CV

Education

• Ph.D. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Purdue University. 2017
• M.S.
  • School of Remote Sensing and Information Engineering, Wuhan University. 2011
  • Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Beijing. 2011
• B.S. School of Remote Sensing and Information Engineering, Wuhan University, 2009

Work experience

• 2020-Present: Earth Scientist
  • Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
  • Projects:
    • Adoption of the Model for Prediction Across Scales (https://mpas-dev.github.io/) mesh in the Department of Energy (DOE) Energy Exascale Earth System Model (https://e3sm.org) land (ELM) and river (MOSART) components in the E3SM project.
    • Development of a multi-hillslope-based land surface model in National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (https://above.nasa.gov) ABoVE ROSES Terrestrial Ecology project Using CO2, CH4 and land surface observations to resolve the sign and magnitude of northern high latitude carbon-climate feedbacks.
    • Model for Prediction Across Scales (MPAS) mesh-based flow routing model in DOE’s Integrated Coastal Modeling (ICoM) project.
    • A unified mesh-based flow routing modeling in DOE’s Interdisciplinary Research for Arctic Coastal Environments (InteRFACE) project.
    • Hillslope-based subsurface lateral groundwater flow model (H2SC) in the Next-Generation Ecosystem Experiments (NGEE)-Tropics project.
• 2017-2020: Postdoc Associate
  • Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
  • Projects:
    • Hillslope-based subsurface lateral groundwater flow model (H2SC) in the Next-Generation Ecosystem Experiments (NGEE)-Tropics project. This model is implemented within Department Of Energy (DOE)’s Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM).
    • Hexagonal grid-based surface hydrology watershed delineation model (HexWatershed) in a Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project. This model resolves several long-standing issues in hydrology and closes the gap between watershed hydrology and global scale hydrology.
    • Model for Prediction Across Scales (MPAS) mesh-based flow routing model in DOE’s Integrated Coastal Modeling (ICoM) project. This model provides a consistent framework to couple land, river and ocean using a unified mesh.
    • Pollutant transport using integrated surface water and groundwater model simulation (SWAT-MODFLOW-MT3D).
  • Supervisor: L. Ruby Leung
• 2012-2017: Research Assistant
  • Purdue University
  • Projects:
    • Three-dimensional water and carbon cycle modeling at high spatial-temporal resolutions.
    • Quantifying the role of permafrost and snowmelt in arctic hydrology using integrated surface water and groundwater modeling.
    • Estimates of reduction of global plant production due to drought impacts.
  • Supervisor: Qianlai Zhuang
• 2009-2011: Research Assistant
  • Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research
  • Projects:
    • The integrated assessment system of the grassland ecosystem in the Three-River Headwaters region.
    • Estimates of photosynthesis active radiation using remote sensing data.
  • Supervisor: Quanqin Shao

Skills

• Rich experiences (2005~present) in interdisciplinary research (Ecosystem, Hydrology, Geographic Information System (GIS), Remote Sensing (RS), etc.).
• Rich experiences (2009~present) in scientific model developments and applications.
• Rich experiences (2011~present) in high performance computing (HPC) (90% studies and work were conducted * under HPC).
• Rich experiences (2012~present) in model calibration and uncertainty analysis (PEST and SCE-UA, etc.).
• Skilled (2005~present) in programming (C/C++, Fortran, Python, and IDL, etc.).
• Skilled (2005~present) in spatial dataset operations.
• Skilled (2009~present) in computer visualization (IDL/Python graphics and VTK, etc.).

Publications

Improving the representation of plant water stress and water use in Earth System Models

Dukes, J.S., Xu, C., Liao, C., Novick, K.A., Phillips, R.P., Beverly, D.P., Fang, Y., Jacobs, E.M., McAdam, S.A.M., Paudel, I., Rimer, I.M. and Robbins, Z.J. (2025), Improving the representation of plant water stress and water use in Earth System Models. New Phytol. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.70687

Disentangling atmospheric, hydrological, and coupling uncertainties in compound flood modeling within a coupled Earth system model

Feng, D., Tan, Z., Engwirda, D., Wolfe, J. D., Xu, D., Liao, C., Bisht, G., Benedict, J. J., Zhou, T., Deb, M., Li, H.-Y., and Leung, L. R.: Disentangling atmospheric, hydrological, and coupling uncertainties in compound flood modeling within a coupled Earth system model, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 3619–3639, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-3619-2025, 2025.

