DRI / DIRECTORY / SESH RAJAGOPAL
Sesh Rajagopal Profile Photo
Dr. Sesh Rajagopal
LOA Hourly - Assistant Research Professor
Phone 
775-673-7674
E-Mail 
Seshadri.Rajagopal@dri.edu
Campus 
Reno Campus
Full Resume / CV 
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Division 
Hydrologic Sciences

Education

Degree Year Institution Area
Ph.D. 2012 University of Arizona, Tucson Hydrometeorology
M.S. 2006 University of Nevada, Reno Hydrology
B.E. 2004 National Institute of Technology, Karnataka, India Civil Engineering

Appointments

2014-present Assistant Research Professor, Division of Hydrologic Sciences, Desert Research Institute (DRI), Nevada System of Higher Education
2012-2014 Post-Doctoral Fellow, Division of Hydrologic Sciences, Desert Research Institute (DRI), Nevada System of Higher Education
2006-2011 Graduate Research Assistant, Hydrology and Water Resources, UA
2004-2006 Graduate Research Assistant, Division of Hydrologic Sciences, DRI
Publications
2020
Sterle, K. M., Singletary, L., Lee, G., Rollins, K., Pohll, G. M., McCarthy, M. I., Rajagopal, S., Albano, C. M., Boyer, W., Huntington, J. L., Dettinger, M. D., Niswonger, R., Morway, E., Kitlasten, W., Gardner, M., Coors, S., Jose, L. (2020). Water Sustainability and Climate in the Truckee-Carson River System, Western United States: 10 Key Takeaways from the Water for the Seasons Collaborative Research Program. University of Nevada, Reno Cooperative Extension, SP-20-02

2019
Harpold, A., Rajagopal, S., Dettinger, M. D. (2019). Snow Droughts in Western U.S. Mountains: Frequency, Distribution, and Proximate Causes, Water Resources Research

Rajagopal, S., Pohll, G. M., Heyvaert, A. C. (2019). Vulnerability Assessment: Groundwater HydrologyChapter : . In , Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment of the Lake Tahoe Basin. Edited by Catalyst Environmental Solutions for the California Tahoe Conservancy: South Lake Tahoe, CA

2018
Behrangi, A., Yin, X., Rajagopal, S., Stampoulis, D., Ye, H. (2018). On distinguishing snowfall from rainfall using near-surface atmospheric information: comparative analysis, uncertainties, and hydrologic importance, Q.J.R. Meteorol. Soc. (144), 89–102, Royal Meteorological Society, https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.3240

Raynor, D., Rajagopal, S., Sterle, K. (2018). Quantifying Contributions of Snow to Surface Water Supply in The Western U.S, NWRA, 10.22542/jnwra/2018/1/1

Sterle, K. M., Jose, L., Coors, S., Singletary, L., Pohll, G. M., Rajagopal, S. (2018). Collaboratively Modeling Reservoir Reoperation to Adapt to Earlier Snowmelt Runoff, Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management

2017
Harpold, A. A., Kaplan, M. L., Klos, P. Z., Link, T., McNamara, J. P., Rajagopal, S., Schumer, R., Steele, C. M. (2017). Rain or Snow: Hydrologic Processes, Observations, Prediction, and Research Needs, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 21 (1), 1-22, 10.5194/hess-21-1-2017

Harpold, A. A., Dettinger, M. D., Rajagopal, S. (2017). Defining snow drought and why it matters, Eos, Transactions of the AGU, 98, 10.1029/2017EO068775

Harpold, A. A., Rajagopal, S., Crews, J. B., Winchell, T., Schumer, R. (2017). Relative Humidity Has Uneven Effects on Shifts from Snow to Rain Over the Western US, Geophysical Research Letters, 44 (19), 9742-9750, 10.1002/2017GL075046

2016
Rajagopal, S., Harpold, A. (2016). Testing and Improving Temperature Thresholds for Snow and Rain Prediction in the Western United States, Journal of American Water Resources Association, 52 (5), 1142-1154, 10.1111/1752-1688.12443

2015
Rajagopal, S., Huntington, J. L., Niswonger, R., Pohll, G. M., Gardner, M. A., Morton, C. G., Zhang, Y., Reeves, D. M. (2015). Integrated Surface and Groundwater Modeling of Martis Valley, California, for Assessment of Potential Climate Change Impacts on Basin Scale Water Resources, 54. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, DRI Report No. 41261

Rajagopal, S. (2015). Improving Predictability in the Colorado River Basin – Value of combining winter synoptic patterns with Sea Surface Temperature (SST) states, 22

