Dr. Mauricio Zambrano-Bigiarini 🏥

Dr. Mauricio Zambrano-Bigiarini

(he/him)

Associate Professor

Department of Civil Engineering, Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco, Chile

Professional Summary

I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of La Frontera. I hold a PhD in Environmental Engineering from the University of Trento (Italy) and completed postdoctoral training at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre. I have more than 20 years of experience in water resources research and have previously served as an Associate Researcher at the Center for Climate and Resilience Research (CR)2 and as a member of the Earth Sciences Assessment Group of the Chilean National Research and Development Agency (ANID).

My research lies at the interface of hydrology, data science, and environmental sciences, with a particular focus on the use of gridded datasets and open-source tools to investigate droughts, extreme events, and water-related impacts of global change.

I work across spatial and temporal scales to improve the understanding of catchment-scale hydrological processes and to translate this knowledge into operational modelling, forecasting, and early-warning systems that support robust environmental decision-making.

Please reach out to collaborate 😃

Education

PhD in Environmental Engineering

2007-01-01
2010-07-31

Università degli Studi di Trento, Trento, Italy

Diploma in Water Pollution

2002-08-01
2002-10-31

Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile

Diploma in Environmental Management

2002-11-01
2002-12-31

Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile

Civil Engineer

1992-03-01
1998-12-31

Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile

Interests

Use of gridded data (e.g., P, ET, SM) for drought monitoring and hydrological modelling at various spatial and temporal scales. Analysis of extreme precipitation events and the catchment’s response to such events. Global optimization and sensitivity analysis of hydrological models. Development of R packages for management and analysis of hydrometeorological dataarning.
Mapuche land acknowledgement
Graphic representation of Dr. Mauricio Zambrano-Bigiarini's recognition of the Mapuche people

Graphic representation of Dr. Mauricio Zambrano-Bigiarini’s recognition of the Mapuche people

I acknowledge the territory on which Universidad de La Frontera stands, which is the land of the Mapuche people. I honor and respect these peoples’ past, present, and future, their continuing presence in this region, and the enduring relationships that exist between them and these lands and ecosystems. I strive to be mindful of these relationships, and to integrate them into my research, teaching, decision-making, and actions, while also acknowledging that I still have much to learn from them.

Featured Publications

From grid to ground: how well do gridded products represent soil moisture dynamics in natural ecosystems during precipitation events?

Soil moisture (SM) is a critical variable governing land–atmosphere interactions and influencing ecohydrological and climatic processes. Despite substantial progress in estimating …

daniel-a.-nunez-ibarra

Developing Intensity-Duration-Frequency (IDF) curves using sub-daily gridded and in situ datasets: characterising precipitation extremes in a drying climate

Traditionally, Intensity-Duration-Frequency (IDF) curves are based on rain gauge data under the assumption of stationarity. However, only limited long time series of sub-daily …

cristobal-soto-escobar

hydroMOPSO: A flexible and model-independent multi-objective optimisation R package for environmental and hydrological models

This article introduces hydroMOPSO, a multi-objective, model-independent R package for the calibration of hydrological and environmental models. It supports both R-based and …

rodrigo-marinao

Hydropedological clustering: improving the representation of low streamflows in a semi-distributed hydrological model

Low streamflows are critical for sustaining water supply in Mediterranean regions, yet their simulation remains challenging due to the complex influence of soils on subsurface …

fernando-gimeno
Recent Publications
(2025). Hyperdroughts in central Chile: drivers, impacts, and projections. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences.
Recent talks

Hidrodesafios 2025 Seminar

Hidrodesafios 2025 Seminar

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Dr. Mauricio Zambrano-Bigiarini

III Regional Climate Change Seminar

III Regional Climate Change Seminar

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Dr. Mauricio Zambrano-Bigiarini

SICyR 2025: Sessions HC2 and HC7

SICyR 2025: Sessions HC2 and HC7

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Dr. Mauricio Zambrano-Bigiarini

SICyR 2025: R course

Course 'Using R for Spatiotemporal Data Analysis'

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Dr. Mauricio Zambrano-Bigiarini

XXVII Congreso Chileno de Hidráulica: R course

Course 'Using R for spatio-temporal data analysis: application to daily data CR2Met v2.5'

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Dr. Mauricio Zambrano-Bigiarini
Latest blog posts

Article on the evaluation of gridded soil moisture products published in HESS

Article on gridded soil moisture products published in HESS

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Dr. Mauricio Zambrano-Bigiarini

The Past 3 Years Have Been the Three Hottest

Global average temperatures in 2025 were the third hottest on record, surpassed only by 2024 and 2023

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Dr. Mauricio Zambrano-Bigiarini

Article on gridded IDF curves published in HESS

Article on gridded IDF curves published in HESS

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Dr. Mauricio Zambrano-Bigiarini

Article on hydroMOPSO R package published in EMS

Article on multi-objective optimisation R package published in EMS

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Dr. Mauricio Zambrano-Bigiarini

Article on hydropedological clustering published in JoH

Article on hydropedological clustering published in JoH

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Dr. Mauricio Zambrano-Bigiarini

WMO confirms 2024 as warmest year on record at about 1.55°C above pre-industrial level

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has confirmed that 2024 is the warmest year on record, based on six international datasets. The past ten years have all been in the Top …

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Dr. Mauricio Zambrano-Bigiarini

Anemometer installation at the Invernada station

Anemometer installation at the Invernada station

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Dr. Mauricio Zambrano-Bigiarini

Article on hydrological drought monitoring published in HESS

Article on hydrological drought monitoring published in HESS

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Dr. Mauricio Zambrano-Bigiarini

2023 was the warmest year on record, (NOAA)

2023 was the warmest year on record,

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Dr. Mauricio Zambrano-Bigiarini

Hottest July on Record (174 years), (NASA)

Hottest July on Record

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Dr. Mauricio Zambrano-Bigiarini