Research
Dr. Salas has been principal investigator of a number of research projects related to: flood prediction, drought prediction, stochastic modeling and generation of hydrologic processes, water supply forecasting, prediction of short term rainfall, impacts of climatic changes on agriculture, modeling of streamflow in arid regions, modeling and simulation of the Nile River System, stochastic analysis of the Colorado River system, modeling of the Truckee River system, modeling of the Great Lakes River system, and operation and safety studies of reservoir systems. These projects have been funded by national and international organizations such as the U.S. National Science Foundation, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Colorado Agricultural Experiment Station, NOAA, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the World Bank. Additionally, Dr. Salas' research includes developing mathematical models for predicting the gradual breach of earth dams, the conceptual (physically based) modeling of watershed processes, determining the uncertainty of reservoir sedimentation, quantifying the uncertainty of sediment loads, and risk analysis of extreme events in non-stationary systems.
The list below is a sample of Dr. Salas' research projects:
"Paleo-hydrology Study of the Lower Colorado River Basin", Colorado Water Resources Research Institute, Colorado Water Resources Research Institute and University of Colorado, 2010-2011.
"Multi-Century Streamflow Records Derived from Watershed Modeling and Tree Ring Data", National Science Foundation and The University of Nevada at Reno, 2008-2013.
"Generating stochastic flows for the Truckee River System", USBR, Department of Interior, 2007-2008.
"Predictability of the Upper Colorado River Streamflows", Colorado Water Resources Research Institute, 2007-2008.
"Development of Stochastic Hydrology for the Colorado River System", USBR, Department of Interior, 2005-2007.
"Predicting the Severity of Low Flows and Droughts for Agricultural Systems in Colorado", Colorado Agricultural Experiment Station, 2004-2007.
"Preliminary Research for the Development of Stochastic Hydrology for the Colorado River System", USBR, Department of Interior, 2004-2005.
"Stochastic Analysis, Modeling, and Simulation", USBR, Department of Interior, 2002-2004.
"Stochastic Modeling and Simulation of the Great Lakes Net Basin Supplies", Contract NA17RJ1228, GLERL, CIRA/NOAA, Department of Commerce, 2002-2003.
"Stochastic Analysis, Modeling, and Simulation", USBR, Department of Interior, 2000-2002.
"Quantifying Space-Time Variability in Agricultural Landscapes", USDA Agriculture Research Service, 1999-2004.
"Uncertainty and Risk Analysis Under Extreme Hydrologic Events", National Science Foundation, 1996-2000.
"Synthetic Streamflow Generation and Forecasting", BPA, Department of Energy, 1998-2001.
"Stochastic Analysis, Modeling, and Simulation", USBR, Department of Interior, 1998-2000.
"Predictability of Extreme Hydrologic Events Related to Colorado’s Agriculture", Colorado Agricultural Experiment Station, 1998-2001.
"Research Workshop on the Hydrometeorology, Impacts, & Management of Extreme Events", National Science Foundation, 1995-1998.
"Field to Farm to Ecosystem Scale Decision Support Models", USDA Agriculture Research Service, 1994-1999.
"Hydrological Modeling of the Maule River Basin, Chile", Catholic University of Chile, 1997-1999.
"Flow Prediction for Crater Lake National Park", Water Resources Division, National Park Service, 1996-1997.
"Affiliation Program in Water Resources and Environmental Engineering", U.S. Information Agency, 1993-1998.
"Flow Indexes and Watershed Modeling", Water Resources Division, National Park Service, 1995-1996.
"Modeling and Simulation of the Upper Nile River System", AID/Utah State University/Egyptian Ministry of Public Works and Water Resources, 1994-1995.
"Stochastic Modeling and Simulation Computer Package for Hydrology," U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, 1992-1998.
"Stochastic Modeling, Simulation, and Forecasting of Hydrometeorological Variables of the Great Lakes System", Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, NOAA, 1994-1995.
"Hydrological Investigations in Support of Federal Reserved Water Rights in National Parks", U.S. National Park Service, 1993-1994.
"Modeling and Simulation of the Upper Nile River System", U.S. Bureau of Reclamation-AID-Egyptian Ministry of Public Works and Water Resources, 1993-1994.
Regional Flood Hazard Analysis," National Science Foundation, 1991-1994.
"Impact of Climatic Changes on Colorado's Agricultural Water Supplies and Demands," Colorado Agricultural Experiment Station, 1992-1995.
"Great Plains Research," USDA Agriculture Research Service, 1992-1993.
"Hydrological and Climatological Model Development, Testing and Documentation," Department of Agriculture, ARS, 1989-1994.
"Modeling of Seasonal Intermittent Hydrologic Processes," U.S. Geological Survey, 1989-1992.
"Prediction of Droughts in Agricultural Regions of Colorado," Colorado Agricultural Experiment Station, 1989-1992.
"U.S.-Italy Cooperative Research on Prediction of Floods and Precipitation Events," National Science Foundation, 1988 –1991.
"Training Program for the Ministry of Public Works and Water Resources, Egypt," U.S. Bureau of Reclamation-AID, 1991.
"Forecasting Streamflow for Colorado River Systems," Colorado Water Resources Research Institute, 1990-1991.
"Improving Streamflow Forecasts for Colorado River Systems," Colorado Water Resources Research Institute, 1989-1990.
"Simulation and Optimization of Operations of the High Aswan Dam," U.S. Bureau of Reclamation - AID - Egyptian Ministry of Public Works and Water Resources.
"Validation Studies on Indexed Sequential Hydrological Modeling in the Colorado River System," Western Area Power Administration.
"Jiguey and Aguacate Hydrologic Study," EPSA/LABCO Dominican Republic, 1989-1990.
"Prediction of Flood Hazards Based on Joint Distribution Functions," National Science Foundation, 1987 1989.
"Improved Methods for Regional Flood Frequency Analysis," U.S. Geological Survey, 1986 1989.
"Characterizing the Properties of Precipitation for Agricultural Areas in Colorado," Colorado State University Agricultural Experiment Station, 1986 1989.
"Operational and Safety Studies of the Valdesia Reservoir System," Dominican Republic Government and the Interamerican Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture, World Bank Loan, 1984 1986.
"Research Visit to the University of Valencia," U.S.-Spain Joint Committee for Cooperation and the National Science Foundation, 1985.
"Stochastic Modeling of Geophysical Time Series," National Science Foundation, 1982-1984.
"Research Oriented Workshop on Experimental Watersheds," National Science Foundation, 1983.
"Scientific Visit To Uruguay: Design of Experimental Watersheds," National Science Foundation. 1982.
"Stochastic Mixture Models in Hydrologic and Geophysical Series," National Science Foundation, 1978 1980.
"Floods and Droughts in Small Watershed and Their Impacts on Colorado Energy Sources," CSU Experiment Station, 1981 1985.
"Prediction of Floods from Small Watershed," CSU Experiment Station, 1979 1981.
"Conference on Drought Research Needs," National Science Foundation, 1977 1978.
"Transfer of Modern Techniques for the Analysis of Water Resources Systems," Ministry of Agriculture of Perú-AID-CSU, 1976.
"Objective Functions and Operational Rules of Storage Reservoirs," Office of Water Resources Research and Technology, 1978 1980.
"Conjunctive Water Use of Large Scale Complex Water Resources Systems," NSF U.S. Spanish Cooperative Project, 1978 1983.