Adams, K. D., Negrini, R. M., Cook, E. R., Rajagopal, S. (2015). Annually Resolved Late Holocene Paleohydrology of the Southern Sierra Nevada and Tulare Lake, California, Water Resources Research, 51, 1-17, 10.1002/2015WR017850

2014
Rajagopal, S., Dominguez, F., Gupta, H. V., Troch, P. A., Castro, C. L. (2014). Physical mechanisms related to climate-induced drying of two semi-arid watersheds in the southwest US, J. of Hydrometeorology, 15 (4), 1404-1418

Abatzoglou, J. T., Hegewisch, K., Carroll, R. W., Lutz, A. D., Leising, J. F., Rajagopal, S., Brooks, K., Thomas, J. M. (2014). Impacts of a Changing Climate on Water Resources in the Eastern Great Basin. DRI, DRI Report No. 41266

2013
Serrat-Capdevila, A., Valdes, J. B., Dominguez, F., Rajagopal, S. (2013). Characterizing the water extremes of the new century in the US South-west: A comprehensive assessment from state-of-the-art climate model projections, Intl. J. Water Res. Devel., 29 (2), 152-171, 10.1080/07900627.2012.721717

2012
Harpold, A., Brooks, P., Rajagopal, S., Heidbuchel, I., Jardine, A., Stielstra, C. (2012). Changes in snowpack accumulation and ablation in the intermountain west, WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH, 48, 10.1029/2012WR011949

Conference Proceedings
2017
Rybarski, S. C., Pohll, G. M., Rajagopal, S., Pohlmann, K. F. (2017). Modeling Assessment of Pahrump Valley, NV. 2017 Devils Hole Workshop: May 3-5 2017, Beatty, Nevada

Rajagopal, S., Sterle, K., Jose, L., Coors, S., Pohll, G. M., Singletary, L. (2017). Enhancing water supply through reservoir reoperation. American Geophysical Union: New Orleans, December 13, 2017

Harpold, A., Rajagopal, S., Dettinger, M. (2017). Snow drought in the western U.S. mountains: proximate causes, regional differences, and implications for streamflow and forests. American Geophysical Union: New Orleans

2016
Crews, J. B., Harpold, A., Rajagopal, S., Schumer, R., Petersky, R., Winchell, T. (2016). Humidity affects shifts from snow to rain in the Western U.S.. AGU Fall Meeting: San Francisco, H23F-1645

Rajagopal, S., Harpold, A., Dettinger, M. (2016). Improving GPM Precipitation Phase for the Western US. AGU, Fall Meeting: San Francisco

Mahmoud, M., Rajagopal, S. (2016). Improving Seasonal Climate Predictability in the Colorado River Basin for Enhanced Decision Support. AGU, Fall Meeting: San Francisco

Harpold, A., Crews, J. B., Rajagopal, S., Schumer, R. (2016). Regional Buffering of Changes From Snow To Rain by Humidity Regimes Under Climate Warming in the Western U.S.. Western Snow Conference: Seattle

Rajagopal, S., Harpold, A. (2016). GPM Precipitation Phase Validation for the Western US. Western Snow Conference: Seattle

Longley, P., Harpold, A., Flint, A., Rajagopal, S., Crews, J. B. (2016). CHANGES FROM SNOW TO RAIN CAN INCREASE OR DECREASE STREAMFLOW AND GROUNDWATER RECHARGE DEPENDING ON LOCAL CLIMATE AND SOILS. Mountain Climate Conference: Leavenworth

2015
Pohlmann, K. F., Rajagopal, S., Pohll, G. M. (2015). Development of a Modeling Tool to Support Management of Groundwater Resources in Pahrump Valley, Nevada. Devils Hole Workshop: Ash Meadows, Nevada, May 6, 2015-May 8, 2015

Huntington, J. L., Rajagopal, S., Niswonger, R. G., Gardner, M. A., Morton, C. G., Reeves, D. M., Pohll, G. M. (2015). The balancing act of surface-reservoir-groundwater for integrated water resources management. AGU: San Francisco, CA, December 14, 2015-December 18, 2015

Rajagopal, S., Huntington, J. L., Niswonger, R., Morton, C. G., Gardner, M. A., Reeves, D. M. (2015). The Interplay of Snow, Surface water, and groundwater Reservoirs for Integrated Water Resources Management. American Geophysical Union Fall Conference: San Francisco, CA, December 14, 2015-December 18, 2015

Sterle, K., Simpson, K., McCarthy, M., Pohll, G. M., Kauneckis, D., Singletary, L., Niswonger, R., Rajagopal, S., Dettinger, M., Huntington, J. L., Emm, S. (2015). Enhancing Resiliency of Snow-Fed Arid Land River Systems: A Collaborative Modeling Approach. Great Basin Consortium: Boise, Idaho, February 17, 2015-February 19, 2015

