Ajay Kalra | Civil and Environmental Engineering | SIU

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Ajay Kalra

Associate Professor, Ph.D., P.E.

photo of ajay kalra

Office Phone: 618-453-7008
Email: kalraa@siu.edu
Building: Engineering B, Room 114
Google Scholar Profile

Research Interests:

My research interests are interdisciplinary in the area of hydro-climatology, urban sustainability, artificial intelligence, water resources management, drought frequency, and probabilistic forecasting and downscaling.

Classes: 

  • ENGR 370- Fluid Mechanics
  • CE 301 - Introduction to Resource Sustainability
  • CE 472 - Open Channel Hydraulics
  • CE 474 - Water Resources Engineering
  • CE 495A - Civil Engineering Design
  • CE 572 - Advanced Hydraulic Design
  • CE 573 - Modeling of Hydrosystems

Education: 

  • Ph.D., Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, 2011
  • M.S., Civil and Environmental Engineering, Utah State University, Logan, UT, 2005
  • B.S., Civil Engineering, Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh, India, 2002

Publications

Journal Articles:

  • Carrier, C., A. Kalra, and S. Ahmad, 2016, Long-range precipitation forecast using paleoclimate reconstructions in the western United States, Journal of Mountain Science, doi:10.1007/s11629-014-3360-2 (in press).
  • Sagarika, S., A. Kalra, and S. Ahmad, 2015, Pacific ocean SST and Z500 climate variability and western U.S. seasonal streamflow, International Journal of Climatology, doi: 10.1002/joc.4442.
  • Bailey, D.W., D.W. Held, A. Kalra, N. Twarakavi, F. Arriaga, 2015, Biopores from mole crickets (Scapteriscus sup.) increase soil hydraulic conductivity and infiltration rates, Applied Soil Ecology, 94, 7-14, doi: 10.1016/j.apsoil.2015.04.011. 
  • Sagarika, S., A. Kalra, and S. Ahmad, 2015, Interconnections between oceanic-atmospheric indices and variability in the U.S. streamflow, Journal of Hydrology, 525, 724-736, doi: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2015.04.020.
  • Sagarika, S., A. Kalra, and S. Ahmad, 2014, Long-term trends and step changes in streamflow of the continental United States, Journal of Hydrology, 517, 36-53, doi: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2014.05.002.
  • Carrier, C., A. Kalra, and S. Ahmad, 2013, Using paleo reconstructions to improve streamflow forecast lead-time in the western United States, Journal of American Water Resources Association,49(6), 1351-1366, doi: 10.1111/jawr.12088.
  • Kalra, A., L. Lanhai, L. Xuemei, and S. Ahmad, 2013, Improving streamflow forecast lead time using oceanic-atmospheric oscillations for Kaidu river Basin, Xinjiang, China, Journal of Hydrologic Engineering, 18(8), 1031-1040, doi: 10.1061/(ASCE)HE.1943-5584.0000707.
  • Kalra, A., W.P. Miller, K.W. Lamb, S. Ahmad, and T.C. Piechota, 2013, Using large-scale climate patterns for improving long lead time streamflow forecast for Gunnison and San Juan River Basins, Hydrological Processes, 27(11), 1543-1559, doi:10.1002/hyp.9236.
  • Kalra, A., S. Ahmad, and A. Nayak, 2013, Increasing streamflow forecast lead time for snowmelt driven catchment using large scale climate patterns, Advances in Water Resources, 53, 150-162, doi:10.1016/j.advwatres.2012.11.003.
  • Kalra, A., and S. Ahmad, 2012, Estimating annual precipitation for Colorado River Basin using oceanic-atmospheric oscillations, Water Resources Research, 48, W06527, doi:10.1029/2011WR010667.
  • Kalra, A., and S. Ahmad, 2011, Evaluating changes and estimating seasonal precipitation for Colorado River Basin using stochastic nonparametric disaggregation technique, Water Resources Research, 47, W05555, doi:10.1029/2010WR009118.
  • Ahmad, S., A. Kalra, and H. Stephen., 2010, Estimating soil moisture using remote sensing data: A machine learning approach, Advances in Water Resources, 33(1), 69-80.
  • Kalra, A., and S. Ahmad, 2009, Using oceanic-atmospheric oscillation for long lead-time streamflow forecasting, Water Resources Research, 45, W03413, doi:10.1029/2008WR006855.
  • Kalra, A., T. C. Piechota, G. A. Tootle, and R. Davies., 2008. Changes in U.S. streamflow and western U.S. snowpack, Journal of Hydrologic Engineering, 13(3), 156-163 (Nominated: Outstanding Technical Paper).

