Research

We work at the forefront of research in the following areas: 

1. Computational hydraulics and data analytics to develop advanced models and tools to predict and forecast water-related natural hazards and hydro-environmental flow processes 
2. Social and political science for disaster risk reduction encompassing multi-stakeholder engagement, policy development, urban planning, and gender considerations 
3. Geohazard assessment, human-landscape interactions and resilient infrastructure  
4. Modelling, experimental and field studies for hazard risk mitigation 

We value interdisciplinary collaboration to push research frontiers and share knowledge to step change engineering practice in managing natural hazard risks and enhancing societal resilience to climate change.

Ongoing projects

• PYRAMID: Platform for dYnamic, hyper-resolution, near-real-time flood Risk AssessMent Integrating repurposed and novel Data sources, NERC (NE/V003321/1; 08/2020 – 08/2023)​
• GCRF Living Deltas Hub, UKRI GCRF Collective Programme (NE/S008926/1; 02/2019 – 05/2024), https://www.livingdeltas.org​
• FLASH: Fit-for-purpose high-resoLution risk Assessment and forecasting System for rainfall-induced Hazards in Bhutan, NERC (2021COPA&R46Chen; 10/2021 – 03/2022)​
• Beyond the Networked City: Building Innovative Delivery Systems for Water, Sanitation and Energy in Urban Africa, EPSRC-GCRF (ES/T007656/1; 04/2020 – 03/2023)​
• Impact scenario modelling for risk-based flood warning in India, WCSSP India Science plan, UK Met Office (DN394978)​
• FUTURE-DRAINAGE: Ensemble climate change rainfall estimates for sustainable drainage, NERC UK Climate Resilience programme (NE/S017348/1)​
• 'Living laboratories' for achieving sustainable development goals across national and sub-national scales, NERC Towards a Sustainable Earth programme (NE/S012427/1; https://luanhelivinglab.home.blog)​
• Valuing the benefits of blue/green infrastructure for flood resilience, natural capital and urban development in Viet Nam (ValBGI), NERC-Newton Fund Understanding of the Impacts of Hydrometeorological Hazards in South East Asia programme (NE/S00288X/1; 01/2019 – 03/2022)​
• WeACT: Web-Based Natural Dam-Burst Flood Hazard Assessment and ForeCasting SysTem, NERC SHEAR programme (NE/S005919/1; 09/2018 – 08/2020)

