Hydrosystems Modelling

About Us

A‌bout Us

The hydrosystems modelling research team work within the Water Group at Newcastle University’s School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences. Our goal is to develop new software packages using different approaches to hydrosystems modelling, to facilitate catchment systems management and flood resilience.

Our work focusses on the development of new numerical tools to facilitate the prediction and risk management of natural hazards, under the current and future challenges of climate change. We develop hydrodynamic tools using innovative methods and novel numerical techniques to support varied applications, including real-time forecasting and multi-hazard risk analysis.

Our current main focus is high-performance computing via parallel processing. By harnessing the computing power of multiple Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), we are able to gain vast improvements in computational accuracy and efficiency over conventional approaches. A number of our tools have been developed to harness this technology, while others are in development.  

Research topics

Tsunami Model graphical outputOur research topics cover a number of natural hazards, including:‌

  • River and Coastal Flooding
  • Fluid-like Landslides
  • Tsunami inundation
  • Water quality and pollutant transport

Our modelling tools have applications in:

  • Catchment Processes
  • Catchment Systems Management
  • Risk and Recovery
  • Real Time Forecasting
  • Infrastructure resilience

Modelling techniques‌

Example model outputOur modelling tools employ an assortment of modelling techniques and numerical ‌methods including:

  • Finite Volume Method
  • Finite Difference Method
  • Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics
  • Discrete Element Modelling