Magazines/Newspaper Articles:

  • Can the Southwest Manage Its Thirst? In American Association for the Advancement of Science Pacific Division Conference, Science, 341, pp 362, July 26, 2013

Conference Proceedings:

  • Tamaddun, K.A., A. Kalra, and S. Ahmad, 2015, Spectral analysis of streamflow for continental United States, ASCE World Water and Environmental Resources Congress, Austin, Texas, May 17-21, doi: 10.1061/9780784479162.112, pp. 1135-1144.
  • Kalra, A., S. Sagarika, and S. Ahmad, 2015, Spatial and temporal evaluating of hydroclimatic variables in the Colorado River Basin, ASCE World Water and Environmental Resources Congress, Austin, Texas, May 17-21, doi: 10.1061/9780784479162.110, pp. 1118-1127.
  • Sagarika, S., A. Kalra, and S. Ahmad, 2015, Evaluating the relationship between western. U.S. streamflow and Pacific Ocean climate variability, ASCE World Water and Environmental Resources Congress, Austin, Texas, May 17-21, doi: 10.1061/9780784479162.097, pp. 999-1008.
  • Bukhary, S., A. Kalra, and S. Ahmad, 2015, Insights into reconstructing Sacramento River flow using tree rings and Pacific Ocean climate variability, ASCE World Water and Environmental Resources Congress, Austin, Texas, May 17-21, doi: 10.1061/9780784479162.102, pp. 1040-1049.
  • Chen, C., A. Kalra, and S. Ahmad, 2015, Exploring water management strategies in inland arid area suing dynamic simulation model, ASCE World Water and Environmental Resources Congress, Austin, Texas, May 17-21, doi: 10.1061/9780784479162.098, pp. 1009-1018.
  • Kalra, A., and S. Ahmad, 2014, Incorporating climate variability in a nonparametric modeling framework for improving hydrologic predictions, ASCE World Water and Environmental Resources Congress, Portland, Oregon, June 1-5, doi:10.1061/9780784413548.067, pp. 626-635.
  • Kalra, A., S. Sagarika , and S. Ahmad, 2014, Investigation of the linkages between oceanic atmospheric variability and continental U.S. streamflow, ASCE World Water and Environmental Resources Congress, Portland, Oregon, June 1-5, doi:10.1061/9780784413548.068, pp. 636-645.
  • Bukhary, S. , C. Chen, A. Kalra, and S. Ahmad, 2014, Improving streamflow reconstructions using oceanic-atmospheric climate variability, ASCE World Water and Environmental Resources Congress, Portland, Oregon, June 1-5, doi:10.1061/9780784413548.088, pp. 846-855.
  • Carrier, C. , A. Kalra, and S. Ahmad, 2011, Using proxy reconstructions for streamflow forecasting, Proceedings of ASCE World Water and Environmental Resources Congress, Palm Springs, California, May 22-26, doi:10.1061/41173(414)326, pp. 3124-3133.

