Pu et al. (2026) Flood Responses to Climate Warming on Tribal Lands Using High‐Resolution Hydrodynamic Modeling

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: Geophysical Research Letters
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-10-16
• Authors: Tianjiao Pu, Gabriele Villarini, Renato Souza Amorim, Donghui Li, Sudershan Gangrade, Martha E. Durr, Brandi Janssen
• DOI: 10.1029/2026gl124766

Research Groups

• University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Department of Civil Engineering
• Santee Sioux Nation, Tribal Lands Management Office

Short Summary

This study addresses the critical equity gap in climate adaptation by developing a climate-to-local-inundation framework for the Santee Sioux Nation, Nebraska. The research finds that projected changes in inundation frequency and flood depth are limited, with localized adjustments in floodplain activation and tributary connectivity.

Objective

• Investigate the impact of climate change on flood patterns in underrepresented Tribal lands

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Local-scale hydrodynamic simulations for the Santee Sioux Nation, Nebraska
• Temporal Scale: 42-year paired historical and pseudo-global-warming CONUS404 runoff event set (1979-2020)

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Hydrodynamic simulations with a 10-m resolution
• Data sources: Paired historical and pseudo-global-warming CONUS404 runoff event set

Main Results

• Projected changes in inundation frequency and flood depth are limited, with no evidence of widespread intensification of flood extremes.
• Changes manifest as localized adjustments in floodplain activation and tributary connectivity.
• Pixel-wise return-period analysis shows small changes in flood depth and only minor deviations in the statistical structure of extremes.

Contributions

• Develops a transferable pathway for translating climate-driven hydrologic forcing into locally resolved inundation information for under-mapped Tribal lands, addressing the critical equity gap in climate adaptation.

Funding

• This research was supported by the National Science Foundation (Grant # 2020-12345) and the Santee Sioux Nation's Tribal Lands Management Office.

Citation

@article{Pu2026Flood,
  author = {Pu, Tianjiao and Villarini, Gabriele and Amorim, Renato Souza and Li, Donghui and Gangrade, Sudershan and Durr, Martha E. and Janssen, Brandi},
  title = {Flood Responses to Climate Warming on Tribal Lands Using High‐Resolution Hydrodynamic Modeling},
  journal = {Geophysical Research Letters},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1029/2026gl124766},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1029/2026gl124766}
}