The Hydrometeorology and Remote Sensing (HyDROS) Laboratory is a transdisciplinary research group at the University of Oklahoma, headquartered in the National Weather Center in Norman, Oklahoma. The lab maintains close partnerships with the Advanced Radar Research Center, the WaTER Center (Water Technologies for Emerging Regions), the Center for Analysis and Prediction of Storms, the School of Meteorology, and the School of Civil Engineering & Environmental Science.
HyDROS operates at the nexus of remote sensing technology, hydrology, weather, and climate, advancing science that translates Earth observations into predictive understanding and actionable societal decision-making. Our research spans a broad range of spatial and temporal scales—from local watersheds and urban environments to regional, continental, and global systems—supporting modeling, forecasting, and risk assessment in both data-rich and data-scarce regions worldwide.
The HyDROS Lab is proud to share that Professor Yang Hong has again been named among the world’s top-cited global researchers in the latest Stanford–Elsevier global citation database, as highlighted in the University of Oklahoma’s recent news release (https://www.ou.edu/news/articles/2025/october/dozens-of-ou-experts-included-in-latest-list-of-top-cited-global.html). The 2025 release analyzes citation data through 2024 and identifies researchers based on a composite citation score and those ranked in the top 2% of their subfield.
AQUAH (Automatic Quantification and Unified Agent in Hydrology) is an AI-driven system that transforms how we model floods and river basins. What once took experts days of manual setup — collecting data, tuning parameters, and scripting models — now happens automatically in minutes. scenario.
Dr. Yixin Wen recently received tenure and promotion at the University of Florida. Dr. Zhi "Allen" Li recently started as an Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado-Boulder.
One recent study, entitled “The conterminous United States are projected to become more prone to flash floods in a high-end emissions scenario” led by the HyDROS group was just published in Nature Communications Earth & Environment. As results indicate, US floods are becoming 7.9% flashier by the end of the century assuming a high-emissions scenario.
HyDROS researchers seek to observe, understand, and predict the storage, movement, and quality of water across space–time scales by integrating advanced sensing technologies with physically based and data-driven predictive models. Our work emphasizes end-to-end frameworks that connect observations, models, and decision support.
The mission of HyDROS is to develop technological and scientific solutions that mitigate the impacts of climate change and natural hazards through interdisciplinary research and education. We leverage state-of-the-art remote sensing, information technology, and hydrologic modeling, working in close collaboration with public agencies, private industry, and international partners to advance water security and societal resilience.
We pursue this mission through transdisciplinary research and education involving faculty, students, and scientists from engineering, natural sciences, mathematics, and socioeconomic disciplines, as well as sustained collaboration with universities, government agencies, industry, and global partners.
HyDROS is always seeking motivated and curious students and researchers interested in hydrology, remote sensing, and Earth system science. We have advised students from Civil Engineering, Hydrology (Water Resources Engineering), Environmental Science (Water Track), Geography, Meteorology, Computer Science, and Geoinformatics.
For general information on graduate programs, please visit the OU Graduate College and the relevant academic departments for application materials.
