Michelle M. Irizarry-Ortiz
I have more than 20 years of experience in hydrologic modeling and statistical hydrology. I have extensive experience modeling the hydrology and water management system of south Florida and its vulnerability to climate change.
Professional Experience
U. S. G. S., Hydrologist, 2019-present, Orlando, Florida
Consulting, 2016-2019
South Florida Water Management District, Hydrologic Modeler, 2001-2011
Education and Certifications
M. S., Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2001
B. S., Civil Engineering, University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, 1999
Florida Professional Engineer
Certified Climate Change Professional (CC-P)
Abstracts and Presentations
Irizarry-Ortiz, M., Stamm, J.F., Maran, C., and Obeysekera, J., 2022, Development of projected (2050–2089) precipitation depth-duration-frequency curves for south Florida based on downscaled climate model output [poster]: Frontiers in Hydrology 2022, American Geophysical Union, San Juan, P.R., June 19–24, 2022.
Irizarry-Ortiz, M., Stamm, J.F., Sumner, D., and Harmsen, E.W., 2022, Estimation of historical (1985–2005) and future (2040–2060) agricultural water use for Puerto Rico based on a soil moisture model [poster]: Frontiers in Hydrology 2022, American Geophysical Union, San Juan, P.R., June 19–24, 2022.
Obeysekera, J., Irizarry-Ortiz, Michelle M., Maran, C., John, A., Guzman, O., and Johnston, D., 2024, Assessment of trends in south Florida sub-daily rainfall: UF Water Institute Symposium 2024, Gainesville, FL, February 20–21, 2024.
Irizarry-Ortiz, Michelle M., 2024, Characterizing historical and projected future droughts for south Florida: UF Water Institute Symposium 2024, Gainesville, FL, February 20–21, 2024.
Maran, C., Cortez, N., Solaiman, T., Kimmberlain, T., Obeysekera, J., McNoldy, B., Soden, B., Taminger, N., Irizarry-Ortiz, M., Stamm, J., and Frazer, T., 2024, The importance of climate diagnostics and prediction for resilient water resources management in south Florida—Practitioner perspective: NOAA 48th Annual Climate Diagnostics and Prediction Workshop, Tallahassee, FL, March 26–29, 2024.
Irizarry-Ortiz, Michelle M., 2024, Characterizing historical and projected future droughts for south Florida: Florida Water and Climate Alliance webinar, May 30, 2024.
Science and Products
Sensitivity of the Penman-Monteith reference evapotranspiration equation to meteorological variables for Puerto Rico
Spatiotemporal variations in reference evapotranspiration (ETo) are sensitive to the meteorological data used in its estimation. The sensitivity of the ASCE standardized ETo equation to meteorological variables from GOES-PRWEB dataset was evaluated for the island of Puerto Rico. Island wide, ETo is most sensitive to daily mean relative humidity (RHmean), followed by solar radiation, daily maximum
Authors
Michelle M. Irizarry-Ortiz, Eric Harmsen
Development of projected depth-duration frequency curves (2050–89) for south Florida
Planning stormwater projects requires estimates of current and future extreme precipitation depths for events with specified return periods and durations. In this study, precipitation data from four downscaled climate datasets are used to determine changes in precipitation depth-duration-frequency curves from the period 1966–2005 to the period 2050–89 primarily on the basis of Representative Conce
Authors
Michelle M. Irizarry-Ortiz, John F. Stamm, Carolina Maran, Jayantha Obeysekera
Estimated water withdrawals and use in Puerto Rico, 2015
Water withdrawals and use in Puerto Rico for 2015 were estimated at 2,372 million gallons per day (Mgal/d), which was 21 percent less than withdrawals and use for 2010. The 2015 total water withdrawal and use estimates were the lowest since 1990 and coincided with a substantial decline of 25 percent in saline-water withdrawals for thermoelectric-power cooling processes from 2010 to 2015. Freshwate
Authors
Wanda L. Molina-Rivera, Michelle M. Irizarry-Ortiz
Non-USGS Publications**
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
Characterizing projected future (2056-95) droughts in south Florida based on the Multivariate Adaptive Constructed Analogs (MACA) downscaled climate dataset from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5
The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) have evaluated projections of future (2056-95) droughts for south Florida based on climate model output from the Multivariate Adaptive Constructed Analogs (MACA) downscaled climate dataset from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5). The emission scenarios evaluated include representative c
Change factors to derive projected future precipitation depth-duration-frequency (DDF) curves at 242 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Atlas 14 stations in Florida (ver 2.0, May 2024)
This data release consists of Microsoft Excel workbooks, shapefiles, and a figure (png format) related to a cooperative project between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Florida Flood Hub for Applied Research and Innovation at the University of South Florida to derive projected future change factors for precipitation depth-duration-frequency (DDF) curves at 242 National Oceanic and Atmosph
Bias-corrected daily precipitation at 1-kilometer resolution for Puerto Rico from Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) dynamical downscaled historical (1985-2005) and projected (2040-60) climate
This data release consists of four network Common Data Form (netCDF) files of bias-corrected daily precipitation at 1-kilometer (km) scale for historical and projected climate of Puerto Rico. The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model was used by Bowden and others (2018) to downscale two general circulation models (GCMs) from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5): (1) the
Change factors to derive projected future precipitation depth-duration-frequency (DDF) curves at 174 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Atlas 14 stations in central and south Florida
This data release consists of Microsoft Excel workbooks, shapefiles, and a figure (png format) related to a cooperative project between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) to derive projected future change factors for precipitation depth-duration-frequency (DDF) curves at 174 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Atlas 14 stati