Representing Lateral Groundwater Flow from Land to River in Earth System Models

Liao, C., Leung, L. R., Fang, Y., Tesfa, T., and Negron-Juarez, R.: Representing lateral groundwater flow from land to river in Earth system models, Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 4601–4624, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-4601-2025, 2025.

Evaluation of flow routing on the unstructured Voronoi meshes in Earth system modeling

Liao, C., Donghui Xu, G Cooper, M, Tian Zhou, Darren Engwirda, Gautam Bisht, Hong-yi Li, Lingcheng Li, Dongyu Feng, L Ruby Leung. Evaluation of flow routing on the unstructured Voronoi meshes in Earth system modeling. Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems.

Deriving a Transformation Rate Map of Dissolved Organic Carbon over the Contiguous U.S.

Li, L., Li, H.-Y., Abeshu, G., Tang, J., Leung, L. R., Liao, C., Tan, Z., Tian, H., Thornton, P., and Yang, X.: Deriving a Transformation Rate Map of Dissolved Organic Carbon over the Contiguous U.S., Earth Syst. Sci. Data, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2024-43, 2025

Discrete Global Grid System-based Flow Routing Datasets in the Amazon and Yukon Basins

Liao, C., Engwirda, D., Cooper, M., Li, M., and Fang, Y.: Discrete Global Grid System-based Flow Routing Datasets in the Amazon and Yukon Basins, Earth Syst. Sci. Data. https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2023-398

Changes in soil water content and lateral flow exert large effects on soil thermal dynamics across Alaskan landscapes

Liu, X., Zhuang, Q., Liao, C., & Jorgenson, M. T. (2025). Changes in soil water content and lateral flow exert large effects on soil thermal dynamics across Alaskan landscapes. Environmental Research Letters. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/adaa05

A Multi-algorithm Approach for Modeling Coastal Wetland Ecogeomorphology

Tan, Z., Leung, L. R., Liao, C., Luca Carniiello, Jose F. Rodriguez, Patricia M. Saco, Steven Sandi Rojas, J. Patrick Megonigal, Vanessa L. Bailey. A Multi-algorithm Approach for Modeling Coastal Wetland Ecogeomorphology. Frontiers in Earth Science. https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2024.1421265

Simulation of Compound Flooding Using River-Ocean Two-Way Coupled E3SM Ensemble on Variable-Resolution Meshes

Feng, D., Tan, Z., Engwirda, D., Wolfe, J. D., Xu, D., Liao, C., et al. (2024). Simulation of compound flooding using river-ocean two-way coupled E3SM ensemble on variable-resolution meshes. Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, 16, e2023MS004054. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023MS004054

Pyflowline: a mesh-independent river network generator for hydrologic models

Liao et al., (2023). pyflowline: a mesh-independent river network generator for hydrologic models. Journal of Open Source Software, 8(91), 5446, https://doi.org/10.21105/joss.05446

Disentangling the Hydrological and Hydraulic Controls on Streamflow Variability in E3SM V2 – A Case Study in the Pantanal Region

Xu, D., Bisht, G., Tan, Z., Liao, C., Zhou, T., Li, H.-Y., and Leung, L. R.: Disentangling the hydrological and hydraulic controls on streamflow variability in Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM) V2 – a case study in the Pantanal region, Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 1197–1215, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-1197-2024, 2024.

Topological relationship-based flow direction modeling: stream burning and depression filling

Liao, C., Zhou, T., Xu, D., Tan, Z., Bisht, G., G Cooper, M., Engwirda, D, Hongyi Li, L Ruby Leung.Topological relationship-based flow direction modeling: stream burning and depression filling. Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022MS003487

Topological relationship-based flow direction modeling: Mesh-independent river networks representation

Liao, C., Zhou, T., Xu, D., Cooper, M. G., Engwirda, D., Li, H.-Y., & Leung, L. R. (2023). Topological relationship-based flow direction modeling: Mesh-independent river networks representation. Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, 15, e2022MS003089. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022MS003089

Investigating coastal backwater effects and flooding in the coastal zone using a global river transport model on an unstructured mesh

Feng, D., Tan, Z., Engwirda, D., Liao, C., Xu, D., Bisht, G., Zhou, T., Li, H.-Y., and Leung, R.: Investigating coastal backwater effects and flooding in the coastal zone using a global river transport model on an unstructured mesh, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss. [preprint], https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2022-251, in review, 2022.

