Faculty | Utah Water Research Laboratory
David Tarboton

Civil and Environmental Engineering
Hydrology
Contact Information
Go toOffice Location: ENGR 230
DialPhone: 435-797-3172
SendEmail: david.tarboton@usu.edu
Educational Background
Biography
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Utah Water Research Laboratory, Utah State University. Sc.D. and M.S. in Civil Engineering (Water Resources and Hydrology) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. B. Sc Eng in Civil Engineering from the University of Natal in South Africa.
Teaching Interests
Research Interests
Awards
Fellow, 2018
American Geophysical UnionCommunity Service Award, 2016
CUAHSIRobins Award, Faculty Researcher of the Year, 2015
Utah State UniversityCivil and Environmental Engineering Outstanding Researcher, 2015
College of Engineering Researcher of the Year, 2015
CyberGIS distinguished speaker at NCSA Colloquium, 2014
National Center for Supercomputing ApplicationsAward for Outstanding Service in the Academic Sector of Utah's Water Resources Community, 2007
American Water Resources Association, Utah SectionOutstanding Researcher, 2005
Utah State University Civil and Environmental Engineering DepartmentOutstanding Researcher, 2005
Utah State University College of EngineeringOutstanding Researcher, 2002
Utah State University Civil and Environmental Engineering DepartmentEditors Citation for Excellence in Refereeing for outstanding service to the authors and readers of Water Resources Research, 1993
American Geophysical UnionPublications - Abstracts
Publications - Books & Book Chapters
- Goodall, J.L, Merwade, V., Zaslavsky, I., Tarboton, D.G, Horsburgh, J.S, Ames, D.P, Couch, A., Singh, V., (2017). Chapter 7. Hydrologic Information Systems: Handbook of Applied Hydrology. McGraw-Hill
- Idaszak, R., Tarboton, D.G, Yi, H., Christopherson, L., Stealey, M.J, Miles, B., Dash, P., Couch, A., Spealman, C., Horsburgh, J.S, Ames, D.P, Carver, J.C, Chue Hong, N.P, Thiruvathukal, G.K, (2016). Chapter 10: HydroShare - A Case Study of the Application of Modern Software Engineering to a Large Distributed Federally-Funded Scientific Software Development Project: Software Engineering for Science. Chapman & Hall/CRC Press
- Tesfa, T.K, Tarboton, D.G, Chandler, D.G, McNamara, J.P, Boettinger, J.L, Howell, D.W, Moore, A.C, Hartemink, A.E, Kienast-Brown, S., McBratney, A.B, (2010). A Generalized Additive Soil Depth Model for a Mountainous Semi-Arid Watershed Based Upon Topographic and Land Cover Attributes: Digital Soil Mapping: Bridging Research, Environmental Application, and Operation. Springer
- Tarboton, D.G, Bloschl, G., Cooley, K., Kirnbauer, R., Luce, C., Grayson, R., Blöschl, G., (2000). Spatial Snow Cover Processes at Kühtai and Reynolds Creek: Spatial Patterns in Catchment Hydrology: Observations and Modelling. Cambridge University Press
Book Chapters
* Has not been peer reviewed
Publications - Fact Sheets
* Has not been peer reviewed
Publications - Curriculum
* Has not been peer reviewed
Publications - Journal Articles
- Parajuli, K., Zhao, L., Tarboton, D.G, Hipps, L.E, Torres-Rua, A., Sadeghi, M., Flerchinger, G.N, Jones, S.B, (2019). Noah-MP simulation of evapotranspiration and moisture dynamics in stony soils. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
- Parajuli, K., Jones, S.B, Tarboton, D.G, Flerchinger, G.N, Hipps, L.E, Allen, L., Seyfried, M.S, (2019). Estimating actual evapotranspiration from stony-soils in montane ecosystems.. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 265, 183-194. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2018.11.019
- Xue, Z., Couch, A., Tarboton, D.G, (2019). Map based discovery of hydrologic data in the HydroShare collaboration environment. Environmental Modelling and Software, 111, 24-33.
