Francisco Olivera, Ph.D., P.E.

Assistant Professor

Texas A&M University
Department of Civil Engineering

3136 TAMU

College Station, Texas

Tel: (979) 845-1404 - FAX: (979) 862-1542

Web page:

e-mail:

Citizenship: Peruvian.

U.S. Immigration Status:Permanent Resident.

EDUCATION

  • Ph.D. Civil Engineering - Environmental and Water Resources Engineering (1996)

GPA = 4.00/4
University of Texas at Austin, USA

  • M.S. Hydraulic Engineering (1988)
    Graduated with Distinction
    International Institute for Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering (IHE), Delft, Netherlands
  • Civil Engineer (1981) [Professional degree equivalent to an American B.S. degree]
    No. 1 out of 2584 applicants taking the admission exam to the College of Science and Engineering
    Catholic University of Peru, Lima

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

  • Application of geographic information systems (GIS) to water resources and environmental engineering.
  • Mathematical modeling of hydrologic, hydraulic and water-driven transport processes.

Modeling of flow systems at a global- and continental-scale.

  • Development of digital spatial databases for water and natural resource assessment, planning and management.
  • Fluid mechanics, hydrology and hydraulics.

POSITIONS HELD

  • Texas A&M University
    Department of Civil Engineering
    2001 – present:Assistant Professor
  • University of Texas at Austin
    Department of Civil Engineering
    1996 - 2001:Lecturer
    1995 - 1996:Assistant Instructor
    1992 - 1993:Teaching Assistant

Center for Research in Water Resources
1999 - 2001:Research Scientist
1996 - 1999:Research Scientist Associate
1993 - 1996:Graduate Research Assistant

  • Catholic University of Peru
    Department of Engineering - Area of Hydraulics
    1991 - 1992:Professor
    1985 - 1991:Associate Professor
    1982 - 1985:Assistant Professor
    1981 - 1982:Full-time lecturer

AWARDS

  • Texas Department of Transportation - Texas, 1999
    Top Ten Research Findings and Innovations Award for the research project System of GIS-Based Hydrologic and Hydraulic Applications for Highway Engineering.
  • Environmental Systems Research Institute - California, 1996
    2nd Place in the ArcView and Avenue Application Competition for the Map-Based Surface and Ground Water Flow Simulation Model.
  • American Society of Civil Engineers - Texas, 1994 – 1995
    J. Walter Porter fellowship for graduate study in water resources engineering awarded to individuals who demonstrate outstanding ability and promise of excellence in engineering.
  • Netherlands Universities Foundation for International Cooperation - Delft, Netherlands, 1982 - 1983
    Full financial support for one-year post-graduate Diploma in Hydraulic Engineering studies at the International Institute for Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering (IHE).

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

TexasA&MUniversity – Department of Civil Engineering (since 2001)

(4-year undergraduate program)

CVEN 689 Civil Engineering Applications of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Graduate class.

CVEN 458 Hydraulic Engineering. Fourth-year technical elective undergraduate class.

CVEN 455 Urban Stormwater Management. Fourth-year technical elective undergraduate class.

Supervision of Graduate Students on GIS and Water Resources Engineering Research

  • Srikanth Koka – Master of Science – December 2003 (expected)

Current research topic: Development of GIS tools for hydrologic analysis based on vector data.

  • Rajeev Raina – Master of Science – August 2003 (expected)

Current research topic: (1) cell-to-cell flow routing models: analysis from a GIS perspective; and (2) incorporating trading options into watershed improvement plansfor LakeLewisville.

  • Zubin Sukheswalla – Master of Science – August 2003 (expected)

Current research topic: Statistical model for runoff prediction in Central Texas.

  • Milver Valenzuela – Master of Science – August 2003 (expected)

Current research topic: Development of an ArcGIS interface for the USDA model Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT).

  • Jennifer VerWest – Master of Engineering – May 2003 (expected)

Project title: Hydrologic Analysis in Flat Terrain

University of Texas at Austin – Department of Civil Engineering(1995 to 2001)

(4-year undergraduate program)

CE356 Elements of Hydraulic Engineering. Third-year undergraduate class.

Hydraulic Engineering Design. Fourth-year undergraduate class.

CatholicUniversity of Peru - Department of Engineering - Area of Hydraulics (1981 – 1992)

(5.5-year undergraduate program)

Hydraulic Structures (Taught seven times). Fifth-year undergraduate technical elective class.