Invited Talks:

  • Sagarika, S., A. Kalra, and S. Ahmad, 2014, Variability in continental U.S. streamflow and teleconnections with oceanic-atmospheric indices, Graduate and Professional Student Research Forum, Las Vegas, Nevada, March 29.
  • Kalra, A., S. Ahmad, and N. K. Twarakavi, 2013, Using Pacific Ocean sea surface temperature for improving streamflow estimates in the Colorado River Basin, American Association for the Advancement of Science Pacific Division Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada, June 16-19.
  • Kalra, A., and S. Ahmad, 2013, Using sea surface temperatures for improving streamflow estimates, ASCE World Water and Environmental Resources Congress, Cincinnati, Ohio, May 19-23.
  • Sagarika, S., A. Kalra, and S. Ahmad, 2013, Analyzing the long term trends and change point in the continental United States streamflow, ASCE World Water and Environmental Resources Congress, Cincinnati, Ohio, May 19-23.
  • Kalra, A., P. Shrestha, and S. Ahmad, 2013, Using Pacific and Atlantic Ocean sea surface temperature for improving streamflow estimates in the Upper Truckee River basin, Nevada Water Resources Association, Reno, Nevada, January 29-31.
  • Lanhai, L., L. Xuemei, A. Kalra, and S. Ahmad, 2012, Relationship between oceanic-atmospheric oscillations and streamflow of Kaidu River, Xinjiang, China, ASCE World Water and Environmental Resources Congress, Albuquerque, New Mexico, May 20-24.
  • Carrier, C., A. Kalra, and S. Ahmad, 2012, Long-range streamflow forecasts using support vector machine in the western United States, ASCE World Water and Environmental Resources Congress, Albuquerque, New Mexico, May 20-24.
  • Kalra, A., and S. Ahmad, 2011, Streamflow forecasting based on large scale climate signal,Graduate and Professional Student Research Forum, Las Vegas, Nevada, March 26.
  • Kalra, A., S. Ahmad, and A. Nayak, 2011, Long lead-time streamflow forecasting based on large scale climate signals. A case study for North Platte River Basin, ASCE World Water and Environmental Resources Congress, Palm Springs, California, May 22-26.

Posters:

