., Behrangi, A., & Wang, Y. (2018). Increased Frequency of Extreme Tropical Deep Convection: AIRS Observations and Climate Model Predictions. Geophysical Research Letters.
Barkhordarian, A., Storch, H., Behrangi, A., Loikith, P. C., Mechoso, C. R., & Detzer, J. (2018). Simultaneous regional detection of land-use changes and elevated GHG levels: the case of spring precipitation in tropical South America. Geophysical Research Letters, 45(12), 6262--6271.
Behrangi, A., & Hsu, K. (2010). B. Imam, K. Hsu, S. Sorooshian, TJ Bellerby, and GJ Huffman, 2010: REFAME: Rain estimation using forwardadjusted advection of microwave estimates. J. Hydrometeorology, 11, 1305--1321.
Behrangi, A., & Richardson, M. (2018). Observed High-Latitude Precipitation Amount and Pattern and CMIP5 Model Projections. Remote Sensing, 10(10), 1583.
Behrangi, A., Bormann, K. J., & Painter, T. H. (2018). Using the Airborne Snow Observatory to assess remotely sensed snowfall products in the California Sierra Nevada. Water Resources Research, 54(10), 7331--7346.
Behrangi, A., Bormann, K. J., & Painter, T. H. (2018). Using the Airborne Snow Observatory to assess remotely sensed snowfall products in the California Sierra Nevada. Water Resources Research.
Behrangi, A., Gardner, A., Reager, J. T., Fisher, J. B., Yang, D., Huffman, G. J., & Adler, R. F. (2018). Using GRACE to Estitmate Snowfall Accumulation and Assess Gauge Undercatch Corrections in High Latitudes. Journal of Climate, 31(21), 8689--8704.
Behrangi, A., Yin, X., Rajagopal, S., Stampoulis, D., & Ye, H. (2018). On distinguishing snowfall from rainfall using near-surface atmospheric information: comparative analysis, uncertainties, and hydrologic importance. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society.
Rajasekaran, E., Das, N. N., Poulsen, C., Behrangi, A., Swigart, J., Svoboda, M., Entekhabi, D., Yueh, S., Doorn, B., & Entin, J. (2018). SMAP Soil Moisture Change as an Indicator of Drought Conditions. Remote Sensing, 10(5), 788.
Singh, A., Behrangi, A., Fisher, J. B., & Reager, J. T. (2018). On the Desiccation of the South Aral Sea Observed from Spaceborne Missions. Remote Sensing, 10(5), 793.
Tang, G., Behrangi, A., Long, D. i., Li, C., & Hong, Y. (2018). Accounting for spatiotemporal errors of gauges: A critical step to evaluate gridded precipitation products. Journal of Hydrology, 559, 294--306.
Tang, G., Behrangi, A., Ma, Z., Long, D. i., & Hong, Y. (2018). Downscaling of ERA-Interim Temperature in the Contiguous United States and Its Implications for Rain--Snow Partitioning. Journal of Hydrometeorology, 19(7), 1215--1233.
Tang, G., Long, D. i., Behrangi, A., Wang, C., & Hong, Y. (2018). Exploring Deep Neural Networks to Retrieve Rain and Snow in High Latitudes Using Multisensor and Reanalysis Data. Water Resources Research, 54(10), 8253--8278.
Wong, S., & Behrangi, A. (2018). Regime-Dependent Differences in Surface Freshwater Exchange Estimates Over the Ocean. Geophysical Research Letters, 45(2), 955--963.
Andreadis, K. M., Das, N., Stampoulis, D., Ines, A., Fisher, J. B., Granger, S., Kawata, J., Han, E., & Behrangi, A. (2017). The Regional Hydrologic Extremes Assessment System: A software framework for hydrologic modeling and data assimilation. PloS one, 12(5), e0176506.

