Research & Publications

Hydrology and complex hydrosystems research

Alonso leads SAUCE (Stochastic Approaches for Understanding Complex Environmental Hydrosystems), a research group at Universidad del Bío-Bío focused on hydrological modelling, stochastic processes in hydrology and hydraulics, remote sensing, and open science. Some of the research outputs featured on this page are developed within the group.

Bridge spanning a mountain river

56 publications

Under Review
PreprintEnglish

SPatial Efficiency And Kmoments (SPEAK): Evaluating Spatial Consistency in (Semi)Distributed Rainfall–Runoff Models

Matías Moreno, Pablo Mendoza, Eduardo Muñoz-Castro, Mauricio Zambrano-Bigiarini, Alonso Pizarro

2026EGUsphere preprint; discussion started 05 June 2026

DOI
Under Review
PreprintEnglish

Evaluating Ssims-Flow Velocimetry Performances Under Varying Seeding Densities: A Proof-of-Concept Field Study

Silvano Fortunato Dal Sasso, Robert Ljubicic, Budo Zindovic, Alonso Pizarro, Sophie Pearce, Ian Maddock, Salvatore Manfreda

2025Advances in Water Resources (manuscrito bajo revisión); versión disponible en SSRN

Flow velocityImage velocimetrySSIMS-FlowLSPIVOptical flowSeeding metrics
DOI

Citation

Silvano Fortunato Dal Sasso; Robert Ljubicic; Budo Zindovic; Alonso Pizarro; Sophie Pearce; Ian Maddock; Salvatore Manfreda (2025). Evaluating Ssims-Flow Velocimetry Performances Under Varying Seeding Densities: A Proof-of-Concept Field Study. Advances in Water Resources (manuscrito bajo revisión); versión disponible en SSRN. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5293007

https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5293007

Abstract

Estudio de campo que evalúa el desempeño de SSIMS-Flow bajo distintas densidades de trazadores superficiales. Compara sus estimaciones de velocidad con herramientas de velocimetría por imágenes y analiza cómo la distribución de partículas afecta la precisión de las mediciones fluviales.

Additional Materials

BookSpanish

Hidrología Física y Aplicada: Una Introducción para Ingenieros Civiles

Alonso Pizarro

2026Edición 1.0, Universidad del Bío-Bío, Chile · ISBN 978-956-03-0684-5

Hidrología físicaProcesos hidrológicosSeries temporalesModelación hidrológica
Under Review
PreprintEnglish

Variability and persistence of scour at bridges using stochastic simulations

Alonso Pizarro, Oscar Link, Demetris Koutsoyiannis

2026EGUsphere (preprint); enviado a Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences

DOI
Journal articleEnglish

Effective science communication in the face of water crises: a community perspective on challenges and best practice in HELPING

Christina Orieschnig, Soham Adla, Kwok Pan Chun, Saumya Srivastava, Khosro Morovati, Ben C. Howard, Thanti Octavianti, José Gescilam Uchôa, Zheng Duan, Paola Mazzoglio, Anandharuban Panchanathan, Borbála Széles, Gerbrand Koren, Georgia A. Papacharalampous, Dhiraj Pradhananga, Konstantinos Soulis, Hajar Choukrani, Hamouda Dakhlaoui, Alper Elçi, Xinyang Fan, Sina Khatami, Eduardo Mario Mendiondo, Tarryn Payne, Mehdi Rahmati, Tirthankar Roy, Christopher Skinner, Claudia Teutschbein, Roland Yonaba, Tanveer Mehedi Adyel, Ignacio Aguirre, Hasnat Aslam, Abinesh Ganapathy, Jagriti Jain, Albert Nkwasa, Fiachra O’Loughlin, Ilias Pechlivanidis, Alonso Pizarro, Ashutosh Sharma, Hristos Tyralis, Shuchi Vora, Satwiki Adla, Miriam Bertola, Vinicius Boico, Natalie Ceperley, Benjamin Dewals, Moritz Heinle, Soren Jessen, Florian Kaiselgruber, Neha Lakhwan, Mayowa Benjamen Lateef, Ashish Mishra, Pamba Ojera, Valeriya Ovcharuk, Apoorva Singh, Abhinav Wadhwa, Suwash Chandra Acharya, Sotiria Alexandri, Eduardo Rico Carranza, Yonca Cavus, Nilay Dogulu, Abdoulaye Faty, Joaquin Jorquera, Viraj Rane, Massimiliano Zappa

2026Hydrological Sciences Journal

science communicationHELPINGIAHS scientific decadeswater crises
DOI
Journal articleEnglish

