Morphodynamic Analysis and Statistical Synthesis of Geomorphic Data

As a major source of spatial uncertainty, fluvial processes are responsible for creating complex landforms in the Earth-surface, which are reworked over time to produce stratigraphic layers, and subsurface compartments where natural resources are stored. The complex morphology observed in fluvial dynamics (e.g. braided rivers) is difficult to parameterize over long time scales and has been a central object of study in the geomorphology community. In this dissertation, we propose a general characterization of surface processes in terms of morphological and statistical properties, and introduce a stochastic process, which can be calibrated from a single run of a physics-based model (e.g. flume experiment, satellite imagery) for fast synthesis of new data and uncertainty quantification.

Speaker: Julio Hoffimann Mendes