Diploma in Flood Hazard Modeling and Assessment under Climate Change

Academic director

Dr. Miguel Lagos

PhD in Engineering Sciences (Fluid Dynamics) and faculty member at Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María (UTFSM). He specializes in hydrometeorological modeling and forecasting and teaches Hydrology and Applied Hydrometeorology. He is an associate researcher at the Advanced Mining Technology Center and has worked as a hydrology and climate change specialist on research and development studies for public and private organizations.

The diploma combines theory and practice: lectures, workshops with specialized software (QGIS, HEC-HMS and HEC-RAS 2D) and projects based on real cases. It is fully online and includes academic support throughout the program, so participants can study while they work.

Executive director

Dr. Joaquín Meza

PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering and faculty member at UTFSM. His research covers numerical modeling of hydrological processes and extreme events, especially atmospheric rivers and climate change.

The diploma responds to the need to deal with extreme events, which climate change intensifies. Scientific evidence shows that global warming increases the intensity and frequency of extreme precipitation. The program gives professionals tools to model and assess real risks with observed data and projections from global climate models. The hydrological and hydraulic simulations it teaches are used to design resilient infrastructure, plan land use and mitigate disasters.

Courses

The program has three courses, taught by an interdisciplinary faculty:

• Applied hydrometeorology and climate change. Fundamentals of meteorology and climate change for analyzing extreme hydrometeorological events, with climate models and downscaling methods applied to hydrological studies.
• Fundamental hydrology and hydrological modeling. The hydrological processes that generate runoff and how to model them with conceptual and numerical models, using observed and climate data.
• River hydraulics and hydro-morphodynamic models. River hydraulics, sediment transport and two-dimensional numerical modeling (HEC-RAS 2D). Includes a field trip and an applied project modeling flood scenarios.

Faculty

Passing requirements

• Minimum grade of 60 out of 100.
• Pass all three courses and the final integrative project.
• Attend at least 80% of the synchronous activities.

Discounts

• 10% for UTFSM alumni.
• 15% for early registration (before January 30).
• 15% for public-sector employees.
• 20% for companies that enroll 3 or more participants.

Discounts cannot be combined.