Kyle Chudler

Kyle Chudler is a hydrometeorologist at RTI who performs meteorological analysis of historical precipitation to develop precipitation-frequency relationships for various storm types across a wide spectrum of climate types and topographies. These precipitation-frequency relationships are then used in conjunction with hydrological models to conduct probabilistic flood hazard analyses, which are used by organizations (including Duke Energy, BC Hydro, and the Tennessee Valley Authority) to assess flood risk for dams and other structures. Dr. Chudler is also involved in several projects looking to incorporate the effects of a warming climate into precipitation-frequency and risk analyses. In one such active project with the Tennessee Valley Authority, forecasts of future temperature and precipitation from computer climate models are being compared to historical observations from weather stations to assess how precipitation frequency characteristics may change in a warming climate, as well as assessing the general validity and caveats of using large-scale climate models to represent to frequency of flooding rain events, which are typically governed by smaller-scale processes. Dr. Chudler is a member of the American Geophysical Union.