River Engineering (Taught four times). Fifth-year undergraduate technical elective class.

Topics of Hydraulic Engineering (Taught seven times). Fourth-year undergraduate class.

Fluid Mechanics (Taught nine times). Third-year undergraduate class.

Statics (Taught three times). Second-year undergraduate class.

Short Courses

Design of Earth and Concrete Dams (October 1985 and July 1986). 15-hour course on the design of earth and concrete dams. Organized by the CatholicUniversity of Peru.

Computational Methods Applied to Hydraulic Engineering (November 1985). 15-hour course on the use of computers for hydraulic engineering. Organized by the CatholicUniversity of Peru.

Design of Spillways (December 1985). 15-hour course on the design of spillways. Organized by the CatholicUniversity of Peru.

University of Brasilia (Brazil) – Department of Civil Engineering

Short Course

  • GIS in Water Resources(April 1999). 40-hour course on the use of GIS in the Hydrology and Geochemistry of the Amazon Basin (HiBAm) program. Funded by the Institute for Research for Development (Institute de Recherche pour le Développement) of the French Government.

HelsinkiUniversity of Technology (Finland) – Water Resources Laboratory

Short Course

  • GIS in Water Resources (October 2000). 24-hour course on the use of GIS for water quality and water resources modeling. Funded by the Water Resources Laboratory of the HelsinkiUniversity of Technology.

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

Threeof my contributions in the field of application of GIS to environmental and water resources engineeringare: PrePro2002, ArcSWAT2003 and the Source-to-Sink model.

PrePro2002 is an ArcGIS (i.e. the latest GIS software of the Environmental Systems Research Institute ESRI) interface for extracting hydrologic information from digital spatial data, and setting up a model for analysis with the Hydrologic Modeling System (HMS) of the Hydrologic Engineering Center (HEC). PrePro2002 has been posted online at ceprofs.civil.tamu.edu/folivera/GISTools/PrePro2002/PrePro2002.htm for researchers to download it at no cost. PrePro2002 is not considered a final product, and further work on it is currently being conducted by my research group. PrePro2002 is an improvement with respect to CRWR-PrePro, which was developed at the University of Texas under my leadership in the late 1990s.CRWR-PrePro served as the basis for the development of HEC's Geo-HMS, and GISHydro@Maryland developed by the University of Maryland at College Park for the Maryland State Highway Administration. Overall, CRWR-PreProhas been used in more than 60 universities, government agencies and engineering firms in the United States, Europe (England, Greece, Italy, Scotland and Spain), Latin America (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile and Peru), Asia (India, Japan, Philippines and Taiwan), North America (Canada), Africa (South Africa), and the PacificIslands (Australia).

ArcSWAT2003 –currently being developed with support from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Forth Worth District – is an ArcGIS interface for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). SWAT is a water quality model for analyzing nonpoint source pollution and the management of agricultural lands. ArcSWAT2003 is an improvement with respect to AVSWAT developed at the BlacklandsResearchCenter of the Texas A&M University System.

The source-to-sink (STS) flow routing model was developed to assess the importance, on the modeling of the global water cycle, of the delay between runoff production in the land and discharge at the ocean. The STS model calculates flows at given segments of the continental margin caused by runoff produced in their corresponding drainage area. The source-to-sink model has been used by the EROSDataCenter of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in their global hydrology research work, and by researchers in the Department of Global Development Sciences atKobeUniversity (Japan) who have applied it to the Upper Blue Nile Watershed.

Research projects in which I have been involved are listed below:

TexasA&MUniversity – Department of Civil Engineering

Research on hydrologic, hydraulic and water quality modeling using geographic information systems (GIS)

  • Environmental Informatics in Coastal Areas (2003 – 2006). Co-Principal Investigator. Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).
    Funding: $ 400,000 for three years
  • Documentation of the Source Publications Used in the Development of the Hydraulic Design Manual (2003). Principal Investigator. Funded by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT).

Funding: $45,289 (ends on 8/2003).

  • Bridge Runoff Characterization (2002 – 2003). Co-Principal Investigator. Funded by theTexas Department of Transportation (TxDOT).

Funding: $ 607,372 for two years (9/2002 to 8/2004)

  • Strengthening Water Resources Planning for Texas (2001 – 2003). Co-Principal Investigator. Funded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Fort Worth District.

