Dr Francesca Pianosi
ME, PhD
Expertise
Current positions
Senior Lecturer in Water and Environmental Engineering
School of Civil, Aerospace and Design Engineering
Contact
Press and media
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Biography
Research interests
My research and teaching activities focus on improving the way we use data analysis and mathematical modelling for hydrology and water engineering applications. Currently my two key research interests are the use of simulation and optimisation methods to support decision-making, particularly for water resource management; and the quantification and attribution of uncertainty in mathematical models, and in particular models used for natural hazard assessment. More information on my work on uncertainty propagation in models, including access to the open-source SAFE Toolbox for sensitivity analysis, can be found at: safetoolbox.github.io.
Some short, non-technical account of my research interests and results can be found here:
- EOS Blog post on Urban landslides in an uncertain future (original Nature commentary)
- AXA XL White Paper on Pioneering catastrophe model evaluation with the SAFE toolbox
- EGU Blog post on EGU2022 Great Debate on Open Science
- HEPEX Blog post on The value of seasonal forecasts for water resources management
- Presentation on Why we need better handling of uncertainty in mathematical models (with focus on the (re)insurance and water sector)
- EGU Blog post on Hydrological modelling and pizza making
- EGU Blog post on "Quality through Equality" workshop
- EGU Blog post on All models are wrong, but...
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
Water Management and Adaption based on Watershed Digital Twins
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of Civil, Aerospace and Design EngineeringDates
01/03/2024 to 28/02/2027
SMARTWATER: Diagnosing controls of pollution hot spots and hot moments and their impact on catchment water quality
Principal Investigator
Role
Co-Investigator
Description
Planetary boundaries of river water pollution are at risk of being breached, with dangerous consequences for human and environmental health, economic prosperity, and water security. The current paradigm for environmental…Dates
01/11/2023 to 31/10/2028
Uncertainty quantification and sensitivity analysis for resilient infrastructure systems
Principal Investigator
Description
Computational modelling provides a vital tool to support infrastructure decisions, allowing to evaluate risks and benefits of different infrastructure options on a virtual system (or digital twin) before committing to…Managing organisational unit
School of Civil, Aerospace and Design EngineeringDates
01/10/2023 to 31/03/2025
Knowledge Transfer Partnership with JBA Risk Management
Principal Investigator
Description
The project is a Knowledge Transfer Partnership with JBA Risk Management (www.jbarisk.com) to embed uncertainty and sensitivity analysis functionalities into their Global Flood Modelling capabilities. The new features will allow…Managing organisational unit
School of Civil, Aerospace and Design EngineeringDates
01/03/2023 to 31/08/2025
Climate and Environmental Risk Analytics for Resilient Finance (CERAF)
Principal Investigator
Role
Co-Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of Geographical SciencesDates
01/04/2021 to 31/03/2024
Thesis supervisions
Understanding the sensitivity of karst groundwater recharge to climate and land cover changes at a large-scale
Supervisors
Using hydrological process knowledge to assess flood generation and changes on a global scale
Supervisors
Uncertainty in modelling and optimising operations of reservoir systems
Supervisors
Exploring patterns of current and future residential flood risk in Great Britain
Supervisors
Uncertainty quantification and attribution in flood risk modelling
Supervisors
Quantifying the influence of informal housing on rainfall-triggered landslides in the humid tropics
Supervisors
Publications
Recent publications
15/05/2023Developing an operational model to support groundwater management decision-making in the UK
A mechanistic approach to include climate change and unplanned urban sprawl in landslide susceptibility maps
Science of The Total Environment
Calibrating macroscale hydrological models in poorly gauged and heavily regulated basins
Hydrology and Earth System Sciences
Catchment-scale skill assessment of seasonal precipitation forecasts across South Korea
International Journal of Climatology
Co-occurring wintertime flooding and extreme wind over Europe, from daily to seasonal timescales
Weather and Climate Extremes
Related people
Dr Liz Holcombe
Senior Lecturer
School of Civil, Aerospace and Design Engineering
Dr Ross Woods
Reader in Water & Environmental Engineering
School of Civil, Aerospace and Design Engineering
Dr Rafael Rosolem
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School of Civil, Aerospace and Design Engineering
Dr Andreas Hartmann
Honorary Research Associate
School of Civil, Aerospace and Design Engineering
Dr Elisa Bozzolan
Honorary Research Associate
School of Civil, Aerospace and Design Engineering