Hydrology · Remote Sensing · Water Resources Systems · Climate Variability and Change

Deep Shah Hydrologist & Water Resources Researcher

I investigate how climate variability and human water management reshape water availability and drive water shortages in lakes and reservoirs around the world. My research combines satellite remote sensing, hydrological and water-resources systems modeling, machine learning, and decision-support systems—from monitoring global freshwater resources from space to improving reservoir operations and water-management decisions in the Colorado River Basin.

Explore My Research View CV
Deep Shah
University of Colorado Boulder Postdoctoral Research Associate
14 Peer-reviewed journal publications
Citation 901 (as of 9/6/2026)
h-index & i10- index 10 & 10
Career

Academic Experience

Postdoctoral Research Associate

University of Colorado Boulder
April 2026 – Present

Postdoctoral Researcher

Texas A&M University
October 2024 – April 2026

Graduate Research Assistant

Texas A&M University
September 2020 – August 2024

Junior Research Fellow

Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar
June 2019 – August 2020
Education

Education

Ph.D. in Civil Engineering

Texas A&M University, USA
2020–2024 · GPA 4.0/4.0

M.Tech. in Civil Engineering

Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar, India
2017–2019 · CPI 8.71/10

B.E. in Civil Engineering

L.D. College of Engineering, India
2013–2017 · CPI 9.08/10
About

About Me

I am currently a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Colorado Boulder, working with Dr. Balaji Rajagopalan, Dr. Edith Zagona, and Dr. Joseph Kasprzyk.

My current research focuses on evaluating how improvements in streamflow forecasts translate into better water-management decisions in the Colorado River Basin. I use RiverWare and the Bureau of Reclamation’s Colorado River Mid-term Modeling System (CRMMS) to investigate how improved forecasts can support reservoir operations under complex planning policies and a range of forecast scenarios.

My Ph.D. research focused on using MODIS and VIIRS satellite observations to characterize the area, elevation, storage, and evaporation of large reservoirs worldwide. I used these observations to investigate reservoir droughts and water shortages, including their propagation and recovery times, severity, and the extent to which they are driven by climate variability versus human water management.

University of Colorado Boulder profile ↗

Research Interests

  • Hydrology
  • Remote Sensing
  • Water Resources Systems Modeling
  • Hydrological Modeling
  • Resevoirs and Lakes
  • Reservoir/Lake Evaporation
  • Reservoir Droughts
  • Reservoir Operations
  • Streamflow and Reservoir Storage Forecasting
  • Forecast Informed Decision Making
Research

Research Themes

01

Monitoring Reservoirs from Space

Using multi-satellite Earth observations to monitor lake and reservoir surface area, elevation storage, evaporation, bathymetry, and long-term freshwater dynamics.

02

Reservoir Based Droughts/Shortages

Developing reservoir-based drought indicators and investigating reservoir vulnerability, drought propagation, water-shortage severity, and recovery, including the roles of climate variability and human water management.

03

Colorado River Operations

Evaluating how streamflow forecast skill affects reservoir operations, pool elevations, water allocation, and system-wide water-management decisions.

04

ML based Forecasting

Developing machine-learning models to forecast streamflow and reservoir storage.

05

Climate & Water Resources

Investigating how climate variability and climate change influence water availability, droughts, groundwater, and water stress across river basins in the Indian subcontinent.

06

Human–climate Interactions

Understanding how irrigation, reservoir operations, groundwater pumping, and other human activities alter flood potential and hydrological variability.

Projects

Selected Research Projects

Bureau of Reclamation & NOAA

How Do Improvements in Streamflow Forecasts Translate into Better Water Management Decisions in the Colorado River Basin?

Applying RiverWare and the Colorado River Mid-term Modeling System (CRMMS) to evaluate operational projections, water-allocation rules, and alternative streamflow forecast scenarios.

NASA

Drought Propagation from Meteorological to Reservoir Droughts at a Global Scale

Developed a reservoir-specific drought propagation framework to quantify preparation and response times and identify reservoirs with rapid drought propagation and prolonged recovery.

NASA

NASA Global Water Reservoir Product Suite

Contributed to the development of a global reservoir dataset using MODIS and VIIRS observations and investigated the contribution of surface-water storage dynamics to total water-storage variability.

NASA GWR Product ↗
NASA

Reservoir-Based Drought Monitoring System

Developed a global reservoir drought-monitoring framework combining storage and evaporation observations and investigated natural and human influences on long-term freshwater availability.

Ministry of Water Resources, India

Drought Onset and Termination in India

Developed an Integrated Drought Index for monitoring meteorological, agricultural, and hydrological droughts and supporting drought detection and early warning.

Government of India

Impacts of Climate Change on Water Resources of the Sabarmati Basin

Assessed future water availability, water stress, potential drivers, and uncertainties using global climate-model projections.