Rajagopal, S., Harpold, A. (2015). Predicting Snow-To-Rain Transitions Across The Western U.S.: When Is Daily Air Temperature Sufficient?. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting: San Francisco, CA , December 14, 2015-December 18, 2015

Rajagopal, S., Harpold, A. (2015). Variability in snow-rain transitions challenge the fidelity of temperature threshold models for ecohydrologic prediction. Western Snow Conference: Grass Valley, CA, April 20, 2015-April 23, 2015

Adams, K. D., Negrini, R. M., Rajagopal, S., Cook, E. R. (2015). Timing, Duration, and Effects of Droughts in the Southern Sierra Nevada and San Joaquin Valley, CA Over the Last 2000 Years. AGU 2015 Fall Meeting: San Francisco, CA, December 14, 2015-December 18, 2015, Abstract GC41E-1131

2014
Rajagopal, S., Niswonger, R., Huntington, J. L., Gardner, M. A., Morton, C. G., Maples, S., Reeves, D. M., Pohll, G. M. (2014). High Resolution Integrated Hydrologic Modeling for Water Resource Management: Tahoe Basin Case Study. AGU: San Francisco, CA, December 15, 2014-December 19, 2014

Rajagopal, S., Huntington, J. L., Reeves, D. M., Morton, C. G., Pohll, G. M. (2014). Development and Calibration of Basin-Scale Watershed Models of the Upper Truckee for Assessment of Climate Change Impacts on Water Resources, October 1, 2015

Rajagopal, S., Huntington, J. L., Niswonger, R., Reeves, D. M., Morton, C. G., Gardner, M. A., Pohll, G. M. (2014). The Value of Integrated Hydrologic Modeling for Water Resource Management: Tahoe Basin case study, February 3, 2014

2013
Reeves, D. M., Huntington, J. L., Rajagopal, S., Niswonger, R. G., Gardner, M. A., Zhang, Y., Pohll, G. M. (2013). Development of integrated surface water – ground water models of Martis Valley and Lake Tahoe basins for assessment of climate change impacts on water resources. Nevada Water Resources Association Annual Meeting

Niswonger, R., Huntington, J. L., Dettinger, M. D., Morton, C. G., Rajagopal, S., Pohll, G. M., Gardner, M. A., Reeves, D. M. (2013). Multi-scale simulations of past and future projections of hydrology in Lake Tahoe Basin, California-Nevada. 2013 AGU Fall Meeting

Huntington, J. L., Morton, C. G., Rajagopal, S., Pohll, G. M., Reeves, D. M. (2013). Development and calibration of basin-scale watershed models of the upper Truckee for assessment of climate change impacts on water resources. NWRA 2013 Truckee River Symposium

Volk, J. M., Prudick, D., Rajagopal, S., Huntington, J. L., Niswonger, R. (2013). Climate Change Impacts on the Lehman-Baker Creek Drainage in the Great Basin National Park. AGU, December 10, 2013

Huntington, J. L., Mihvec, T., Allen, R., Spears, M., Rajagopal, S., Gangopadhyay, S., Eckhart, D. (2013). Development of a Reservoir Meteorological Network for Estimating Evaporation to Aid in Operations, Policies, and Procedures

2012
Huntington, J. L., Niswonger, R. G., Rajagopal, S., Pohll, G. M., Reeves, D. M. (2012). Quantifying Integrated Hydrologic Model Input and Parameter Uncertainty using Markov Chain Monte Carlo Simulations. American Geophysical Union 2012 Fall Conference: San Francisco, CA.

Huntington, J. L., Rajagopal, S., Allen, R. G., Mihevc, T. M., Schumer, R., Caldwell, T. G., deBruin, H. (2012). Energy Balance Comparison and Closure at a Moist Desert Playa: The Importance of Ground Heat Storage and Flux Estimation. American Geophysical Union 2012 Fall Conference: San Francisco, CA.

Rajagopal, S., Mihevc, T. M. (2012). Design and verification of an inexpensive sonic water depth sensor using Arduino. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting: San Francisco

2006
Rajagopal, S., Boyle, D. P., Lamorey, G., Bassett, S. (2006). Optimizing the Carson River to Minimize Water Quantity and Quality Impacts on the Truckee River: Reno, NV

2005
Rajagopal, S., Boyle, D. P., Lamorey, G., Coors, S., Mann, M. (2005). Toward improving water supply forecasts on the Carson River with a physically based hydrologic model: Melbourne, Australia

2004
Naranjo, R. C., Rajagopal, S., Boyle, D. P. (2004). Development of an Integrated Physical and Engineering Hydrologic Model of the Rio Grande: Albuquerque, NM