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

2025-HESS

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Duis posuere tellus ac convallis placerat. Proin tincidunt magna sed ex sollicitudin condimentum.

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Dr. Mauricio Zambrano-Bigiarini

An example preprint / working paper

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Dr. Mauricio Zambrano-Bigiarini

An example conference paper

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Dr. Mauricio Zambrano-Bigiarini
Recent Publications
Recent & Upcoming Talks

Create Beautiful Presentations with Markdown

Discover how to create stunning, interactive presentations using simple Markdown — no PowerPoint, Keynote, or vendor lock-in required.

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Dr. Mauricio Zambrano-Bigiarini
Recent News

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

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

Earth just had its hottest June on record (NOAA)

Earth just had its hottest June on record

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Dr. Mauricio Zambrano-Bigiarini

Después de la gran tormenta, ¿cómo rediseñaremos? (El Mostrador)

Después de la gran tormenta, ¿cómo rediseñaremos?

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Dr. Mauricio Zambrano-Bigiarini

Article on challenge of unprecedented floods and droughts in risk management published in Nature

Article on challenge of unprecedented floods and droughts in risk management published in Nature

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Dr. Mauricio Zambrano-Bigiarini

Is the megadrought over with the last frontal system? (The Clinic)

Is the megadrought over with the last frontal system?

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Dr. Mauricio Zambrano-Bigiarini
Other Projects

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

2025-HESS

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Duis posuere tellus ac convallis placerat. Proin tincidunt magna sed ex sollicitudin condimentum.

avatar
Dr. Mauricio Zambrano-Bigiarini

Pulliko: Gridded soil moisture for Chile

Explorer of near real-time and historical gridded soil moisture products

Curvas IDF Chile

Gridded Intensity-Duration-Frequency Curves for Chile

hydroMOPSO

Multi-Objective Optimisation with Focus on Environmental Models