• Angel D, Chmutina K, Haines V, Del Pinto M (2024) “‘Effing Awful!’: developing audio representation as a medium for conveying people's experiences of flooded homes. Disaster Prevention and Management. DOI: 10.1108/DPM-01-2024-0033
• Cheek W, Chmutina K (2024) Lifting the Spatial Veil: Using Soja’s Postmodern Geographies to Theorize Disasters. Journal of Disaster Studies, 1 (1), 70-90.
• Chmutina K, von Meding J, Williams DA, Remes J, Cheek W, Alburo‐Cañete KZ (2024) Solidarity in disaster scholarship. Disasters. DOI: 10.1111/disa.12657
• Cohen A, Dalyot S, Natapov A, Nelson T (2024) How accessible are cities for visually impaired pedestrians? A case of Greater London. Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, 0(0). EPB: Urban Analytics and City Science 0(0). DOI: 10.1177/23998083241256402
• Del Pinto M, Chmutina K, Palaiologou F, Bosher L (2024) The Role of the Spatial Network in Urban Disaster Risk Variations: Reimagining the Notion of Spatial Vulnerability at the Urban Scale. International Journal of Disaster Risk Science. DOI: : https://doi.org/10.1007/s13753-024-00554-w
• Gupta R, Chembolu V, Marjoribanks TI, Dutta S (2024) Assessing the efficacy of hydro-ecological based wetland management approach for flood resilience of a large river catchment. Journal of Hydrology, 641, 131761.
• Lan H, Hoult N, Moore I D (2024) Numerical Investigation of Strain Variations along Steel Pipelines in Four-Point Bending Tests. Journal of Pipeline Systems Engineering and Practice, 15(4), 04024042. https://doi.org/10.1061/JPSEA2.PSENG-1625 
• Lan H, Yan X, Moore I D (2024) Mud infiltration and travel paths during mud loss experiments on horizontal borehole stability. Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology, 144, 105565. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tust.2023.105565
• Natapov A, Cohen A, Dalyot S (2024) Urban planning and design with points of interest and visual perception. Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, 51(3).  DOI:10.1177/23998083231191338
• Qin H, Liang Q, Chen H, De Silva V (2024) A Coupled Human and Natural Systems (CHANS) framework integrated with reinforcement learning for urban flood mitigation. Journal of Hydrology, 643, 131918.​
• Qin H, Liang Q, Chen H, De Silva V (2024) A two-way coupled CHANS model for flood emergency management, with a focus on temporary flood defences. Environmental Modelling & Software, 181, 106166.​
• Qin H, Liang Q, Chen H, De Silva V (2024) A high‐performance Coupled Human And Natural Systems (CHANS) model for flood risk assessment and reduction. Water Resources Research, 60(7), e2023WR036269.​
• Hill B, Chen H, Liang Q, Bosher L, Vann J (2024) Monitoring solutions for remote locations: A data gathering approach for remote nature-based solution sites. Nature-Based Solutions, 5, 100120.​
• Wang W, Du Q, Yang H, Jin P, Wang F, Liang Q (2024) Drought patterns and multiple teleconnection factors driving forces in China during 1960–2018. Journal of Hydrology, 631: 130821​
• Hill B, Chen H, Liang Q, Bosher L, Vann J (2024) Monitoring solutions for remote locations: A data gathering approach for remote nature-based solution sites. Nature-Based Solutions, 5: 100120.​
• Hergibo P, Liang Q, Phillips TN, Xie Z (2024) A quadtree-based adaptive moment-of-fluid method for interface reconstruction with filaments. Journal of Computational Physics, 499: 112719.​
• Xia X, Jarsve KT, Dijkstra T, Liang Q, Meng X, Chen G (2023) An integrated hydrodynamic model for runoff-generated debris flows with novel formulation of bed erosion and deposition. Engineering Geology, 326: 107310.​
• Wang H, Wang G, Zheng J, Liang Q, Tao A (2023) Advancements in nearshore wave modeling: A unified one-layer nonhydrostatic approach. Physics of Fluids, 35(7): 076610.​
• Tong X, Lai X, Liang Q (2023) An improved non-point source pollution model for catchment-scale hydrological processes and phosphorus loads. Journal of Hydrology, 621: 129588.​
• Hill B, Liang Q, Bosher L, Chen H, Nicholson A (2023) A systematic review of natural flood management modelling: Approaches, limitations, and potential solutions. Journal of Flood Risk Management, 16: e12899.​
• Cui Y, Liang Q, Xiong Y, Wang G, Wang T, Chen H (2023) Assessment of Object-Level Flood Impact in an Urbanized Area Considering Operation of Hydraulic Structures. Sustainability, 15:4589.​
• Guan X, Xia C, Xu H, Liang Q, Ma C, Xu S (2023) Flood risk analysis integrating of Bayesian-based time-varying model and expected annual damage considering non-stationarity and uncertainty in the coastal city. Journal of Hydrology, 617: 129038.​
• Zhong B, Wang Z, Yang H, Xu H, Gao M, Liang Q (2023) Parameter Optimization of SWMM Model Using Integrated Morris and GLUE Methods. Water, 15: 149 (17 pages).​
• Lin L, Tang C, Liang Q, Wu Z, Wang X, Zhao S (2023) Rapid urban flood risk mapping for data-scarce environments using social sensing and region-stable deep neural network. Journal of Hydrology, 617: 128758.