PhD Alonso PizarroHydrology and Complex Hydrosystems
Learning through evidence

Teaching

Teaching hydrology, stochastic hydrology, and hydrological modelling.

My courses integrate scientific evidence, field observations and computational tools.

Explore coursesFor thesis students
Hydraulic modelling lecture

Current Courses at Universidad del Bío-Bío

Courses currently offered in the Civil Engineering programme, based on the official Universidad del Bío-Bío course syllabi.

River basin in a mountain landscape
Code 450177Universidad del Bío-Bío

Hydrology

A compulsory Civil Engineering course focused on quantifying mean and extreme water flows in natural systems. It integrates catchment characterization, hydrological data validation, frequency analysis, and methods for estimating water availability, rainfall, and design discharges.

Main topics
Hydrological cycleWater balanceCatchment morphometryData validationFrequency analysisIDF curvesDesign dischargesUngauged basins

Teaching methodLectures, guided discussion, case analysis and contextual readings, collaborative work, and problem-solving assignments applied to catchments and hydrological datasets.

View course syllabus
Instrumented river and monitoring station used for hydrological modelling
Code 450224Universidad del Bío-Bío

Hydrological Modelling

A theoretical and practical elective devoted to analysing and simulating hydrological processes with hydrometeorological data and computational tools. It covers rainfall-runoff models, calibration, validation, ungauged basins, and deterministic and stochastic approaches.

Main topics
Hydrometeorological dataGridded productsRainfall-runoff modelsCalibrationValidationMATLABMARRMoTRegionalisationStochastic modelling

Teaching methodLectures, guided discussion, case analysis, collaborative work, and computer-laboratory sessions using MATLAB and MARRMoT, culminating in an applied group project.

View course syllabus
Potential UBB offerings

Courses That May Be Offered in the Future

Courses taught previously and identified as possible future offerings. Availability and scheduling remain to be confirmed.

Potential offering Bridge crossing a mountain river
Potential future offering

Hydraulic Bridge Design

A professional course integrating hydrology, river hydraulics, and technical standards for safe bridge design. It develops the ability to estimate design discharges, model flow through river structures, assess scour, and propose protection measures.

Main topics
Bridge hydrologyChilean standardsIDF curvesDesign dischargesHEC-RASRiver hydraulicsGeneral scourLocal scourProtection design

Teaching methodLectures, problem-solving exercises, real-case analysis, critical discussion of standards, HEC-RAS and Excel, and a semester project developed through staged submissions.

Potential offering Mountain river basin
Potential future offering

Mountain Hydrology

A semester course on the meteorological, physical, and hydrological processes controlling water availability in high-mountain environments. It examines the cryosphere, snow and glaciers, observation techniques, and climate-change responses.

Main topics
Mountain meteorologyCryosphereSnow hydrologyGlacier hydrologyIn-situ observationRemote sensingSnowpack reconstructionClimate changeHydrological projections

Teaching methodFace-to-face classes supported by readings, examples, practical exercises and teaching-assistant sessions, plus an individual data-analysis project, technical report, oral presentation and manuscript.

Potential offering Civil engineering research methods class
Potential future offering

Research Methods for Civil Engineers

A course designed to strengthen research and technical communication skills. It guides research questions, hypotheses, objectives and methods, literature evaluation, project planning, preliminary analysis, and scientific writing.

Main topics
Literature searchCritical readingResearch questionsHypothesesResearch methodsProject planningMeta-analysisScientific writingTechnical presentations

Teaching methodTheoretical classes, guided readings, practical exercises, detailed paper analysis, and writing and presentation workshops with individual guidance, culminating in a meta-analysis and article manuscript.

Potential offering Hydrological data-analysis workflow
Potential future offering

Data Analysis for Geoscience

A course focused on processing, analysing, and integrating geoscientific data, with emphasis on hydrology and water resources. It develops skills in MATLAB, Python and R, quality control, uncertainty, statistics, spatial analysis, and real datasets.

Main topics
MATLABGitHubData qualityMissing valuesHypothesis testingRegressionUncertaintyDEM and DTMGISFrequency analysis

Teaching methodFace-to-face classes with examples, practical exercises and teaching-assistant sessions. Students program in MATLAB, solve problems, prepare technical reports, and complete an individual data-analysis project.

How these courses support thesis students

Together, these courses build foundations in hydrological processes, modelling, river hydraulics, geoscientific data analysis, research design and technical communication.

Research Skills

Formulate research questions, evaluate scientific literature, analyse evidence and communicate defensible results.

Technical Tools

Work with advanced programming languages, GIS-based analysis, and hydrometeorological datasets in applied engineering problems.

Thesis Preparation

Develop applied projects, technical reports, manuscripts and presentations that support future thesis work.

Interested in thesis supervision?

I welcome motivated students for undergraduate and graduate thesis projects in hydrology, hydraulic engineering and water resources.

Students & CollaboratorsSchedule a meeting