Funding: $ 400,000 for three years (9/2001 to 5/2003)

  • GIS Hydrologic Functions Based on Vector Spatial Data (2002 – 2003). Principal Investigator. Funded by the Department of Civil Engineering of TexasA&MUniversity.

Funding: One student for one year (9/2002 – 8/2003).

  • Cell-to-Cell Flow Routing Models: Analysis from a GIS Perspective (2001 – 2002). Principal Investigator. Funded by the Department of Civil Engineering of TexasA&MUniversity.

Funding: One student for one year (12/2001 – 11/2002).

University of Texas at Austin – Center for Research in Water Resources

Research on hydrologic, hydraulic and water quality modeling using geographic information systems (GIS)

  • BASINS Training Program (1999 – 2002). Principal Investigator. Funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Funding: $ 225,000 for three years (7/1999 to 8/2002)

  • System of GIS-Based Hydrologic and Hydraulic Applications for Highway Engineering – Implementation (2001 - 2002). Principal Investigator. Funded by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT).

Funding: $ 100,000 for 14 months (1/2001 to 3/2002)

  • System of GIS-Based Hydrologic and Hydraulic Applications for Highway Engineering – Implementation (1999 - 2000). Principal Investigator. Funded by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT).

Funding: $ 80,000 for one year (9/1999 to 8/2000)

  • Floodplain Mapping Using GIS (1999 – 2001). Project Manager of a research project of Dr. D. Maidment. Funded by the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA).
  • System of GIS-Based Hydrologic and Hydraulic Applications for Highway Engineering (1996 – 1999). Project Manager of a research project of Dr. D. Maidment. Funded by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). This project was recognized by TxDOT with the 1999 Top Ten Research Findings and Innovations Award.
  • Closing the Global Water Cycle in Fully-Coupled Climate System Models: Terrestrial Hydrology and River Transport (1998 – 2000). Project Manager of a research project of Dr. J. Famiglietti. Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).
  • Water Quality Master Plan of the City of Austin (1996 – 2000). Project Manager of a research project of Dr. D. Maidment. Funded by the City of Austin.
  • Water Balance of the NigerRiver Basin, West Africa (1994 – 1996). Graduate Research Assistant of a research project of Dr. D. Maidment. Funded by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of United Nations.

CatholicUniversity of Peru - Department of Engineering - Area of Hydraulics

Research on hydraulics

  • Head of the Hydraulics Laboratory (1983 – 1984). Responsible for the construction of a 9-meter concrete flume, and the implementation of new equipment in the laboratory. Liaison between the Catholic University of Peru and the Technical University of Delft, Netherlands, for the renovation of the laboratory facilities.
  • Study of Stone-Made Reservoirs for the Peasant Communities of Piura,Peru. Principal Investigator.

Funded by the National [Peruvian] Council for Science and Technology (CONCYTEC).

TechnicalUniversity of Delft - Laboratory of Fluid Mechanics

Research on fluid mechanics

  • Secondary Flow in a Flume with a Transversely Inclined Bottom Induced by Differences in Turbulence Intensity.Graduate Research Assistant of a research project of Prof. J. Kalkwijk.

Funded by the Laboratory of Fluid Mechanics of theTechnicalUniversity of Delft.

PUBLICATIONS

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

  • Olivera, F. and R. Raina, Development of Large-Scale Gridded River Networks from Vector Stream Data, accepted for publication in the Journal of the American Water Resources Association on June 23, 2003.
  • Olivera, F., M. Lear, J. Famiglietti and K. Asante, Extracting Low-Resolution River Networks from High-Resolution Digital Elevation Models, Water Resources Research, Vol. 38, No. 11, American Geophysical Union, 2002.
  • Tate, E., D. Maidment, F. Olivera and D. Anderson, Creating a Terrain Model for Floodplain Mapping, Journal of Hydrologic Engineering, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 100-108, American Society of Civil Engineers, 2002.
  • Olivera, F., Extracting Hydrologic Information from Spatial Data for HMS Modeling, Journal of Hydrologic Engineering, Vol. 6, No. 6, pp. 524-530, American Society of Civil Engineers, 2001.
  • Olivera, F., J. Famiglietti and K. Asante, Global-Scale Flow Routing Using a Source-to-Sink Algorithm, Water Resources Research Vol. 36, No. 8, pp. 2197-2207, American Geophysical Union, 2000.
  • Olivera F. and D.R. Maidment, GIS-Based Spatially Distributed Model for Runoff Routing, Water Resources Research Vol. 35 No. 4, pp. 1155-1164, American Geophysical Union, 1999.
  • Olivera, F. and D.R. Maidment, GIS for Hydrologic Data Development for Design of Highway Drainage Facilities, Transportation Research Record # 1625, pp. 131-138, Transportation Research Bureau, 1998.
  • Maidment, D.R., F. Olivera, A. Calver, A. Eatherall and W. Fraczek, A Unit Hydrograph Derived From a Spatially Distributed Velocity Field, Special Issue of Hydrological Processes, Vol. 10, No. 6, pp. 831-844, John Wiley & Sons Ltd., Chichester, England, 1996.

