Praveen Kumar

Professor
Colonel Harry F. and Frankie M. Lovell Endowed Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Executive Director, Prairie Research Institute

(217) 333-4688

kumar1@illinois.edu

187 Natural Resources Building

For More Information

Education

University of Minnesota, Ph.D., Civil Engineering, 1993
Iowa State University, M.S., Civil Engineering, 1989
Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India B. Tech. Civil Engineering 1987

Biography

Professor Praveen Kumar holds a B.Tech. (Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India 1987), M.S. (Iowa State University 1989), and Ph.D. (University of Minnesota 1993), all in civil engineering. Kumar joined as faculty at the University of Illinois in 1995 where he has been ever since. Prior to joining the University of Illinois, he was a research scientist (January 1993 to July 1995) at the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) and Hydrologic Sciences Branch, NASA- Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA. His research deals with Hydrocomplexity, the quantitative understanding and prediction of emergent patterns of form and function that arise from complex non-linear multi-scale interactions between soil, water, climate, vegetation and human systems; and how this understanding can be used for innovative solutions to water and sustainability challenges. He has made extensive, deep and signature contributions pertaining to Critical Zone science for intensively managed landscapes, biosphere-hydrosphere interactions, multi-scale variability of hydrologic processes, hydro-geomorphology, hydroinformatics, and information theory in geosciences. His research has been funded by federal agencies such as NSF, NASA, and NOAA.

Academic Positions

Executive Director, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois, 2022-present
Colonel Harry F. and Frankie M. Lovell Endowed Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of Illinois, 2011-present
Professor, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Univ. of Illinois, 2006-Present
Associate Professor, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Univ. of Illinois, 2001-2006
Assistant Professor, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Univ. of Illinois, 1995-2001
Affiliate Faculty, Computational Science & Engineering Program, Univ. of Illinois, 1995-Present
Affiliate Faculty, Department of Atmospheric Science, Univ. of Illinois, 2010-Present
Affiliate Faculty, National Center for Supercomputing Applications, Univ. of Illinois, 2015-Present
Professor, Institute for Sustainability, Energy and Environment, Univ. of Illinois, 2015-Present

Other Professional Employment

2016-2020: Chair (2017-2018), and Chair-elect (2016-2017), Past Chair (2019-2020) Network Executive Committee (NEC) for the US CZO (Critical Zone Observatory) program
2020-present: Director, NSF CINet: Critical Interface Network for Intensively managed Landscapes
2013-present: Director, NSF Critical Zone Observatory for Intensively Managed Landscapes (IML-CZO)

Research Statement

Dr. Kumar’s research deals with Hydrocomplexity, the quantitative understanding and prediction of emergent patterns of form and function that arise from complex non-linear multi-scale interactions between soil, water, climate, vegetation and human systems; and how this understanding can be used for innovative solutions to water and sustainability challenges. His research has been funded by federal agencies such as NSF, NASA, and NOAA. He presently serves as the Director of the Critical Zone Observatory for Intensively Managed Landscapes. He is also the lead on NSF-supported EarthCube project on Geo-Semantics, and a co-lead on NSF-supported SEAD and Brown Dog projects for the development of cyber-infrastructure for structured and unstructured long-tail data and models.

Research Interests

Machine learning, Data mining, AI
Information Theory
Ecohydrology
Hydroclimatology
Critical zone science
Innovative solutions to water and sustainability challenges
Hydrocomplexity, the quantitative understanding and prediction of emergent patterns of form and function that arise from complex non-linear multi-scale interactions between soil, water, climate, vegetation and human systems

Research Areas

Books Authored or Co-Authored (Original Editions)

Kumar, P., J. Alameda, P. Bajscy, M. Folk and M. Markus, Hydroinformatics: Data Integrative Methods in Computation, Analysis and Modeling, Authored Handbook, CRC Press, 534 pp., 2005.

Books Edited or Co-Edited (Original Editions)

Sivapalan, M., T.Wagner, S. Uhlenbrook, X. Liang, V. Lakshmi, P. Kumar, E. Zehe, and Y. Tachikawa, eds., Predictions in Ungauged Basins: Promise and Progress, IAHS Pub. 303, UK, 2006.
Foufoula-Georgiou, E. and P. Kumar, editors, Wavelets in Geophysics, Academic Press, 373 pp., 1994.

Chapters in Books

Saco, P. and P. Kumar, “Hydrologic Dispersion in Fluvial Networks,” in “River Confluences, Tributaries and the Fluvial Network” Edited by Stephen P. Rice, Andr´e G. Roy and Bruce L. Rhoads, 2008
Amanda, A.B. and P. Kumar, “Statistical Data Mining,” in Hydroinformatics: Data Integrative Methods in Computation, Analysis and Modeling, by Kumar et al., 2005.
Ruddell, B.L. and P. Kumar, “Modelshed Data Model,” in Hydroinformatics: Data Integrative Methods in Computation, Analysis and Modeling, by Kumar et al., 2005.
Ruddell, B.L. and P. Kumar, “Hydrologic Data Models”, in Hydroinformatics: Data Integrative Methods in Computation, Analysis and Modeling, by Kumar et al., 2005.
Ruddell, B.L. and P. Kumar, “Unified Modeling Language,” in Hydroinformatics: Data Integrative Methods in Computation, Analysis and Modeling, by Kumar et al., 2005.
Kumar, P., “Multiple Scale Conditional Simulation,” Scaling Methods in Soil Physics, edited by Pachepsky, Selim and Pachepsky, 179 192, 2003.
Kumar, P. and E. Foufoula-Georgiou, “A Multicomponent Self-Similar Characterization of Rainfall Fluctuations,” in Environmental Studies, edited by Mary Wheeler, Springer-Verlag, New York, 239-254, 1996.
Kumar, P. and E. Foufoula-Georgiou, “Wavelet Analysis in Geophysics: An Introduction,” in Wavelets in Geophysics, edited by E. Foufoula-Georgiou and P. Kumar, 1-43, 1994.