- Zheng, X., Maidment, D.R, Tarboton, D.G, Liu, Y.Y, Passalacqua, P., (2018). GeoFlood: Large‐Scale Flood Inundation Mapping Based on High‐Resolution Terrain Analysis. Water Resources Research, 10013-10033. doi: 10.1029/2018WR023457
- Liu, Y.Y, Maidment, D.R, Tarboton, D.G, Zheng, X., Wang, S., (2018). A CyberGIS Integration and Computation Framework for High-Resolution Continental-Scale Flood Inundation Mapping. JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 54:4, 770-784. doi: 10.1111/1752-1688.12660
- Zheng, X., Tarboton, D.G, Maidment, D.R, Liu, Y.Y, Passalacqua, P., (2018). River Channel Geometry and Rating Curve Estimation Using Height above the Nearest Drainage. JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 54:4, 785-806. doi: 10.1111/1752-1688.12661
- Yi, H., Idaszak, R., Stealey, M., Calloway, C., Couch, A.L, Tarboton, D.G, (2018). Advancing distributed data management for the HydroShare hydrologic information system. Environmental Modelling and Software, 102, 233-240. doi: 10.1016/j.envsoft.2017.12.008
- Crawley, S., Ames, D., Li, Z., Tarboton, D.G, (2017). HydroShare GIS: Visualizing Spatial Data in the Cloud. Open Water, 4:1
- Morsy, M.M, Goodall, J.L, Castronova, A., Dash, P., Merwade, V., Sadler, J.M, Horsburgh, J.S, Tarboton, D.G, (2017). Design of a Metadata Framework for Environmental Models with an Example Hydrologic Application in HydroShare. Environmental Modelling & Software, 93, 13-28. doi: 10.1016/j.envsoft.2017.02.028
- Dhungel, S., Tarboton, D.G, Jin, J., Hawkins, C.P, (2016). Potential effects of climate change on ecologically relevant streamflow regimes. River Research and Applications , 32:2, 1827-1840. doi: 10.1002/rra.3029
- Sen Gupta, A., Tarboton, D.G, (2016). A tool for downscaling weather data from large-grid reanalysis products to finer spatial scales for distributed hydrological applications. Environmental Modelling & Software, 84, 50-69. doi: 10.1016/j.envsoft.2016.06.014
- Horsburgh, J.S, Morsy, M.M, Castronova, A., Goodall, J.L, Gan, T., Yi, H., Stealey, M.J, Tarboton, D.G, (2016). HydroShare: Sharing Diverse Hydrologic Data Types and Models as Social Objects within a Hydrologic Information System. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA), 52:4, doi: 10.1111/1752-1688.12363
- Fatichi, S., Vivoni, E.R, Ogden, F.L, Ivanov, V.Y, Mirus, B., Gochis, D., Downer, C.W, Camporese, M., Davison, J.H, Ebel, B., Jones, N., Kim, J., Mascaro, G., Niswonger, R., Restrepo, P., Rigon, R., Shen, C., Sulis, M., Tarboton, D.G, (2016). An overview of current applications, challenges, and future trends in distributed process-based models in hydrology. Journal of Hydrology, 537, 45-60.