Assessing the performance of single and multi-criteria calibration approaches for hydrological modelling: a comparative analysis

Silvano Fortunato Dal Sasso, Alonso Pizarro, Beniamino Onorati, Maria Rosaria Margiotta, Yijian Zeng, Zhongbo Su, Salvatore Manfreda, Mauro Fiorentino

2025Hydrological Sciences Journal

Hydrological modellingmodel calibrationgenetic algorithmsDREAM modelmulti-criteria approach
DOI
Journal articleEnglish

Combining uncertainty quantification and entropy-inspired concepts into a single objective function for rainfall-runoff model calibration

Alonso Pizarro, Demetris Koutsoyiannis, Alberto Montanari

2025Hydrology and Earth System Sciences

DOI
Journal articleEnglish

Combining uncertainty quantification and entropy-inspired concepts into a single objective function for rainfall-runoff model calibration

Alonso Pizarro, Demetris Koutsoyiannis, Alberto Montanari

2025Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions, 2025, 1-21, [preprint]

DOI
Journal articleEnglish

Exploring climate-driven performance of floating photovoltaic systems: Energy production enhancement and evaporation reduction

Rodrigo Cáceres González, Cristóbal Sarmiento-Laurel, Hernán Alcayaga, Andrés J. Díaz, Alonso Pizarro, Juan Crespo Fuentes, Alicia Moya Caro, Camila Vásquez Páez, Fabián Bustos Olavarría, Roberta Boscolo, Hamid Bastani

2025Applied Energy

Floating photovoltaic systems (FPV)Water-energy synergiesWater conservationEvaporation
DOI
Journal articleEnglish

Past, present, and future of the Hurst-Kolmogorov dynamics in Stochastics: A bibliometric analysis of the last 50 years in water resources

Alonso Pizarro, Pablo Acuña, Panayiotis Dimitriadis, Theano Iliopoulou, Demetris Koutsoyiannis

2024Journal of Hydrology

Bibliometric analysisHurst-Kolmogorov dynamicsStochasticsWater resources
DOI
Journal articleEnglish

The Use of Unmanned Aerial Systems for River Monitoring: A Bibliometric Analysis Covering the Last 25 Years

Alonso Pizarro, Desirée Valera-Gran, Eva-María Navarrete-Muñoz, Silvano Fortunato Dal Sasso

2024Hydrology

riversunmanned aerial system (UAS)bibliometric analysisWeb of Science
DOI
Journal articleEnglish

Seismic fragility analysis of simply supported bridges considering uncertainty in scour condition

Francisco Pinto, Rodrigo Astroza, Alonso Pizarro, Ramiro Bazáez, Francisco Hernández

2024Structures

ScourBridgeEarthquakeFragility
DOI
Journal articleEnglish

Anthropometric evaluation through images: Findings from the SCANNER software package

Fanny Petermann-Rocha, Amanda Pizarro, Sebastián Castro, Alonso Pizarro

2024Nutrition

AnthropometrySoftwareWaist-height ratio
DOI
Journal articleEnglish

Advancing objective functions in hydrological modelling: Integrating knowable moments for improved simulation accuracy

Alonso Pizarro, Joaquín Jorquera

2024Journal of Hydrology

Hydrological modellingCalibration strategiesObjective functionsKnowable momentsLarge-sample hydrology
DOI
Journal articleEnglish

Unlocking the potential of stochastic simulation through Bluecat: Enhancing runoff predictions in arid and high‐altitude regions

Joaquín Jorquera, Alonso Pizarro

2023Hydrological Processes

DOI
Journal articleEnglish

Can continuous simulation be used as an alternative for flood regionalisation? A large sample example from Chile

Pablo Acuña, Alonso Pizarro

2023Journal of Hydrology

Hydrological modellingContinuous simulationData-scarce regionsFlood Regionalisation
DOI
Journal articleEnglish

Automatic Segmentation of Water Bodies Using RGB Data: A Physically Based Approach

Matías García, Hernán Alcayaga, Alonso Pizarro

2023Remote Sensing

automatic river segmentationRGB imagesUASsphysically based framework
DOI
Journal articleEnglish

Sustainability of water transfer projects: A systematic review

Manuel Faúndez, Hernán Alcayaga, Jeffrey Walters, Alonso Pizarro, Marco Soto-Alvarez

2023Science of The Total Environment

Inter-basin water transferSustainable impactsGlobal scaleLiterature reviewSustainable development goals
DOI
Journal articleEnglish

Stochastic Analysis of the Marginal and Dependence Structure of Streamflows: From Fine-Scale Records to Multi-Centennial Paleoclimatic Reconstructions

