Susan Colarullo
Biography
Susan's current areas of expertise include development of GIS tools and applications to automate processing of large numbers of spatially-distributed datasets, prediction of streamflows using surface water models, and use of multivariate and spatial statistical methods for characterizing distributed hydrologic processes.
She is trained in application of semi- and fully-distributed watershed models for predicting surface water flow, design of optimal surface water monitoring networks using first-order second-moment uncertainty analysis, and automated calibration of watershed models using both maximum-likelihood and Bayesian techniques. Susan also has extensive experience in development of GIS applications using ESRI's ArcGIS software and extensions, Arc Macro Language (AML), and ArcObjects, has used the ArcHydro data model extensively, and is trained in the use of HSPF, TOPMODEL, and PRMS watershed models for predicting streamflows that can be used to assess impacts of urbanization. Her deep experience in geostatistical characterization of hydrologic processes and in many aspects of univariate and multivariate probability and statistics, geostatistics, and stochastic hydrology includes stochastic simulation of random processes, spectral and Monte Carlo approaches to solving stochastic partial differential equations governing fluid flow and transport, and indicator methods for incorporating semi-quantitative information and for assessing local uncertainty and spatial connectivity. Susan has programming experience in fortran, R, python, VBA, VB.NET, C#, html, and javascript, and has done limited programming in SAS and S-Plus. She also has experience in the simulation of groundwater flow and solute transport using numerical finite-difference models.
Susan holds bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Arizona and earned her doctorate from New Mexico Tech.
HONORS AND MEMBERSHIPS
U.S. Geological Survey Center of Excellence for Geospatial Information Science (CEGIS) Prospectus, 2007.
Editors’ Citation for Excellence in Refereeing for Water Resources Research, 1993.
American Geophysical Union Horton Research Grant, 1992-1993.
Roswell Geological Society Award, 1990.
PAPERS AND PUBLICATIONS
Kennen, J.G., Kauffman, L.J., Ayers, M.A., Wolock, D.M., and Colarullo, S.J., ‘Use of an integrated flow model to estimate ecologically relevant hydrologic characteristics at stream biomonitoring sites’, Ecological Modelling, 211, 57-76, 2008.
Colarullo, S., Johnston, J., and Cyterski, M., 'Hydrologic elements of ecological risk in the Contentnea watershed, North Carolina', EOS, Transactions, American Geophysical Union, 2001 Spring Meeting, Boston, May 29-June 2, 2001.
Kraemer, S., Johnston, J., and S. Colarullo, ‘Investigation of subsurface residence times in the shallow coastal plain aquifer beneath Locust Grove, Maryland, USA’, paper presented at the International Conference on Calibration and Reliability in Groundwater Modeling, Zurich, Switzerland, September 20-23, 1999.
Colarullo, S., Measuring Heterogeneities in Multiple-Scale Geologic Media, Ph.D dissertation, Geosciences Department, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, New Mexico, 1998.
Colarullo, S., A. Gutjahr, and F. Phillips, ‘Optimal sequential conductivity sampling of multiple-scale aquifer heterogeneities’, EOS, Transactions, American Geophysical Union, 1993 Fall Meeting, San Francisco, December 6-10, 1993.
Gutjahr, A., S. Colarullo, F. Phillips, and B. Travis, ‘Validation of a two-scale stochastic aquifer characterization model using Las Cruces trench tracer experiment data’, EOS, Transactions, American Geophysical Union, 1993 Fall Meeting, San Francisco, December 6-10, 1993.
Colarullo, S., and A. Gutjahr, ‘Characterization of aquifer heterogeneities using discrete Markov random fields’, EOS, Transactions, American Geophysical Union, 1991 Fall Meeting, San Francisco, December 8-13, 1991.
Davis, M., S. Colarullo, F. Phillips, and R. Lohmann, ‘Alluvial aquifer heterogeneities in the Rio Grande Valley: Implications for ground water contamination’, New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute Technical Completion Report, No. 256, 1991.
Colarullo, S., Identification of an Optimal Ground Water Management Strategy in a Contaminated Aquifer, M.S. thesis, Department of Hydrology and Water Resources, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, 1988.