- Horsburgh, J.S, Aufdenkampe, A.K, Mayorga, E., Lehnert, K.A, Hsu, L., Song, L., Jones, A.S, Damiano, S.G, Tarboton, D.G, Valentine, D., Zaslavsky, I., Whitenack, T., (2016). Observations Data Model 2: A community information model for spatially discrete Earth observations. Environmental Modelling & Software, 79, 55-74. doi: 10.1016/j.envsoft.2016.01.010
- White, J.S, Null, S., Tarboton, D.G, (2015). How Do Changes to the Railroad Causeway in Utah’s Great Salt Lake Affect Water and Salt Flow?. PLoS One, 10:12, e0144111. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0144111
- Yildirim, A.A, Watson, D.W, Tarboton, D.G, Wallace, R.M, (2015). A virtual tile approach to raster-based calculations of large digital elevation models in a shared-memory system. Computers & Geosciences, 82, 78-88. doi: /10.1016/j.cageo.2015.05.014
- Passalacqua, P., Belmont, P., Staley, D.M, Simley, J.D, Arrowsmith, J.R, Bode, C.A, Crosby, C., DeLong, S.B, Glenn, N.F, S.A, Lague, D., Sangireddy, H., Schaffrath, K., Tarboton, D.G, Wasklewicz, T., Wheaton, J.M, (2015). Analyzing high resolution topography for advancing the understanding of mass and energy transfer through landscapes: A review. Earth-Science Reviews, 148, doi: 10.1016/j.earscirev.2015.05.012
- Sen Gupta, A., Tarboton, D.G, Hummel, P., Brown, M.E, Habib, S., (2015). Integration of an energy balance snowmelt model into an open source modeling framework. Environmental Modelling & Software, 68, 205-218. doi: 10.1016/j.envsoft.2015.02.017
- Clark, M.P, Njissen, B., Lundquist, J.D, Kavetski, D., Rupp, D.E, Woods, R.A, Freer, J.E, Gutmann, E.D, Wood, A.W, Gochis, D.J, Rasmussen, R.M, Tarboton, D.G, Mahat, V., Flerchinger, G.N, Marks, D.G, (2015). A unified approach for process-based hydrologic modeling: 2. Model implementation and case studies. Water Resources Research, 54:4, 2515-2542. doi: /10.1002/2015WR017200
- Fan, Y., Richard, S., Bristol, R.S, Peters, S.E, Ingebritsen, S.E, Moosdorf, N., Packman, A., Gleeson, T., Zaslavsky, I., Peckham, S., Murdoch, L., Fienen, M., Cardiff, M., Tarboton, D.G, Jones, N., Hooper, R., Arrigo, J., Gochis, D., Olson, J., Wolock, D., (2015). DigitalCrust – a 4D data system of material properties for transforming research on crustal fluid flow. Geofluids, 15:1-2, 372-379. doi: 10.1111/gfl.12114
- You, J., Tarboton, D.G, Luce, C.H, (2014). Modeling the snow surface temperature with a one-layer energy balance snowmelt model. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 18:12, 5061-5076. doi: 10.5194/hess-18-5061-2014
- Mahat, V., Tarboton, D.G, (2014). Representation of canopy snow interception, unloading and melt in a parsimonious snowmelt model. Hydrological Processes, 28:26, 6320-6336. doi: 10.1002/hyp.10116
- Brown, M.E, Racoviteanu, A.E, Tarboton, D.G, Sen Gupta, A., Nigro, J., Policelli, F., Habib, S., Tokay, M., Shrestha, M.S, Bajracharya, S., Hummel, P., Gray, M., Duda, P., Zaitchik, B., Mahat, V., Artan, G., Tokar, S., (2014). An integrated modeling system for estimating glacier and snow melt driven streamflow from remote sensing and earth system data products in the Himalayas. Journal of Hydrology, 519:Part B, 1859-1869. doi: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2014.09.050
- Mohammed, I.N, Tarboton, D.G, (2014). Simulated watershed responses to land cover changes using the Regional Hydro-Ecological Simulation System (RHESSYS). Hydrological Processes, 28:15, 4511-4528. doi: 10.1002/hyp.9963
- Horsburgh, J.S, Tarboton, D.G, Hooper, R.P, Zaslavsky, I., (2014). Managing a Community Vocabulary for Hydrologic Observations. Environmental Modelling & Software, 52, 62-73. doi: 10.1016/j.envsoft.2013.10.012
- Mahat, V., Tarboton, D.G, Molotch, N.P, (2013). Testing above and below canopy representations of turbulent fluxes in an energy balance snowmelt model. Water Resources Research, 49:2, 1107-1122. doi: 10.1002/wrcr.20073
- Mohammed, I.N, Tarboton, D.G, (2012). An examination of the sensitivity of the Great Salt Lake to changes in inputs. Water Resources Research, 48:11, W11511. doi: 10.1029/2012WR011908