Using a surrogate assisted Bayesian framework to calibrate the runoff generation scheme in the Energy Exascale Earth System Model E3SM v1

Xu, D., Bisht, G., Sargsyan, K., Liao, C., and Leung, L. R.: Using a surrogate-assisted Bayesian framework to calibrate the runoff-generation scheme in the Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM) v1, Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 5021–5043, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-5021-2022, 2022.

Advances in hexagon mesh based flow direction modeling

Chang Liao, Tian Zhou, Donghui Xu, Richard Barnes, Gautam Bisht, Hong-Yi Li, Zeli Tan, Teklu Tesfa, Zhuoran Duan, Darren Engwirda, and L. Ruby Leung. Advances in hexagon mesh based flow direction modeling. Advances in Water Resources (2021). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2021.104099

Unified Laguerre Power Meshes for Coupled Earth System Modelling

Engwirda, Darren, Liao, Chang. (2021, October 9). Unified Laguerre Power Meshes for Coupled Earth System Modelling. 29th International Meshing Roundtable (IMR), Virtual Conference. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5558988

Watershed Delineation On A Hexagonal Mesh Grid

Liao, Chang, Teklu Tesfa, Zhuoran Duan, and L. Ruby Leung. Watershed delineation on a hexagonal mesh grid. Environmental Modelling & Software (2020) 104702.

Quantifying Dissolved Organic Carbon Dynamics Using a Three‐Dimensional Terrestrial Ecosystem Model at High Spatial‐Temporal Resolutions

Liao, C., Zhuang, Q., Leung, L. R., & Guo, L. (2019). Quantifying dissolved organic carbon dynamics using a three‐dimensional terrestrial ecosystem model at high spatial‐temporal resolutions. Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, 11, 4489– 4512. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019MS001792

Quantifying the role of snowmelt in stream discharge in an Alaskan watershed: an analysis using a spatially distributed surface hydrology model

Liao, C., & Zhuang, Q. (2017). Quantifying the role of snowmelt in stream discharge in an Alaskan watershed: An analysis using a spatially distributed surface hydrology model.Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 122, 2183– 2195. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JF004214

Quantifying the role of permafrost distribution in groundwater and surface water interactions using a three-dimensional hydrological model

Liao, Chang, and Qianlai Zhuang. "Quantifying the role of permafrost distribution in groundwater and surface water interactions using a three-dimensional hydrological model." Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research 49, no. 1 (2017): 81-100.

Reduction of global plant production due to droughts from 2001 to 2010: An analysis with a process-based global terrestrial ecosystem model

Liao, C., and Q. Zhuang, 2015: Reduction of Global Plant Production due to Droughts from 2001 to 2010: An Analysis with a Process-Based Global Terrestrial Ecosystem Model. Earth Interact., 19, 1–21, https://doi.org/10.1175/EI-D-14-0030.1.

Softwares and Applications

ECO3D

HexWatershed

PyEarth

PyFlowline

Talks

Watershed Delineation On A Hexagonal Mesh Grid

March 01, 2013

Presentation at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA

Variable resolution flow direction: an introduction to HexWatershed

May 17, 2022

Workshop at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Boulder Colorado, United States

Unstructured mesh based coastal resolving global river networks

February 23, 2023

Presentation at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington

Mesh-independent flow direction modeling using HexWatershed 3.0

May 17, 2024

Workshop at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Montclair State University, United States

Teaching

• Teaching assistant for Purdue EAS 116 Earthquakes and Volcanoes.
• Leadership experiences in multiple projects and organizations.

Service and leadership

• American Geophysical Union
• Reviewer in several scientific journals
• DOE BER proposal reviewer