Book Chapters and Committee Reports

  • Olivera, F., D. Maidment and D. Honeycutt, Hydro Networks, Chapter 3 in Arc Hydro - GIS for Water Resources, ed. D. Maidment, pp. 33–54, ESRI Press, Redlands, CA, 2002.
  • Olivera, F., J. Furnans, D. Maidment, D. Djokic and Z. Ye, Drainage Systems Chapter 4 in Arc Hydro - GIS for Water Resources, ed. D. Maidment, pp. 55–86, ESRI Press, Redlands, CA, 2002.
  • Olivera, F. and D. Maidment, GIS tools for HMS Modeling Support, Chapter 5 in Hydrologic and Hydraulic Modeling Support, eds. D.R. Maidment and D. Djokic, ESRI Press, Redlands, CA, 2000.
  • DeBarry, P.A., J. Garbrecht, L. Garcia, L.E. Johnson, J. Jorgeson, V. Krysanova, G. Leavesley, D. Maidment, E.J. Nelson, F.L. Ogden, F. Olivera, R.G. Quimpo, T.A. Seybert, W.T Sloan, D. Burrows, and E.T. Engman, GIS Modules and Distributed Models of the Watershed, Water Resources Division - Surface Water Hydrology Committee, American Society of Civil Engineers, 120 pp., Reston, VA, 1999.

Dissertation and Thesis

  • Olivera, F., Spatially Distributed Modeling of Storm Runoff and Non-PointSource Pollution Using Geographic Information Systems, Doctoral Dissertation, Supervisors: Drs. D.R. Maidment and R.J. Charbeneau, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, 1996.
  • Olivera, F., Secondary Flow in a Flume with a Transversely Inclined Bottom Induced by Differences in Turbulence Intensity, Masters Thesis, Supervisor: Prof. Dr. J.P.Th. Kalkwijk, International Institute for Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering (IHE), Delft, Netherlands, 1988.
  • Olivera, F., Computer Program for Estimating the Coast Line Changes Due to the Construction of a Breakwater, Project to earn the professional degree ofCivil Engineer, Supervisors: Dr. R. Bravo and ir. H. Bots, Catholic University of Peru, Lima, Peru, 1981.