- Mahat, V., Tarboton, D.G, (2012). Canopy radiation transmission for an energy balance snowmelt model. Water Resources Research, 48, W01534. doi: 10.1029/2011WR010438
- Tesfa, T.K, Tarboton, D.G, Watson, D.W, Schreuders, K.A, Baker, M.E, Wallace, R.M, (2011). Extraction of hydrological proximity measures from DEMs using parallel processing. Environmental Modelling & Software, 26:12, 1696-1709. doi: 10.1016/j.envsoft.2011.07.018
- Chinnayakanahalli, K.J, Hawkins, C.P, Tarboton, D.G, Hill, R.A, (2011). Natural flow regime, temperature and the composition and richness of invertebrate assemblages in streams of the western United States. Freshwater Biology, 56:7, 1248-1265. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2427.2010.02560.x
- Nicotina, L., Tarboton, D.G, Tesfa, T.K, Rinaldo, A., (2011). Hydrologic controls on equilibrium soil depths. Water Resources Research, 47:4, W04517. doi: 10.1029/2010WR009538
- Horsburgh, J.S, Tarboton, D.G, Maidment, D.R, Zaslavsky, I., (2011). Components of an integrated environmental observatory information system. Computers & Geosciences, 37:2, 207-218. doi: 10.1016/j.cageo.2010.07.003
- Mohammed, I.N, Tarboton, D.G, (2011). On the Interaction between Bathymetry and Climate in the System Dynamics and Preferred Levels of the Great Salt Lake. Water Resources Research, 47, doi: 10.1029/2010WR009561
- Horsburgh, J.S, Spackman Jones, A., Stevens, D.K, Tarboton, D.G, Mesner, N., (2010). A Sensor Network for High Frequency Estimation of Water Quality Constituent Fluxes Using Surrogates. Environmental Modelling & Software, 25, 1031-1044. doi: 10.1016/j.envsoft.2009.10.012
- Horsburgh, J.S, Spackman, A., Stevens, D.K, Tarboton, D.G, Mesner, N., (2010). A Sensor Network for High Frequency Estimation of Water Quality Constituent Fluxes Using Surrogates. Environmental Modelling and Software, doi: 10.1016/j.envsoft.2009.10.012
- Horsburgh, J.S, Tarboton, D.G, Piasecki, M., Maidment, D.R, Zaslavsky, I., Valentine, D., Whitenack, T., (2009). An integrated system for publishing environmental observations data: Environmental Modelling & Software. Environmental Modelling & Software, 24:8, 879-888. doi: 10.1016/j.envsoft.2009.01.002
- Horsburgh, J.S, Tarboton, D.G, Piasecki, M., Maidment, D.R, Zaslavsky, I., Valentine, D., Whitenack, T., (2009). An integrated system for publishing environmental observations data: Environmental Modelling & Software. Environmental Modelling & Software, 24:8, 879-888. doi: 10.1016/j.envsoft.2009.01.002
- Horsburgh, J.S, Tarboton, D.G, Maidment, D.R, Zaslavsky, I., (2008). A Relational Model for Environmental and Water Resources Data. Water Resources Research, 44, W05406. doi: 10.1029/2007WR006392
- Horsburgh, J.S, Tarboton, D.G, Maidment, D.R, Zaslavsky, I., (2008). A Relational Model for Environmental and Water Resources Data. Water Resources Research, 44, W05406. doi: 10.1029/2007WR006392
- Luce, C., Tarboton, D.G, Istanbulluoglu, E., Pack, R.T, (2005). Reply to Comment by Jonathan J. Rhodes on ‘‘Modeling of the Interactions between Forest Vegetation, Disturbances, and Sediment Yields’’. Journal of Geophysical Research - Earth Surface, 110:F01013
- Istanbulluoglu, E.D, Tarboton, D.G, Pack, R.T, Luce, C.H, (2004). Modeling of the Interactions between Forest Vegetation, Disturbances and Sediment Yields. Journal of Geophysical Research - Earth Surface, 109:F1, doi: 10.1029
- Istanbulluoglu, E., Tarboton, D.G, Pack, R.T, Luce, C., (2003). A Sediment Transport Model for Incising Gullies on Steep Topography. Water Resources Research, 39:4, 1103. doi: 10.1029
- Istanbulluoglu, E., Tarboton, D.G, Pack, R.T, Luce, C., (2002). A Probabilistic Approach for Channel Initiation. Water Resources Research, 38:12, 1325. doi: 10.1029/2001WR000782
- Van Miegroet, H., Creed, I.F, Nicholas, N.S, Tarboton, D.G, Webster, K.L, Shubzda, J., Robinson, B., Smoot, J., Johnson, D.W, Lindberg, S.E, Lovett, G., Nodvin, S., Moore, S., (2001). Is there synchronicity in N input and out fluxes at the Noland Divide Watershed, a small N-saturated forested catchment in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. TheScientificWorld, 1(S2)(E-Journal, 480-492.