Alonso Pizarro, Panayiotis Dimitriadis, Theano Iliopoulou, Salvatore Manfreda, Demetris Koutsoyiannis

2022Hydrology

streamflowstochastic processesmultiple scalesfractallong-range dependencemarginal momentspaleoclimatic reconstructions
DOI
Journal articleEnglish

VISION: VIdeo StabilisatION using automatic features selection for image velocimetry analysis in rivers

Alonso Pizarro, Silvano F. Dal Sasso, Salvatore Manfreda

2022SoftwareX

Video stabilisationRiver monitoringImage velocimetryUASLSPIV
DOI
Journal articleEnglish

Estimation of Chlorophyll-a Concentrations in Lanalhue Lake Using Sentinel-2 MSI Satellite Images

Francisca Barraza-Moraga, Hernán Alcayaga, Alonso Pizarro, Jorge Félez-Bernal, Roberto Urrutia

2022Remote Sensing

remote sensingchlorophyll-awater qualitymultiple linear regressionSentinel-2Google Earth EngineLanalhue Lake
DOI
Journal articleEnglish

Influence of Dam Breach Parameter Statistical Definition on Resulting Rupture Maximum Discharge

Diego Bello, Hernán Alcayaga, Diego Caamaño, Alonso Pizarro

2022Water

dam breachrupture maximum dischargestatistical definition
DOI
Journal articleEnglish

Invited perspectives: Challenges and future directions in improving bridge flood resilience

Enrico Tubaldi, Christopher J. White, Edoardo Patelli, Stergios Aristoteles Mitoulis, Gustavo de Almeida, Jim Brown, Michael Cranston, Martin Hardman, Eftychia Koursari, Rob Lamb, Hazel McDonald, Richard Mathews, Richard Newell, Alonso Pizarro, Marta Roca, Daniele Zonta

2022Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences

Flood riskbridgesresiliencedecision-makingscourvulnerabilitymonitoringforecasting
DOI
Journal articleEnglish

Relative importance of parameters controlling scour at bridge piers using the new toolbox ScourAPP

Alonso Pizarro, Bernd Ettmer, Oscar Link

2022Computers & Geosciences

DOI
Journal articleEnglish

Discussion of “Estimation of Exceedance Probability of Scour on Bridges Using Reliability Principles” by Manuel Contreras-Jara, Tomás Echaveguren, Alondra Chamorro, and Jose Vargas-Baecheler

Oscar Link, Alonso Pizarro

2022Journal of Hydrologic Engineering

DOI
Journal articleEnglish

Estimation of soil moisture from UAS platforms using RGB and thermal imaging sensors in arid and semi-arid regions

P. Paridad, S.F. Dal Sasso, A. Pizarro, L. Mita, M. Fiorentino, M.R. Margiotta, F. Faridani, A. Farid, S. Manfreda

2022Acta Horticulturae

Albedobare soilremote sensingthermal inertiavegetation
DOI
Journal articleEnglish

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Hydrology and Water Management: Applications, Challenges, and Perspectives

Bharat Sharma Acharya, Mahendra Bhandari, Filippo Bandini, Alonso Pizarro, Matthew Perks, Deepak Raj Joshi, Sheng Wang, Toby Dogwiler, Ram L. Ray, Gehendra Kharel, Sadikshya Sharma

2021Water Resources Research

Environmental MonitoringHydrologyHyperspectral SensorsLiDARModelingRemote SensingUnmanned Aerial Vehicles
DOI
Journal articleEnglish

A comparison of tools and techniques for stabilising unmanned aerial system (UAS) imagery for surface flow observations

Robert Ljubičić, Dariia Strelnikova, Matthew T. Perks, Anette Eltner, Salvador Peña-Haro, Alonso Pizarro, Silvano Fortunato Dal Sasso, Ulf Scherling, Pietro Vuono, Salvatore Manfreda

2021Hydrology and Earth System Sciences

DOI
Journal articleEnglish

Recent Advancements and Perspectives in UAS-Based Image Velocimetry

Silvano Fortunato Dal Sasso, Alonso Pizarro, Salvatore Manfreda

2021Drones

UASfluvial monitoringimage velocimetryriver dischargefeaturesseedingoptical sensing
DOI
Journal articleEnglish

Increasing LSPIV performances by exploiting the seeding distribution index at different spatial scales

Silvano Fortunato Dal Sasso, Alonso Pizarro, Sophie Pearce, Ian Maddock, Salvatore Manfreda

2021Journal of Hydrology

Image velocimetryUASRiver flow monitoringLSPIVSeeding metricsSeeding Distribution IndexFrame footage
DOI
Journal articleEnglish

Optimal cut-off points for waist circumference in the definition of metabolic syndrome in Chile

Fanny Petermann-Rocha, María Adela Martínez-Sanguinetti, Frederick K Ho, Carlos Celis-Morales, Alonso Pizarro

2020Public Health Nutrition

Metabolic syndromeWaist circumferenceCentral obesity
DOI
Journal articleEnglish

Is waist-to-height ratio a better predictor of hypertension and type 2 diabetes than body mass index and waist circumference in the Chilean population?

