Garry Willgoose

Biography

My most important research contributions have been (1) the development of the SIBERIA landform evolution model and the computational techniques underpinning its high performance for my PhD in 1989, (2) the subsequent research insights on landscape optimality and equilibria arising from its physics and (3) applications of data assimilation methodologies to the estimation and prediction of hydrology and soil moisture in the field with remote sensing and field instrumentation. The development of SIBERIA is generally asserted to have reinvigorated the field of geomorphology. One finding from SIBERIA was a process explanation for the observed relationship between slope and catchment area for hillslopes and channels. This technique has become a standard tool for interpreting process in the field, and barely a month goes by without a new paper on the relationship. In recent years the research emphasis has shifted. Recent SIBERIA developments have been in geomorphic model testing and pioneering applications of landform evolution modelling in the mining and hazardous waste containment industries. In the waste containment field I have been a pioneer in using landform evolution models to assess the long-term safety of waste containment structures and SIBERIA is currently being used to assess mine tailings structures by consultants and research agencies around the world, and nuclear waste facilities in the USA, most notably at the Los Alamos National Lab. Software developed in the soil moisture data assimilation work has been incorporated into the NASA Land Data Assimilation System (LDAS) used for weather and climate forecasting at NASA.

Research Interest

Geomorphology and Regolith and Landscape Evolution, Civil Engineering , Environmental Engineering