- Artan, G.A, Neale, C.M, Tarboton, D.G, (2000). Characteristic length scale of input data in distributed models: implications for modeling grid size. Journal of Hydrology, 227:1-4, 128-139.
Academic Journal
* Has not been peer reviewed
Publications - Literary Journal
* Has not been peer reviewed
Publications - MultiMedia
Software
* Has not been peer reviewed
Publications - Technical Reports
- Tarboton, D.G, (2010). Taudem 5.0 Guide To Using The Taudem Command Line Functions. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers *
- Tarboton, D.G, Mohammed, I.N, (2010). Taudem 5.0 Quick Start Guide To Using The Taudem Arcgis Toolbox. U.S. Army Corp of Engineers *
- White, J.S, Null, S., Tarboton, D.G, (2014). Modeled changes to Great Salt Lake salinity from railroad causeway alteration. Final report to the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire, and State Lands *
- Tarboton, D.G, Maidment, D.R, Zaslavsky, I., Ames, D.P, Goodall, J., Horsburgh, J.S, (2010). CUAHSI Hydrologic Information System 2010 Status Report. Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc
- Tarboton, D.G, Horsburgh, J.S, Maidment, D.R, (2008). CUAHSI Community Observations Data Model (ODM) Version 1.1 Design Specifications.
- Horsburgh, J.S, Tarboton, D.G, Maidment, D.R, Maidment, D.R, (2005). A Community Data Model for Hydrologic Observations, Chapter 6: Hydrologic Information System Status Report, Version 1. Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc.
AES Reports
Research Reports
Other Reports
* Has not been peer reviewed
Publications - Translations & Transcripts
Publications - Other
- Cooke, B., Luce, C., Black, T., Tarboton, D.G, (2016). Road scholars for the western states: Protecting natural areas by improving road management research. Science You Can Use Bulletin USFS Rocky Mountain Research Station *
- Ames, D.P, Tarboton, D.G, (2015). Enabling the free flow of water data. Water Resources Impact *
- White, J.S, Null, S., Tarboton, D.G, (2014). More than meets the eye – managing salinity in Great Salt Lake, Utah. Lakeline Magazine *
- Arrigo, J., Tarboton, D.G, Couch, A., (2013). Building and Sustaining Community Cyber-Infrastructure for the Hydrologic Sciences. Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union
- Arctur, D., Bermudez, L., Ames, D., Booth, N., Choi, Y., Goodall, J., Hooper, R., Horsburgh, J.S, Jirka, S., Maidment, D., Percivall, G., Salas, F., Schreuders, K., Seppi, J., Tarboton, D.G, Valentine, D., Veluppillai, T., Vretanos, P.A, Whiteaker, T., Zaslavsky, I., Bermudez, L.E, Arctur, D., (2011). OGC Engineering Report: CUAHSI Profile of OGC Web Services Standards for Water Observations Data, OGC 11-013r5, Version 0.31. Open Geospatial Consortium
Magazine/Trade Publication
Other
* Has not been peer reviewed