  1. Tamaddun, K.A.., A. Kalra, and S. Ahmad, 2015, Evaluating streamflow changes in continental U.S. using wavelet transformation, American Geophysical Union (AGU), San Francisco, California, December 14-18.
  2. Chen, C., S. Ahmad, H. Stephen, L. Fenstermaker, A. Kalra, 2015, Study of climate change to hydrologic processes in a snow-dominated area, American Geophysical Union (AGU), San Francisco, California, December 14-18.
  3. Bukhary, S., A. Kalra, and S. Ahmad, 2015, Using SST, PDO, and SOI for streamflow reconstructions, American Geophysical Union (AGU), San Francisco, California, December 14-18.
  4. Lamb, K, W. Miller, P., T.C. Piechota, V. Lakshmi, N. Santos, G.A. Tootle, A. Kalra, and J. Fayne, 2015, An application of advanced ensemble streamflow prediction methods to assess potential impacts of the 2015 – 2016 ENSO event over the Colorado River Basin, American Geophysical Union (AGU), San Francisco, California, December 14-18.
  5. Pathak, P. and A. Kalra, 2015, Rainfall runoff modeling for Cedar Creek using HEC-HMS model, American Geophysical Union (AGU), San Francisco, California, December 14-18.
  6. Lamb, K., W. Miller, V. Lakshmi, T.C. Piechota, G.A. Tootle, N. Santos, and A. Kalra, 2015, From parched to pouring: Can the 2015-2016 El Niño bring drought relief to California and western U.S., American Geophysical Union (AGU), San Francisco, California, December 14-18.
  7. Pathak, P., A. Kalra, and S. Ahmad, 2015, Evaluating long term hydrologic changes in Midwest United States, Mid-American Environmental Engineering Conference, Columbia, Missouri, October 23-24.
  8. Bukhary, S., A. Kalra, and S. Ahmad, 2015, Incorporating oceanic-atmospheric climate variability to improve the reconstructions of Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, UCOWR/NIWR/CUAHSI Conference, Las Vegas, NV, June 16-18.
  9. Tamaddun, K.A., A. Kalra, and S. Ahmad, 2015, Evaluating the effects of time-scales on long-term changes in streamflow, UCOWR/NIWR/CUAHSI Conference, Las Vegas, NV, June 16-18.
  10. Bukhary, S., M. Bernardez, A. Kalra, and S. Ahmad, 2015, Using Pacific Ocean climate information to improve the Tree Ring based reconstruction of Sacramento River, Nevada Water Resources Association, Reno, NV, January 27-29.
  11. Tamaddun, K.A., A. Kalra, and S. Ahmad, 2015, Detection of trends in streamflow with Discrete Wavelet Transforms (DWT), Nevada Water Resources Association, Reno, NV, January 27-29.
  12. Puri, S., A. Kalra, and S. Ahmad, 2014, Evaluation of streamflow trends in the Pacific Northwest using wavelet analysis, American Geophysical Union (AGU), San Francisco, California, December 15-19.
  13. Chen, C., A. Kalra, and S. Ahmad, 2014, Planning for regional water resources in northwest China using a dynamic simulation model, American Geophysical Union (AGU), San Francisco, California, December 15-19.
  14. Sagarika, S., M. Bernardez, A. Kalra, and S. Ahmad, 2014,Interactions of the Pacific Ocean variability with western U.S. streamflow, American Geophysical Union (AGU), San Francisco, California, December 15-19.
  15. Bukhary, S., M. Bernardez, A. Kalra, and S. Ahmad, 2014,Tree ring and climate information based reconstructions of streamflow for Sacramento River, California, American Geophysical Union (AGU), San Francisco, California, December 15-19.
  16. Sagarika, S., A. Kalra, and S. Ahmad, 2014, Role of large-scale climate patterns and sea surface temperature in influencing the continental U.S. streamflow, Nevada Water Resources Association, Las Vegas, Nevada, February 4-6.
  17. Chen, C., Z. Xu, A. Kalra, and S. Ahmad, 2014, Planning and managing water resources allocations in Shanshan County, China: A dynamic modeling approach, Nevada Water Resources Association, Las Vegas, Nevada, February 4-6.
  18. Bukhary, S., P. Hill, A. Kalra, and S. Ahmad, 2014, Improvement of hydrologic reconstructions using oceanic atmospheric climate variables, Nevada Water Resources Association, Las Vegas, Nevada, February 4-6.
  19. Kalra, A., and S. Ahmad, 2013, Using Pacific and Atlantic Ocean Climate Variability for Improving Streamflow Estimates in the Rio Grande River Basin, American Geophysical Union (AGU), San Francisco, California, December 9-13.
  20. Shillito, R., A. Kalra, N. Twarakavi, and M. Berli, 2013, Hydrophobicity following wildfire on an arid, alluvial soil, American Geophysical Union (AGU)Chapman Conference on Post-Wildfire Runoff and Erosion, Estes Park, Colorado, August 25-31.
  21. Sagarika, S., A. Kalra, and S. Ahmad, 2013, Detection of trend and step changes in contiguous U.S. streamflow, 23rd National NSF EPSCoR Conference, Nashville, Tennessee, November 3-7.