Publications

Peer-Reviewed Publications

14 peer-reviewed journal publications

2026

Global irrigation reservoirs are at a higher risk of water shortages
Shah, D., Mishra, V., & Gao, H. · Communications Earth & Environment, 7, 581.
Paper ↗

2025

Global patterns of reservoir fullness and fluctuations during droughts
Shah, D. & Gao, H. · Environmental Research Letters, 20(12), 124060.
Paper ↗
Regional variations in drivers of extreme reference evapotranspiration across the contiguous United States
Zhao, B., Horvat, C., Pearson, C., Shah, D., & Gao, H. · Water Resources Research, 61(10), e2025WR040177.
Paper ↗
3D-LAKES: Three-Dimensional Global Lake and Reservoir Bathymetry from ICESat-2 Altimetry and Landsat Imagery
Huang, C. H., Zhang, S., Shah, D., Yadav, A., Li, Y., Zhao, G., & Gao, H. · Scientific Data, 12, 1625.
Paper ↗

2024

Continuity Between NASA MODIS Collection 6.1 and VIIRS Collection 2 Products
Román, M., Justice, C., ..., Shah, D., & Gao, H. · Remote Sensing of Environment, 302, 113963.
Paper ↗
Transitioning from MODIS to VIIRS Global Water Reservoir Product
Shah, D., Zhang, S., Sarkar, S., Davidson, C., Zhang, R., Zhao, M., ..., & Gao, H. · Scientific Data, 11, 209.
Paper ↗
Assessing Global Reservoir-Based Hydrological Droughts by Fusing Storage and Evaporation
Shah, D., Zhao, G., Li, Y., Singh, V. P., & Gao, H. · Geophysical Research Letters, 51(1), e2023GL106159.
Paper ↗

2021

Contrasting influence of human activities on agricultural and hydrological droughts in India
Shah, D., Shah, H., Dave, H., & Mishra, V. · Science of the Total Environment, 774, 144959.
Paper ↗
Strong influence of changes in terrestrial water storage on flood potential in India
Shah, D. & Mishra, V. · Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, e2020JD033566.
Paper ↗
NASA's Water Reservoir Product Suite from Moderate Resolution Remote Sensing Data
Li, Y., Zhao, G., Shah, D., Zhao, M., Sarkar, S., Devadiga, S., Zhao, B., Zhang, S., & Gao, H. · Remote Sensing, 13(4), 565.
Paper ↗

2020

Integrated Drought Index (IDI) for Drought Monitoring and Assessment in India
Shah, D. & Mishra, V. · Water Resources Research, 56(2), e2019WR026284.
Paper ↗
Drought onset and termination in India
Shah, D. & Mishra, V. · Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 125(15), e2020JD032871.
Paper ↗
Propagation of meteorological to hydrological droughts in India
Bhardwaj, K., Shah, D., Aadhar, S., & Mishra, V. · Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 125(22), e2020JD033455.
Paper ↗

2019

On the changes in groundwater storage variability in western India using GRACE and well observations
Meghwal, R., Shah, D., & Mishra, V. · Remote Sensing in Earth Systems Sciences, 2(4), 260–272.
Paper ↗
Recognition

Selected Honors & Awards

Outstanding PhD Dissertation Award Universities Council on Water Resources · 2026
Distinguished Student Award for Excellence in Research Association of Former Students, Texas A&M University · 2025
Distinguished Dissertation Award Texas A&M University · 2025
3 Minute Thesis Competition — Third Rank Texas A&M Civil Engineering · 2024
Texas A&M Institute of Data Science Competition First Runner-Up · 2024
Top Cited Paper of the Year Water Resources Research · 2021–2022
Teaching

Teaching & Mentoring

Guest Lecture — Remote Sensing Hydrology

University of Oklahoma · Spring 2026

Designed and delivered a guest lecture on remote sensing of surface water, lakes and reservoirs, water-storage dynamics, and drought monitoring.

Remote Sensing in Hydrology

Texas A&M University · Spring 2023

Served as a Teaching Assistant, supporting course assignments, addressing student questions, and assessing assignments/exams.

Monitoring Global Lakes & Reservoirs Using Multi-Satellite Observations

American Meteorological Society · Spring 2024

Co-instructor for a short course supporting more than 100 participants from over 50 countries, including Google Earth Engine exercises and interactive mapping.

Student Mentoring

Texas A&M University · IIT Gandhinagar

Mentored M.S. students in their research and manuscript writing.

Skills

Technical Expertise

Programming & Analysis

Python · MATLAB · R · Google Earth Engine · CDO · GMT · LaTeX

Remote Sensing & Geospatial

ArcGIS · ENVI · MODIS · VIIRS · LANDSAT · GRACE · ICEsat-2 · SWOT

Hydrological & Water Systems Modeling

RiverWare · VIC · VIC-SIMGM · SWAT

Service

Professional Activities

Scientific Leadership

Chair of the AGU session “Remote Sensing of Water Resources” and Co-Convener of the AMS session on monitoring global lakes and reservoirs using multi-satellite observations.

Peer Review

Reviewed more than 25 manuscripts for journals including Geophysical Research Letters, Journal of Hydrology, Scientific Data, Earth’s Future, and Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

Professional Affiliations

American Geophysical Union · American Meteorological Society · European Geosciences Union

Contact

Let's Connect

I am interested in collaborations at the intersection of hydrology, remote sensing, reservoirs, droughts and floods, operational forecasting, and water-resources systems.

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