Firn Densification and Meltwater Percolation

Collaborators: Surendra Adhikari (NASA JPL), C. Max Stevens (NASA Goddard), Asa Rennermalm (Rutgers), Jing Xiao (Rutgers), Cyril Grima (UT Austin), Anja Rutishauser (GEUS), Marc Hesse (UT Austin), Reed Maxwell (Princeton)

Developing multidimensional models for meltwater infiltration, refreezing, and ice-layer formation in polar firn.

• Developed a multidimensional three-phase snow-water-air flow model for polar firn
• Validated model predictions against field observations and analytical benchmarks
• Simulated ice-layer formation under repeated melt events at the DYE-2 site in Greenland

Preprint (2026), Paper (2025), Paper (2024)

Firn Aquifers

Collaborators: Howard Stone and Reed Maxwell (Princeton University)

Developing reduced-order models for the expansion of aquifers in cold firn.

• Formulated a vertically integrated model for aquifer growth in cold firn
• Reduced computational cost by approximately 20 times relative to fully resolved simulations
• Quantified the impact of firn temperature on aquifer expansion dynamics

Preprint (2025), Code

Integrated Hydrologic Modeling with ParFlow and Community Land Model

Collaborators: Nicholas Jadallah and Reed Maxwell (Princeton University)

Investigating how physical process representations affect large-scale integrated hydrologic simulations.

• Quantified the role of capillary forcing across spatial scales in coupled hydrologic models
• Reformulated snow hydrology from a bucket-based representation toward a Darcy-based framework
• Evaluated model behavior against remote sensing products and field observations

Paper in preparation

Physics-Informed Neural Networks for Groundwater Flow

Collaborators: Dingcheng Luo, Yiran Shen, Eric Hiatt, and Marc Hesse (UT Austin)

Developed data-driven frameworks to infer governing equations and parameters in groundwater systems.

• Inferred groundwater flow equations directly from sparse observational data
• Estimated hydraulic conductivity and boundary conditions in transient seepage problems
• Assessed PINN robustness under model-data mismatch and scaling limitations

Paper (2023)

Analytical and Numerical Models of Terrestrial Hydrology

Advisor: Marc Hesse (UT Austin)

Developed theoretical and numerical models to quantify unsaturated and saturated flow.

• Derived analytical scaling laws for drainage dynamics in unconfined groundwater systems
• Developed finite-difference solvers for nonlinear diffusion equations
• Validated theoretical predictions using analytic solutions and real data

Paper (2024), Paper (2023), Paper (2022)

Vadose Zone and Groundwater Systems on Early Mars

Collaborators: Eric Hiatt (UT Austin), Rickbir Bahia (ESA), Eleni Bohacek (ESA), Vilmos Steinmann (Eötvös Loránd University), and Marc Hesse (UT Austin)

Developed models for groundwater flow, recharge, and residence times in early Martian crust.

• Developed aquifer models on spherical shells incorporating vertical heterogeneity
• Quantified vadose-zone residence times and infiltration depths
• Linked subsurface hydrology to constraints on early Martian climate evolution

Paper (2025), Paper (2023), LPSC abstracts: 2026, 2023, 2022

Melt Migration in Icy Ocean Worlds

Advisor: Steven Vance (NASA JPL) and Marc Hesse (UT Austin)

Developed models for melt transport, hydrothermal circulation, and organic migration through icy ocean-world shells.

• Modeled melt transport in viscously compacting ice shells
• Tracked organic and thermal transport using tracer-based methods
• Derived scaling laws for melt migration and hydrothermal circulation timescales

Paper in preparation, LPSC (2024)

Reactive Transport for CO₂ Removal via Enhanced Weathering

Collaborators: Jacob Jordan (Mati Carbon), Valentina Prigobbe (University of Padova), Yoshiki Kanzaki (Georgia Tech), Noah Planavsky (Yale), Christopher T. Reinhard (Georgia Tech)

Developing analytical and numerical models for multicomponent reactive transport in soils for carbon dioxide removal.

• Formulated analytical models for multicomponent reactive transport in soil columns
• Derived nonlinear wave solutions for cation exchange processes
• Validated predictions against PHREEQC geochemical simulations

Preprint (2026)

High-Order Finite-Volume Methods in Curvilinear Coordinates

Advisor: Kun Xu (HKUST)

Developed high-order numerical schemes for solving hyperbolic partial differential equations in complex geometries.

• Developed fifth-order WENO reconstruction schemes in curvilinear coordinates
• Derived analytical weights and verified convergence properties
• Implemented and released an open-source numerical solver framework

Paper (2020), Paper (2019), Code

High-Performance Scientific Computing for Large-Scale PDEs

Platform: Stampede2, Texas Advanced Computing Center

Built and tested scientific computing workflows for solving large-scale partial differential equations.

• Implemented C++ solvers and automated testing workflows for elliptic PDE problems
• Integrated scientific libraries including PETSc, HDF5, MASA, and GRVY
• Used SLURM, Docker, Travis CI, and code-coverage tools for reproducible computation

Video

Drop Dynamics in Viscoelastic Media

Advisor: Irmgard Bischofberger (MIT)

Studied the breakup and stability of falling drops in viscoelastic fluids using experiments and image analysis.

• Characterized drop breakup and stability in viscoelastic fluids
• Quantified Deborah number scaling using controlled experiments
• Developed MATLAB tools for high-speed image-based flow analysis

APS DFD Abstract, Code

Combustion and Multiphysics Flow Modeling

Developed models and experiments for reacting flows, high-speed propulsion, and multicomponent combustion.

• Analyzed flame stability under varying Lewis number conditions
• Simulated reacting flows in high-speed scramjet-like regimes
• Coupled thermal and fluid transport processes in combustion systems

Paper (2017)