Fanny Petermann-Rocha, Natalia Ulloa, María Adela Martínez-Sanguinetti, Ana María Leiva, Miquel Martorell, Marcelo Villagrán, Claudia Troncoso-Pantoja, Frederick K. Ho, Carlos Celis-Morales, Alonso Pizarro

2020Nutrition

ObesityMorbidityRisk factorsChronic diseaseCardiovascular diseases
DOI
Journal articleEnglish

Identifying the optimal spatial distribution of tracers for optical sensing of stream surface flow

Alonso Pizarro, Silvano F. Dal Sasso, Matthew T. Perks, Salvatore Manfreda

2020Hydrology and Earth System Sciences

DOI
Journal articleEnglish

Refining image‐velocimetry performances for streamflow monitoring: Seeding metrics to errors minimization

Alonso Pizarro, Silvano Fortunato Dal Sasso, Salvatore Manfreda

2020Hydrological Processes

DOI
Journal articleEnglish

Metrics for the Quantification of Seeding Characteristics to Enhance Image Velocimetry Performance in Rivers

Silvano Fortunato Dal Sasso, Alonso Pizarro, Salvatore Manfreda

2020Remote Sensing

river monitoringimage velocimetryLSPIVPTVUASsurface flow velocityseeding density
DOI
Journal articleEnglish

Towards harmonisation of image velocimetry techniques for river surface velocity observations

Matthew T. Perks, Silvano Fortunato Dal Sasso, Alexandre Hauet, Elizabeth Jamieson, Jérôme Le Coz, Sophie Pearce, Salvador Peña-Haro, Alonso Pizarro, Dariia Strelnikova, Flavia Tauro, James Bomhof, Salvatore Grimaldi, Alain Goulet, Borbála Hortobágyi, Magali Jodeau, Sabine Käfer, Robert Ljubičić, Ian Maddock, Peter Mayr, Gernot Paulus, Lionel Pénard, Leigh Sinclair, Salvatore Manfreda

2020Earth System Science Data

DOI
Journal articleEnglish

Potential advantages of flow-area rating curves compared to classic stage-discharge-relations

Salvatore Manfreda, Alonso Pizarro, Tommaso Moramarco, Luigi Cimorelli, Domenico Pianese, Silvia Barbetta

2020Journal of Hydrology

DOI
Journal articleEnglish

The Science behind Scour at Bridge Foundations: A Review

Alonso Pizarro, Salvatore Manfreda, Enrico Tubaldi

2020Water

scourbridge foundationsNatural Hazardsfloods
DOI
Journal articleEnglish

An Evaluation of Image Velocimetry Techniques under Low Flow Conditions and High Seeding Densities Using Unmanned Aerial Systems

Sophie Pearce, Robert Ljubičić, Salvador Peña-Haro, Matthew Perks, Flavia Tauro, Alonso Pizarro, Silvano Dal Sasso, Dariia Strelnikova, Salvatore Grimaldi, Ian Maddock, Gernot Paulus, Jasna Plavšić, Dušan Prodanović, Salvatore Manfreda

2020Remote Sensing

image velocimetryUASriver flow monitoringLSPIVLSPTVKLTOTVSSIVsurface flow velocity
DOI
Journal articleEnglish

Local Scour and Sediment Deposition at Bridge Piers during Floods

Oscar Link, Marcelo García, Alonso Pizarro, Hernán Alcayaga, Sebastián Palma

2020Journal of Hydraulic Engineering

ScourDepositionBridgesPiersFloodsSediment hydraulics
DOI
Journal articleEnglish

Quantification of Modelling Uncertainties in Bridge Scour Risk Assessment under Multiple Flood Events

Alonso Pizarro, Enrico Tubaldi

2019Geosciences

scour progressionbridge piersmultiple floodsmarkov processepistemic uncertainty
DOI
Journal articleEnglish

Soil Moisture Monitoring in Iran by Implementing Satellite Data into the Root-Zone SMAR Model

Fatemeh Gheybi, Parivash Paridad, Farid Faridani, Ali Farid, Alonso Pizarro, Mauro Fiorentino, Salvatore Manfreda