  22. Sagarika, S., A. Kalra, and S. Ahmad, 2013, Evaluating the relationship between oceanic-atmospheric indices and variability in the streamflow: A continental U.S. study, American Geophysical Union (AGU), San Francisco, California, December 9-13
  23. Sagarika, S., A. Kalra, and S. Ahmad, 2013, A simultaneous analysis of trend and step changes in the streamflow of the continental United States, American Association for the Advancement of Science Pacific Division Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada, June 16-19 (2nd place).
  24. Sagarika, S., A. Kalra, and S. Ahmad, 2013, Century wide hydrologic trends and shifts in the Colorado River Basin, Workshop on Climate Change Science for Effective Resources Management and Public Policy in the Western United States, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, March 27-28.
  25. Sagarika, S., A. Kalra, S. Kumar, and S. Ahmad, 2013, Analyzing long-term trends in hydrologic variables over the Colorado River basin, Nevada Water Resources Association, Reno, Nevada, January 29-31 (2nd place).
  26. Twarakavi, N.K., H. Saito, and A. Kalra, 2012, Experimental Investigation of water flow through hydrophobic soils, American Geophysical Union (AGU), San Francisco, California, December 3-7.
  27. Kalra, A., S. Ahmad, and N.K. Twarakavi, 2012, Using Pacific Ocean sea surface temperatures to improve lead time for streamflow estimates, American Geophysical Union (AGU), San Francisco, California, December 3-7.
  28. Kalra, A., and S. Ahmad, 2011, Improving streamflow forecast using predefined sea surface temperature, American Geophysical Union (AGU), San Francisco, California, December 5-9.
  29. Kalra, A., and S. Ahmad, 2010, Quantification of linkages between large-scale climate patterns and annual precipitation for the Colorado River Basin, American Geophysical Union (AGU), San Francisco, California, December 13-17.
  30. Kalra, A., W.P. Miller, S. Ahmad, and K.W. Lamb, 2010, Forecasting of annual streamflow using data driven modeling approach, American Geophysical Union (AGU), San Francisco, California, December 13-17.
  31. Kalra, A., S. Ahmad, and H. Stephen, 2009, Evaluating changes and estimating Seasonal Precipitation for Colorado River Basin using Nonparametric Density Estimation, American Geophysical Union (AGU), San Francisco, California, December 14-18.
  32. Kalra, A. and S. Ahmad, 2008, Estimating inflows to Lake Okeechobee using climate indices: A machine based learning approach, American Geophysical Union (AGU), San Francisco, California, December 15-19.
  33. Kalra, A. and S. Ahmad, 2007, Using oceanic-atmospheric oscillation for long lead-time streamflow forecasting in the Upper Colorado River Basin, American Geophysical Union (AGU), San Francisco, California, December 10-14.
  34. Kalra, A., T. C. Piechota, G. A. Tootle, and R. Davies, 2006, Climate variability in the western U.S.: A perspective from streamflow and snowpack, American Geophysical Union (AGU), San Francisco, California, December 11-15.
  35. Piechota, T. C., R. Davies, G. A. Tootle, and A. Kalra, 2005, Trend and step changes in U.S. streamflow data, American Geophysical Union (AGU), San Francisco, California, December 5-9.
  36. Kalra, A., D. G. Chandler, and J. P. McNamara, 2004, Complexities involved in one-dimensional infiltration model for predicting soil moisture content for a hillslope, American Geophysical Union (AGU), San Francisco, California, December 13-17.

Related Experiences

Professional Affiliations:

  • Member, American Geophysical Union
  • Member, American Society of Civil Engineers

Research:

  • Student Services Contractor, U.S. EPA, Las Vegas, NV, August 2013-March 2014
  • Postdoctoral Fellow, Desert Research Institute, Las Vegas, NV, December 2011-December 2013
  • Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, June 2011-December 2011
  • Graduate Research Assistant, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, August 2010-May 2011
  • Teaching Assistant, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, August 2005-May 2007
  • Graduate Research Assistant, Utah State University, Logan, UT, January 2003-May 2005

Professional:

  • Associate Engineer, Clark County Public Works, Las Vegas, NV, March 2014-August 2015
  • Engineer II, Atkins Inc., Henderson, NV, May 2007-August 2010

Honors and Awards:

  • Outstanding dissertation award 2011(UNLV)
  • Outstanding dissertation award 2011 (UNLV-College of Engineering)
  • Best poster award (2nd Place, UNLV-College of Engineering)
  • GPSA merit award 2010-2011
  • UNLV access grant 2010-2011
  • UNLV Travel grant (GPSA)
  • Member Tau Beta Pi (Engineering Honor Society)
  • Awarded college colors for outstanding student leadership (undergrad)