Hilton, J., and S. Colarullo, ‘Monitoring in the vadose zone at two inactive uranium mill tailings sites’, Eighth Symposium on Management of Uranium Mill Tailings, Low-Level Waste, and Hazardous Waste, Fort Collins, Colorado, 1986.
Deb, A., S. Colarullo, and J. Snyder, ‘Groundwater modeling for uranium mill tailings sites’, Seventh Symposium on Management of Uranium Mill Tailings, Low-Level Waste, and Hazardous Waste, Fort Collins, Colorado, 1985.
Colarullo, S., M. Heidari, and T. Maddock III, ‘Identification of an optimal groundwater management strategy in a contaminated aquifer’, Water Resources Bulletin, 20(5), 747-760, 1984.
Maddock, T. III, S. Colarullo, and M. Heidari, ‘An optimization model for contaminant plume control in a groundwater system’, EOS, Transactions, American Geophysical Union, 1983 Fall Meeting, San Francisco, December 5-9, 1983.
Cobb, P., S. Colarullo, and M. Heidari, ‘Calibration and validation of a finite-difference model of the Great Bend aquifer in south-central Kansas’, EOS, Transactions, American Geophysical Union, 1982 Spring Meeting, Philadelphia, May 31-June 4, 1982.
Science and Products
Upgrades to a Fortran program for estimating stream transit losses of reusable water, El Paso and Pueblo Counties, Colorado
In 2016, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Pikes Peak Regional Water Authority and the Colorado Water Conservation Board, began a study to modernize a Fortran transit-loss accounting program developed by the U.S. Geological Survey to estimate net reusable flows in Fountain and Monument Creeks in El Paso and Pueblo Counties, Colorado...
Colarullo, Susan J.; Miller, Lisa D.
Implementation of MOVE.1, censored MOVE.1, and piecewise MOVE.1 low-flow regressions with applications at partial-record streamgaging stations in New Jersey
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) uses Maintenance of Variance Extension Type 1 (MOVE.1) regression to transfer streamflows measured at long-term continuous-record streamgaging stations to partial-record (PR) streamgaging stations where intermittent base-flow measurements are available. MOVE.1 regression is used widely throughout the hydrologic...
Colarullo, Susan J.; Sullivan, Samantha L.; McHugh, Amy R.
Summary of hydrologic modeling for the Delaware River Basin using the Water Availability Tool for Environmental Resources (WATER)
The Water Availability Tool for Environmental Resources (WATER) is a decision support system for the nontidal part of the Delaware River Basin that provides a consistent and objective method of simulating streamflow under historical, forecasted, and managed conditions. In order to quantify the uncertainty associated with these simulations, however...
Williamson, Tanja N.; Lant, Jeremiah G.; Claggett, Peter; Nystrom, Elizabeth A.; Milly, Paul C.D.; Nelson, Hugh L.; Hoffman, Scott A.; Colarullo, Susan J.; Fischer, Jeffrey M.
Method to support Total Maximum Daily Load development using hydrologic alteration as a surrogate to address aquatic life impairment in New Jersey streams
More than 300 ambient monitoring sites in New Jersey have been identified by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) in its integrated water-quality monitoring and assessment report (that is, the 305(b) Report on general water quality and 303(d) List of waters that do not support their designated uses) as being impaired with...
Kennen, Jonathan G.; Riskin, Melissa L.; Reilly, Pamela A.; Colarullo, Susan J.
Use of an integrated flow model to estimate ecologically relevant hydrologic characteristics at stream biomonitoring sites
We developed an integrated hydroecological model to provide a comprehensive set of hydrologic variables representing five major components of the flow regime at 856 aquatic-invertebrate monitoring sites in New Jersey. The hydroecological model simulates streamflow by routing water that moves overland and through the subsurface from atmospheric...
Kennen, J.G.; Kauffman, L.J.; Ayers, M.A.; Wolock, D.M.; Colarullo, S.J. Identification of an optimal groundwater management strategy in a contaminated aquifer
[No abstract available]
Colarullo, S.J.; Heidari, M.; Maddock, T.