Peer-Reviewed Conference Papers

  • Olivera, F. and D. Stolpa, Effect of the Storm Hyetograph Duration and Shape on the Watershed Response, Proceeding of the 82nd Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board (TRB), Washington DC, January 2003.
  • Olivera, F., Cell-Based Flow Routing Model, American Geophysical Union 2002 Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA, December 2002.
  • Olivera, F. and S. Koka, Topology and Parameters of Watersheds and River Networks, American Geophysical Union 2002 Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA, December 2002.
  • Olivera, F. and R. Raina, River Networks for Global Flow Routing Modeling, American Geophysical Union 2002 Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA, December 2002.
  • Whiteaker, T., D. Maidment, F. Olivera, and M. Valenzuela, Texas Integrated Water Simulation System (TIWSS), Proceedings of the ASCE Texas Section Fall 2002 Meeting, Waco, Texas, October 2002.
  • Olivera, F. and S. Koka, Hydrologic Topology, Mississippi Climate and Hydrology Conference organized by the Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment’s (GEWEX) Continental Scale International Project (GCIP) and GEWEX Americas Prediction Project (GAPP), New Orleans, LA, May 2002
  • Olivera, F., Effect of the Watershed Size on the Shape of its Hydrologic Response, American Geophysical Union 2001 Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA, 2001.
  • Olivera F., ArcHydro Data Model – Hydro Network, GIS Hydro 2001 Pre-Conference Seminar, 21st ESRI User Conference, San Diego, California, 2001.
  • Furnans, J. and F. Olivera, Watershed Topology: The Pfafstetter System, Proceedings of the 21st ESRI User Conference, San Diego, California, 2001.
  • Famiglietti, J., F. Olivera, J. Walker, P. Houser and M. Rodell, A Catchment-Based Global River Routing Scheme for Climate Models and Assimilation of Streamflow and Altimetry Data, European Geophysical Society 26th General Assembly, Nice, France, 2001.
  • Olivera, F. and J. Famiglietti, Global-Scale Water Transport Modeling Using Digital Spatial Databases, American Geophysical Union 1999 Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA, 1999.
  • Lear, M., F. Olivera, J. Famiglietti, K. Asante and D. Maidment, Upscaling River Network Extraction from Global Digital Elevation Models, American Geophysical Union 1999 Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA, 1999.
  • Asante, K., F. Olivera, J. Famiglietti and D. Maidment, GIS-Based Analysis of Global Digital Elevation Models for Derivation of Surface Water Transport Parameters, American Geophysical Union 1999 Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA, 1999.
  • Olivera, F. and K. Asante, Global Hydrology, GIS Hydro '99 Pre-Conference Seminar, 19th ESRI Users Conference, San Diego, California, 1999.
  • Olivera, F., J. Famiglietti and M. Branstetter, Resolution Dependence of Cell-to-Cell Runoff Routing Models, American Geophysical Union 1999 Spring Meeting, Boston, MA, 1999.
  • Olivera, F., J. Famiglietti, K. Asante and D.R. Maidment, DTM-Based Model for Global Scale Runoff Routing, American Geophysical Union 1998 Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA, 1998.
  • Olivera, F. and D.R. Maidment, HEC-PrePro v. 2.0: An ArcView Pre-Processor for HEC’s Hydrologic Modeling System, Proceedings of the 18th ESRI Users Conference, San Diego, California, 1998.
  • Olivera, F., J. Famiglietti and D.R. Maidment, GIS-Based Continental Scale Flow Routing Algorithm for Climate System Models, American Geophysical Union 1998 Spring Meeting, Boston, MA, 1998.
  • Maidment, D.R., F. Olivera, Z. Ye, S. Reed, S. Akmansoy and D.C. McKinney, Water Balance of the Niger River Basin in West Africa, GIS Hydro 97 Pre-Conference Seminar, 17th ESRI Users Conference, San Diego, California, 1997.
  • Olivera, F. and D.R. Maidment, Spatially Distributed Modeling of Storm Runoff Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS), American Geophysical Union 1997 Spring Meeting, Baltimore, MD, 1997.
  • Maidment, D.R., F. Olivera, Z. Ye, S. Reed and D.C. McKinney, Water Balance of the NigerBasin, Proceedings of the ASCE North American Water and Environment Congress '96, Anaheim, CA, 1996.
  • Olivera, F. and D.R. Maidment, Runoff Computation Using Spatially Distributed Terrain Parameters, Proceedings of the ASCE North American Water and Environment Congress '96, Anaheim, CA, 1996.
  • Olivera, F., Runoff Modeling Using GIS, Ninth Annual Conference of the Southwestern Association of ALERT Systems (SAAS), Baton Rouge, LA, 1996.
  • Olivera, F., D.R. Maidment, Z. Ye, S. Reed and D.C. McKinney, Water Balance of the Niger Basin, West Africa, American Geophysical Union 1995 Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA, 1995.
  • Olivera, F., D.C. McKinney, Z. Ye, D.R. Maidment and S. Reed, Predicting the Water Balance of Surface and Ground Water Resources Over Large Areas, Proceedings of the UNESCO Symposium on Runoff Computations for Water Projects, St. Petersburg, Russia, Oct. 30 - Nov. 3, 1995.
  • Olivera, F., D.R. Maidment and R.J. Charbeneau, Non-Point Source Pollution Analysis With GIS, Proceedings of the 1995 ASCE Texas-Section Spring Meeting, Waco, TX, 1995.
  • Olivera, F., Effects of the Construction of a Breakwater in the Coast Line (in Spanish), Proceedings of the 1st Iberian-American Congress of Computational Methods in Engineering, Madrid, Spain, 1985.
  • Olivera, F., FORTRAN Program for Analyzing the Coast Line Changes (in Spanish), Proceedings of the IV National (Peruvian) Congress of Civil Engineering, Chiclayo, Peru, 1982.

Technical Reports