Luther professor's research shows higher risks of flooding along Upper Iowa River due to climate change

Research on the Upper Iowa River conducted by Luther College professor of mathematics Richard Bernatz has concluded that climate change is increasing the odds of flooding along the river.

Bernatz's article, "Flood Frequency Estimation by Neyman-Scott Rectangular Pulse Rainfall Model and TopModel," has just been published by the Journal of the Iowa Academy of Sciences.  The article is focused on an on-going Luther project that collects and analyzes rainfall and runoff data for the Upper Iowa River.
           
Bernatz is the author of numerous journal articles, including pieces on computational fluid dynamics with applications in meteorology, climatology and mathematical models of watersheds.

The project works as a means to predict the effect of a warming climate on annual peak flows. The results say climate change has led to a 20 percent increase in the excedence probability flow.

Bernatz holds a bachelor's degree from Luther College, a master's degree from Iowa State University and a doctoral degree from the University of Iowa.