CIVE 622: Risk Analysis of Water and Environmental Systems
Many problems related to the analysis, design, and management of water and environmental systems deal with uncertainties arising from the random nature of the underlying physical phenomena, errors is measuring relevant variables of interest, as well as structure and parameters of simulation models. Although responses of natural and built water and environmental systems vary in time and space, characterizations of uncertainty, risk, failure, reliability and resilience of these systems require deep understanding of similar statistical and probability concepts. This course is intended to characterize and quantify sources of uncertainty in the assessment of water and environmental systems. The course will provide the tools for estimating the risk of failure and the reliability of these systems. Specifically, two risk categories are discussed:
- Chronic risks from water pollution and ecological degradation
- Acute risks from extreme events (e.g. droughts, floods)
The course objectives and assignments are organized in the following learning modules:
- Concepts and applications of statistical methods
- Statistical properties of time series
- Concepts and applicators of probability methods
- Distributions and moments of discrete and continuous random variables
- Distributions and moments of functions of random variables
- Extreme value distributions
- Risk and reliability analysis using risk of failure, load-resistance interference, time to failure, and socioeconomic risk analysis
- Nonstationary risk and reliability analysis
- Regionalization
CIVE 576: GIS and GPS for Engineering Applications
The primary objectives of this class are:
- Understanding the principles of geographic analysis
- Understanding various techniques for data collection, organization, and visualization
- Understanding methods for the analysis of spatial data and patterns
CIVE 203: Engineering Systems and Decision Analysis
In dealing with real world problems, engineers are ought to make decisions about design, implementation, and operation of a system of interest. The decision making process requires an understanding of import system variables and processes, and the interactions between system components. In this context, uncertainties are unavoidable. The role of probability and statistics is quite pervasive in engineering; it ranges from the description of basic information to the development of models for design and decision making. This course covers basic statistical and probability concepts and methods that are useful for making decisions under uncertain conditions. The course materials are organized as follows:
- Exploratory data analysis
- Fundamentals of probability models
- Random variables: distributions, functions, and moments
- Basic risk and reliability analysis
- Hypothesis testing and confidence intervals
- Building empirical models
The laboratory exercises aim to enhance students’ capacity to implement statistical and probability methods. To this end, two powerful software packages, MATLAB and ArcGIS are used.
CIVE546: Water Resources Systems Analysis
The goal of this course is to introduce participants to general concepts of systems analysis and systems engineering as they apply to the planning, design and operation of water resources systems. The course builds upon the general concepts of systems analysis, economic evaluation, and project planning. Advances in computing and information technology are revolutionizing how we manage our water resources. The goal of this course is to introduce participants to the linkage of computing, information technology, and practical aspects of water resources management. The course will describe general concepts of systems analysis and modeling, within a Decision Support System framework, as these models apply to the planning, design and operation of water resources systems. The use of computer models allows the water resources engineer to efficiently and effectively evaluate many alternatives and to promote improved decision making. Students will apply simulation, optimization, and multi criteria decision analysis models to example problems in water resources. The course will also discuss how emerging technologies such as evolutionary optimization, collaborative community based modeling approaches, and collaborative sharing of information might be used to improve water resources management.
CIVE440: Nonpoint Source Pollution
This course familiarizes students with the nature and extent of NPS problems, the fundamental processes that govern the fate and transport of diffuse pollution, and the design of effective pollution abatement measures.
