CGCS Directory

Prof. Dara Entekhabi

Bacardi and Stockholm Water Foundations Professor
Faculty

Affiliations

CEE, EAPS, CGCS

Research Interests:
The objective of research within my group is to develop understanding of coupled land-atmosphere processes. The application of this understanding is directed towards the design of skillful pediction systems. The approach begins with the characterization of relevant heterogeneous fields such as precipitation, soil moisture and vegetation. Sensors on board satellites and aircraft, surface radar, and networks of in situ instruments are used to collect data that are then converted into fields of useful variables by merging them with models. In this data assimilation process models impose physical constraints on the retrievals. Recent topics include: Land-atmosphere interaction and boundary layer processes; Dynamics of winter-time extra-tropical atmosphere and its predictability; Data Assimilation: Techniques development and applications; Land evaporation retrieval using multi-platform remotely sensed data; Sensor network model-integration closed-loop control; Surface water-groundwater interaction and hillslope hydrology

Selected Publications:
Bateni, S.M. and D. Entekhabi, 2012: Surface heat flux estimation with the ensemble Kalman smoother: Joint estimation of state and parameters, Water Resources Research, 48(8): W08521

Flores, A.N., R.L. Bras and D. Entekhabi, 2012: Hydrologic data assimilation with a hillslope-scale-resolving model and L band radar observations: Synthetic experiments with the ensemble Kalman filter, Water Resources Research, 48(8): W08509

Bateni, S.M. and D. Entekhabi, 2012: Relative efficiency of land surface energy balance components, Water Resources Research, 48(4): W04510

Gentine, P., D. Entekhabi and B. Heusinkveld, 2012: Systematic errors in ground heat flux estimation and their correction, Water Resources Research, 48(9): W09541

Li, X., R. Britter, L. Norford, T.-Y. Koh and D. Entekhabi, 2012: Flow and Pollutant Transport in Urban Street Canyons of Different Aspect Ratios with Ground Heating: Large-Eddy Simulation, Boundary-Layer Meteorology, 142(2): 289-304

Salvucci, G. D. and D. Entekhabi, 2011: An alternate and robust approach to calibration for the estimation of land surface model parameters based on remotely sensed observations, Geophysical Research Letters, 38(16): L16404

Ng, G.-H. C., D. McLaughlin, D. Entekhabi and A. Ahanin, 2011: The role of model dynamics in ensemble Kalman filter performance for chaotic systems, Tellus A, 63(5): 958-77

Gentine, P., D. Entekhabi and J. Polcher, 2011: The Diurnal Behavior of Evaporative Fraction in the Soil–Vegetation–Atmospheric Boundary Layer Continuum, Journal of Hydrometeorology, 12(6): 1530-46

Gentine, P., J. Polcher and D. Entekhabi, 2011: Harmonic propagation of variability in surface energy balance within a coupled soil-vegetation-atmosphere system, Water Resources Research, 47(5): W05525

Li, X.-X., R.E. Britter, T.Y. Koh, L.K. Norford, C.-H. Liu, D. Entekhabi and D.Y.C. Leung, 2010: Large-Eddy Simulation of Flow and Pollutant Transport in Urban Street Canyons with Ground Heating, Boundary-Layer Meteorology, 137(2): 187-204

Projects:
Shifts in Extreme Precipitation Events Based on Resolved Atmospheric Changes
NASA Soil Moisture Active and Passive (SMAP) Satellite mission (Science Team Leader)

Contact Information

t: 617-253-9698
e: darae@mit.edu
w: http://cee.mit.edu/entekhabi

Education

B.A., Geography, Clark University, 1983
M.A., Geography, Clark University, 1984, 1987
Ph.D., Civil Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1990

Courses taught:

Introduction to Hydrology
Environmental Fluid Transport Processes and Hydrology Laboratory
Land-Atmosphere Interaction