2019Hydrology

surface soil moistureroot-zone soil moistureremote sensingSMAR
DOI
Journal articleEnglish

A Theoretically Derived Probability Distribution of Scour

Salvatore Manfreda, Oscar Link, Alonso Pizarro

2018Water

scourbridgespiersTheoretically Derived Distribution of Scour (TDDS)
DOI
Journal articleEnglish

Exploring the optimal experimental setup for surface flow velocity measurements using PTV

S. F. Dal Sasso, A. Pizarro, C. Samela, L. Mita, S. Manfreda

2018Environmental Monitoring and Assessment

River flow monitoringSurface flow velocityUASPTV
DOI
Journal articleEnglish

BRISENT: An Entropy-Based Model for Bridge-Pier Scour Estimation under Complex Hydraulic Scenarios

Alonso Pizarro, Caterina Samela, Mauro Fiorentino, Oscar Link, Salvatore Manfreda

2017Water

sediment transportbridge scourinformational entropyprinciple of maximum entropyeffective flow workunsteady hydraulic conditions
DOI
Journal articleEnglish

Dimensionless Effective Flow Work for Estimation of Pier Scour Caused by Flood Waves

Alonso Pizarro, Bernd Ettmer, Salvatore Manfreda, Alejandro Rojas, Oscar Link

2017Journal of Hydraulic Engineering

DOI
Journal articleEnglish

A model of bridge pier scour during flood waves

Oscar Link, Cristian Castillo, Alonso Pizarro, Alejandro Rojas, Bernd Ettmer, Cristián Escauriaza, Salvatore Manfreda

2017Journal of Hydraulic Research

Bridge scourflood waveslocal scourtemporal scourunsteady hydraulics
DOI
Journal articleSpanish

Disponibilidad y seguridad hídrica en el desarrollo de enfermedades crónicas no transmisibles ¿Nuevos factores de riesgo?

Fanny Petermann-Rocha, Alonso Pizarro, Gabriela Nazar, Mauricio Zambrano-Bigiarini, Angela Plaza-Garrido, Felipe Díaz-Toro, Claudia Troncoso-Pantoja, Andrés Celis, Daniela Sugg, Carlos Celis-Morales

2024Revista médica de Chile

DOI
Journal articleSpanish

En búsqueda de una salud sostenible en Chile: rol de la investigación interdisciplinaria

Juan E. Montiel, Fanny Petermann-Rocha, Alonso Pizarro, Víctor Contreras

2023Revista Médica de Chile, 150(12), 1689-1692

DOI
Journal articleSpanish

ScourAPP: un software de código abierto para docencia en socavación local

Pizarro, A. & Link, O

2021Revista SOCHID, 36, 1

BookSpanish

Fundamentos Probabilísticos de la Hidrología

Alonso Vicente Pizarro Valdebenito, Mauricio Zambrano Bigiarini

2025Pizarro Valdebenito, Alonso Vicente (editorial); ISBN 978-956-423-367-3

Geologíahidrologíameteorología
Publisher
BookSpanish

Texto de apoyo docente: Hidráulica

Alonso Vicente Pizarro Valdebenito

2025Pizarro Valdebenito, Alonso Vicente (editorial); ISBN 978-956-423-385-7

Ingeniería hidráulica
Publisher
Book chapterEnglish

Urban river management by innovative monitoring

Alonso Pizarro, Silvano Fortunato Dal Sasso, Salvador Peña-Haro, Salvatore Manfreda

2024Managing Urban Rivers

Floodsimage velocimetryinnovative monitoringphotogrammetryUnmanned Aerial Systems (UASs)
DOIPublisher
Book chapterEnglish

River flow monitoring with unmanned aerial system

Dariia Strelnikova, Matthew T. Perks, Silvano F. Dal Sasso, Alonso Pizarro

2023Unmanned Aerial Systems for Monitoring Soil, Vegetation, and Riverine Environments

Flow monitoringimage velocimetryUAS-based flow data acquisitionimage preprocessingPIVPTVKLT-IVSTIV
DOIPublisher
Book chapterEnglish

Monitoring river channel dynamics by Unmanned Aerial Systems

László Bertalan, Anette Eltner, Ian Maddock, Alonso Pizarro

2023Unmanned Aerial Systems for Monitoring Soil, Vegetation, and Riverine Environments

Geomorphologygranulometrybathymetry
DOIPublisher
Book chapterEnglish

New Insights Offered by UAS for River Monitoring

Salvatore Manfreda, Silvano Fortunato Dal Sasso, Alonso Pizarro, Flavia Tauro

2019Applications of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems

DOIPublisher