Selected Articles in Journals

Dutta, D., A. Goodwell, P. Kumar, R. Darmody, J. E. Garvey, R.Jacobson, D. P. Beretta, and J. Greenberg, "On the Feasibility of Characterizing Soil Properties from AVIRIS Spectrometer Data", to appear in IEEE Trans. In Geosci. & Remote Sensing, 53(9), 5133-5147, 2015, doi:10.1109/TGRS.2015.2417547
Bagley, J., D. M. Rosenthal, U. M. Ruiz-Vera, M. Siebers, P. Kumar, D. R. Ort, and C. J. Bernacchi, "The influence of photosynthetic acclimation to rising CO2 and warmer temperatures on leaf and canopy photosynthesis models", Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 29, 194-206, DOI: 10.1002/2014GB004848, 2014.
Woo, D. K., J. Quijano, P. Kumar, S. Chaoka, and C. J. Bernacchi, "Threshold Dynamics in Soil Carbon Storage for Bioenergy Crops", Env. Sci. and Tech., 2014, 48(20), pp. 12090-12098, doi:10.1021/es5023762. 2014.
Shafiee-Jood, M., X. Cai, L. Chen, X. Liang, and P. Kumar, "Assessing the value of seasonal climate forecast information through an end-to-end forecasting framework: Application to U.S. 2012 drought", Water Resources Research, DOI: 10.1002/2014WR015822, 2014.
Pathak, A., S. Ghosh, and P. Kumar, "Precipitation Recycling in the Indian Subcontinent During Summer Monsoon", J. of Hydrometeorology, 15(5), 2050-2066, 2014. DOI:10.1175/JHM-D-13-0172.1.
Phong, V., V. Le and P. Kumar, "Power Law Scaling Characteristics of Topographic Depressions and Their Hydrologic Connectivity", Geophysical Res. Letters, Doi: 10.1002/2013GL059114, March 2014, DOI:10.1022/2013GLO59114.
Goodwell, A., Z. Zhu, D. Dutta, J. Greenberg, P. Kumar, M. Garcia, B. Rhoads, G. Parker, R. Holmes, D. Beretta, "Assessment of Floodplain Vulnerability during Extreme Mississippi River Flood 2011", Environ. Sci. Technol., 2014, 48 (5), pp 2619–2625, DOI: 10.1021/es404760t.
Ruddell, B.R., I. Zaslavsky, D. Valentine, B. Beran, M. Piasecki, Q. Fu, P. Kumar, "Sustainable Long Term Scientific Data Publication: Lessons Learned from a Prototype Observatory Information System for the Illinois River Basin", to appear in Env. Modeling and Software, 2014.

Journal Editorships

Field Editor-in-Chief (Founding), Frontiers in Water , Leading a team of growing number of Section Editor-in-Chiefs (9) and Associate Editors (143) for a new international journal 2018–present
Editor-in-Chief Water Resources Research, American Geophysical Union 2009-2013
Editor, Geophysical Research Letters, American Geophysical Union 2006-2009
Associate Editor, Journal of Hydrologic Engineering, American Society of Civil Engineers 2003-2004

Professional Societies

American Meteorological Society(AMS) Member, 1996-present
American Geophysical Union(AGU) Member, 1990-present
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Member, 1996-present;

Other Outside Service

Journal Referee: Water Resources Research; Journal of Applied Meteorology; Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society; Biometrika; Journal of Geophysical Research; Journal of Stochastic Hydrology and Hydraulics; ASCE Journal of Hydrologic Engineering; Journal of Hydrometeorology; Journal of Climate; Advances in Water Resources; Hydrologic Processes
Grant Proposal Panel; National Science Foundation; National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Grant Proposal Reviewer National Aeronautics and Space Administration; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; National Science Foundation
Board member, Champaign Urbana Montessori Elementary School, 2000 2002, Vice President, 2001 2002.

Honors

Chief Guest, Convocation Function of the Department of Civil Engineering Convocation Function, IIT Bombay, Bombay, India (2020)
Harleman Leture, PennState University (2017)
Wolman Lecture, CUAHSI Fifth Biennial Colloqium, Sheperdstown, WV (2016)
Engineering Council Award, For Excellence in Advising (2013)
Associate, Center for Advanced Studies, University of Illinois (2011-2012)
Xerox Award for Faculty Research (2005)
Faculty Fellow, National Center for Supercomputing Applications (2001-2002, 2006-2007)
Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi Samman (Non-Resident Honor) Award given by the NRI (Non Resident Indian) Welfare Society of India (2018)
Distinguished Alumnus Award, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India (2018)
Fellow, AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science) (2024)
Fellow, AMS (American Meteorological Society) (2018)
Fellow, AGU (American Geophysical Union) (2015)