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Saubhagya S Rathore

R&D Associate Staff Scientist

Dr. Saubhagya Rathore is a watershed hydrologist at the Climate Change Science Institute at ORNL. With a background in numerical and analytical modeling of hydrologic systems, Dr. Rathore is dedicated to studying the intricate dynamics of inland and coastal watersheds.

Dr. Rathore's expertise lies in employing cutting-edge computer models to unravel the complexities of water resources within these diverse ecosystems. Through his research, he strives to understand and predict the behavior of water flow, assess water availability and quality, and evaluate the impact of human activities and climate change on watersheds.

2021 – present:  Associate Staff Scientist, Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Lab

2020 – 2021:  Post Doctoral Researcher, Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Lab

2019 – 2020:  Instructor of Record, College of Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology 

  • Honorable Mention (2nd place), UCOWR Ph.D. Dissertation Award (2021)
  • Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor for Civil and Environmental Engineering (2019)
  • Best Resident Advisor of the Year, Department of Housing, Georgia Tech (2019)
  • NAFSA Advocate - nominated by Georgia Tech, Capitol Hill, Washington D.C. (2018)
  • Undergraduate Research Award, IIT Bombay (2013)

 

2020:  Ph.D., Civil Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology

Development of seawater-freshwater interface in heterogeneous coastal aquifers

Ph.D. Dissertation advisor: Jian Luo and Aris Georgakakos

2017:  M.S., Civil Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology

Concentration: Environmental Fluid Mechanics and Water Resources Engineering

2014:  B.Tech., Civil Engineering (Honors), Indian Institute of Technology Bombay

B.Tech. Dissertation advisor: T.I. Eldho

Manuscript Reviewer

Nature Scientific Reports, Geophysical Research Letters, Water Resources Research, Journal of Hydrology, Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, Environmental Modeling and Software 

Proposal Reviewer 

  • DOE-ESS Panel Reviewer (2023, 2024)

Professional Society Service 

  • Session convener: Advances in Coastal Hydrology: Processes and Impacts, AGU Fall Meeting, 2019
  • Session convener: Groundwater-Surface Water Interactions: Integrating Physical, Biological, and Chemical Patterns and Processes Across Systems and Scales, AGU Fall Meeting, 2022

Georgia Institute of Technology 

  • Student Advisor: Honor Advisory Council, Office of Student Integrity, 2015-2019
  • Graduate Teaching Fellow: Center for Teaching and Learning, 2019

American Geophysical Union 

  1. Rathore, S.S., Svyatskii, D.S., Coon E. T., Son, K., and Painter, S.L. (2024) “Modeling the effects of artificial drainage on agriculture-dominated watersheds using a fully distributed integrated hydrology model.” Water Resources Research, 60, e2023WR035993, https://doi.org/10.1029/2023WR035993   
  2. Rathore, S.S., Coon E. T., and Painter, S.L. (2024) “A Stream-aligned Mixed Polyhedral Meshing Strategy for Integrated Surface- Subsurface Hydrological Models” Computers & Geosciences, July 2024, 105617https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cageo.2024.105617
  3. Perez, G., Coon, E.T., Rathore, S.S., Le, P.V.V. (2024), “Advancing process-based flood frequency analysis for assessing flood hazard and population flood exposure”. Journal of Hydrology, 639: 131620, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2024.131620
  4. Le, P. V. V., Rathore, S. S., Coon, E. T., Ward, A., Haggerty, R., and Painter, S. L. (2024) “Hydrologic connectivity and dynamics of solute transport in a mountain stream: Insights from a long-term tracer test and multiscale transport modeling informed by machine learning”. Journal of Hydrology, 639, 131562. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2024.131562     
  5. Rathore, S.S., Ward, A.S. and Painter, S.L., (2023) “Numerical evaluation of photosensitive tracers as a strategy for separating surface and subsurface transient storage in streams” Journal of Hydrology, 624, p.129931. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2023.129931
  6. Le, P.V., Rathore, S.S. and Painter, S.L., (2023) “A multiscale model for solute transport in stream corridors with unsteady flow”  Journal of Hydrology, 622, p.129670. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2023.129670
  7. Rathore, S.S., Schwartz, G.E., Brooks, S.C. and Painter, S. L., (2022) “Joint estimation of biogeochemical model parameters from multiple experiments: A Bayesian approach applied to mercury methylation” Environmental Modelling & Software, 155, p.105453. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2022.105453   
  8. Schwartz, G.E., Muller, K.A., Rathore, S.S., Wilpiszeski, R.L., Carrell, A.A., Cregger, M.A., Elias, D.A., Podar, M., Painter, S.L., Brooks, S.C., (2022) “Incorporating Variable Sediment Microbial Activity into Methylmercury Production Kinetics Modeling” Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts. https://doi.org/10.1039/D1EM00287B
  9. Rathore, S. S., Jan, A., Coon, E., Painter S. L. (2021), “On the Reliability of Parameter Inferences in a Multiscale Model for Transport in Stream Corridors” Water Resources Research, 57, https://doi:10.1029/2020WR028908
  10. Rathore, S. S., Lu, C., & Luo, J. (2020). “A semi-analytical method to fast delineate seawater‐freshwater interface in two‐dimensional heterogeneous coastal aquifers” Water Resources Research, 56, e2020WR027197. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020WR027197
  11. Rathore, S. S., Tang, Y., Lu, C., & Luo, J. (2020) “A Simplified Equation of Approximate Interface Profile in Stratified Coastal Aquifers” Journal of Hydrology, 124249.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2019.124249
  12. Tang, Y., Rathore, S. S., Lu, C., & Luo, J. (2020) “Development of groundwater lens for transient recharge in strip islands” Journal of Hydrology590, 125209. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2020.125209  
  13. Lu, C., Cao, H., Ma, J., Shi, W., Rathore, S. S., Wu, J., & Luo, J. (2019) “A proof‐of‐concept study of using a less permeable slice along the shoreline to increase fresh groundwater storage of oceanic islands: Analytical and experimental validation” Water Resources Research, 55,  6450– 6463. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018WR024529
  14. Rathore, S. S., Zhao, Y., Lu, C., & Luo, J. (2018). “Defining the effect of stratification in coastal aquifers using a new parameter”. Water Resources Research, 54(9). https://doi.org/doi:10.1029/2018WR023114
  15. Rathore, S. S., Zhao, Y., Lu, C., & Luo, J. (2018). “Analytical analysis of the temporal asymmetry between seawater intrusion and retreat”. Advances in Water Resources, 111, 121-131. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2017.11.001  
  16. Zhao, Y., Rathore, S. S., Liu, M., & Luo, J. (2018). “Joint Bayesian Inversion for Analyzing Conservative and Reactive Breakthrough Curves”  Journal of Hydrology, 567, 446-456. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2018.10.029  
  17. Lu, C., Wang, Z., Zhao, Y., Rathore, S. S., Huo, J., Tang, Y., et al. (2018). “A mobile-mobile transport model for simulating reactive transport in connected heterogeneous fields”. Journal of Hydrology, 560, 97-108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2018.02.073