Proceedings Publications

Behrangi, A., Huffman, G. J., & Adler, R. (2018, December). Constraining precipitation amount over cold regions. In AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts.
Behrangi, A., Singh, A., & Reager, J. (2018, December). Probabilistic drought recovery analysis using GRACE and precipitation data. In AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts.
Farahmand, A., Reager, J., Stavros, N., & Behrangi, A. (2018, December). Introducing a Gridded Wildfire Risk Model in the United States for Allocation of Fire Management Resources Using NASA Satellite Observations. In AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts.
Hobbs, J., Behrangi, A., Braverman, A., & Fetzer, E. (2018, December). Simulation-Based Uncertainty Quantification for Atmospheric Remote Sensing Retrievals. In AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts.
Song, Y., & Behrangi, A. (2018, December). Baseline Precipitation Climatology in Support of GPCP. In AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts.
Tang, G., Behrangi, A., Long, D., Li, C., & Hong, Y. (2018, December). Accounting for spatiotemporal errors of gauges: A critical step to evaluate gridded satellite precipitation products. In AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts.
Yanovsky, I., Wen, Y., Behrangi, A., Schreier, M., & Lambrigtsen, B. (2018). Validating Enhanced Resolution of Microwave Sounder Imagery Through Fusion with Infrared Sensors| Data. In 2018 IEEE 15th Specialist Meeting on Microwave Radiometry and Remote Sensing of the Environment (MicroRad).
Aumann, H. H., Behrangi, A., & Ruzmaikin, A. (2017). Frequency of Tropical Ocean Deep Convection and Global Warming. In AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts.
Barkhordarian, A., Behrangi, A., & Mechoso, C. R. (2017, December). Detection of non-natural springtime precipitation change over northern South America. In AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts.
Farahmand, A., Reager, J. T., Behrangi, A., Stavros, E. N., & Randerson, J. T. (2017). Using NASA Satellite Observations to Map Wildfire Risk in the United States for Allocation of Fire Management Resources. In AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts.
Ray, S. E., Fetzer, E. J., Lambrigtsen, B., Olsen, E. T., Licata, S. J., Hall JR, ., Penteado, P. F., Realmuto, V. J., Thrastarson, H. T., Teixeira, J., & others, . (2017). Atmospheric Infrared Sounder on NASA's Aqua Satellite: Applications for Volcano Rapid Response, Influenza Outbreak Prediction, and Drought Onset Prediction. In AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts.
Yanovsky, I., Behrangi, A., Schreier, M., Dang, V., Wen, B., & Lambrigtsen, B. (2017). Fusion of microwave and infrared data for enhancing its spatial resolution. In Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), 2017 IEEE International.
Behrangi, A., Richardson, M., Stephens, G. L., Huffman, G. J., Adler, R. F., & Fetzer, E. J. (2016). Using new observations to improve high latitude and high altitude precipitation estimates in support of water and energy budget calculations and prediction of future changes. In AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts.
Kubar, T. L., & Behrangi, A. (2016). Ocean-Atmosphere Coupling in SST Hot Spot Regimes as a Function of ENSO: Local SST and Deep Convection Relationships, Larger-Scale Interactions With and Modulations on El Nino, and Remote Tropical and Extratropical Connections Using Multi-Satellite Observations and ERA-Interim Reanalysis. In AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts.
Stavros, E. N., Abatzoglou, J. T., Rao, P., Behrangi, A., Miller, C. E., & Schimel, D. (2016). Observing fire danger globally: applying a VPD indicator globally independent of region specific fire danger models. In AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts.

Presentations

Behrangi, A. (2014, December). Hydrologic application and assessment of remotely sensed high-resolution precipitation products over cold-mountainous regions. International precipitation working group (IPWG).
Behrangi, A. (2019, January). INVITED TALK: Precipitation estimation from space: progress, challenges, and reaching out to diverse data sets and science communities. Univ. of Arizona, Department of Geosciences.
Behrangi, A. (2017, February). INVITED: Remote sensing of precipitation for weather and climate extreme analysis. an invitation-only workshop convened by WMO Secretariat for Operational Space-based Weather and Climate Extremes Monitoring, Feb. 15-17 2017, Geneva, Switzerland..
Behrangi, A. (2017, June). INVITED: Monitoring and Predicting Natural Disasters from Space. National Academy of Sciences, Kavli Frontiers of Science, Irvine, CA, June 26-28 2017.
Behrangi, A., Reager, J. T., Gardner, A. S., & Fisher, J. (2017, December). Constraining precipitation amount and distribution over cold regions using GRACE. AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts.
Singh, A., Behrangi, A., Fisher, J., Reager, J. T., & Gardner, A. S. (2017, December). Utilizing a suite of satellite missions to address poorly constrained hydrological fluxes. AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts.
Behrangi, A. (2016, June). INVITED: Remote sensing of precipitation and GEWEX ground challenges. GEWEX Hydrological Sensitivity Workshop, Exeter, UK, June 2016.
Behrangi, A. (2016, June). INVITED: WCRP weather and climate extreme panel report: Document. the 13th international meeting on statistical climatology, Canmore, Alberta, Canada, June 2016.
Behrangi, A. (2016, May). INVITED: using remote sensing of temperature and humidity profile for early detection of drought and its intensity. National Drought Mitigation Center, Nebraska, Lincoln, May 19, 2016.
Behrangi, A. (2016, Septemebr). INVITED: Progress, challenges, and opportunities in remote sensing of precipitation extremes and hydrology. Invitation-only workshop on Sub-daily rainfall extremes: data, processes and modelling, Newcastle upon, September 13-15, 2016..
Behrangi, A. (2015, April). INVITED: Probabilistic Seasonal Prediction of Meteorological Drought Using long term precipitation and temperature. Western Water States Council, San Diego, CA, April 2015..
Behrangi, A. (2015, February). INVITED: Precipitation Extremes. workshop on “Data requirements to address the WCRP Grand Challenge on Weather and Climate Extremes, WCRP/GEWEX/Extreme Panel, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, Sydney, Feb. 2015..
Behrangi, A. (2015, July). INVITED: Precipitation extreme indices from space. The Expert Team on Climate Change Detection and Indices (ETCCDI) Work Plan Review, UNESCO, Paris, France, July 6-8 2015..
Behrangi, A. (2012, May). INVITED: High Resolution Precipitation Estimation in Hydroclimatic Studies. University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, 2012..
Behrangi, A. (2014, May). INVITED: Remote Sensing of Water Cycle and Hydroclimatic Analysis. University of California, Riverside, 2014..

Others

Lambrigtsen, B., Behrangi, A., Brown, S., & Hristova-Veleva, S. (2013, December). An RI Case Study: Hurricane Karl (2010). JPL Technical Reports Server.
Behrangi, A. (2009, December). Improved global high resolution precipitation estimation using multi-satellite multi-spectral information.