Change factors to derive future precipitation depth-duration-frequency (DDF) curves at 174 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Atlas 14 stations in central and south Florida
This data release consists of Microsoft Excel workbooks, shapefiles, and a figure (png format) related to a cooperative project between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) to derive future change factors for precipitation depth-duration-frequency (DDF) curves at 174 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Atlas 14 stations in cen
Spatial and tabular datasets of water withdrawals and use in Puerto Rico, 2015
The U.S. Geological Survey has compiled information on water withdrawal and use for Puerto Rico at 5-year intervals since 1980 to provide data for the management of the Commonwealth’s water resources. For 2015, water withdrawals and use were estimated for 78 municipalities from fresh groundwater and surface water in the categories of public use, domestic use, irrigation use, livestock, commercial
Estimated public-supply water withdrawals and domestic water use in Puerto Rico (ver. 2.0, March 2023)
The U.S. Geological Survey estimates annual public-supply water withdrawn from freshwater sources in Puerto Rico using data obtained from various agencies on the island, including the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA), and the Puerto Rico Department of Health (PRDOH). Public-supply withdrawals from surface and groundwater sources are tabulated by municipality, and by PRASA water ser
Science and Products
Sensitivity of the Penman-Monteith reference evapotranspiration equation to meteorological variables for Puerto Rico
Spatiotemporal variations in reference evapotranspiration (ETo) are sensitive to the meteorological data used in its estimation. The sensitivity of the ASCE standardized ETo equation to meteorological variables from GOES-PRWEB dataset was evaluated for the island of Puerto Rico. Island wide, ETo is most sensitive to daily mean relative humidity (RHmean), followed by solar radiation, daily maximum
Authors
Michelle M. Irizarry-Ortiz, Eric Harmsen
Development of projected depth-duration frequency curves (2050–89) for south Florida
Planning stormwater projects requires estimates of current and future extreme precipitation depths for events with specified return periods and durations. In this study, precipitation data from four downscaled climate datasets are used to determine changes in precipitation depth-duration-frequency curves from the period 1966–2005 to the period 2050–89 primarily on the basis of Representative Conce
Authors
Michelle M. Irizarry-Ortiz, John F. Stamm, Carolina Maran, Jayantha Obeysekera
Estimated water withdrawals and use in Puerto Rico, 2015
Water withdrawals and use in Puerto Rico for 2015 were estimated at 2,372 million gallons per day (Mgal/d), which was 21 percent less than withdrawals and use for 2010. The 2015 total water withdrawal and use estimates were the lowest since 1990 and coincided with a substantial decline of 25 percent in saline-water withdrawals for thermoelectric-power cooling processes from 2010 to 2015. Freshwate
Authors
Wanda L. Molina-Rivera, Michelle M. Irizarry-Ortiz
Non-USGS Publications**
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
Characterizing projected future (2056-95) droughts in south Florida based on the Multivariate Adaptive Constructed Analogs (MACA) downscaled climate dataset from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5
The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) have evaluated projections of future (2056-95) droughts for south Florida based on climate model output from the Multivariate Adaptive Constructed Analogs (MACA) downscaled climate dataset from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5). The emission scenarios evaluated include representative c
Change factors to derive projected future precipitation depth-duration-frequency (DDF) curves at 242 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Atlas 14 stations in Florida (ver 2.0, May 2024)
This data release consists of Microsoft Excel workbooks, shapefiles, and a figure (png format) related to a cooperative project between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Florida Flood Hub for Applied Research and Innovation at the University of South Florida to derive projected future change factors for precipitation depth-duration-frequency (DDF) curves at 242 National Oceanic and Atmosph
Bias-corrected daily precipitation at 1-kilometer resolution for Puerto Rico from Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) dynamical downscaled historical (1985-2005) and projected (2040-60) climate
This data release consists of four network Common Data Form (netCDF) files of bias-corrected daily precipitation at 1-kilometer (km) scale for historical and projected climate of Puerto Rico. The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model was used by Bowden and others (2018) to downscale two general circulation models (GCMs) from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5): (1) the
Change factors to derive projected future precipitation depth-duration-frequency (DDF) curves at 174 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Atlas 14 stations in central and south Florida
This data release consists of Microsoft Excel workbooks, shapefiles, and a figure (png format) related to a cooperative project between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) to derive projected future change factors for precipitation depth-duration-frequency (DDF) curves at 174 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Atlas 14 stati
Change factors to derive future precipitation depth-duration-frequency (DDF) curves at 174 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Atlas 14 stations in central and south Florida
This data release consists of Microsoft Excel workbooks, shapefiles, and a figure (png format) related to a cooperative project between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) to derive future change factors for precipitation depth-duration-frequency (DDF) curves at 174 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Atlas 14 stations in cen
Spatial and tabular datasets of water withdrawals and use in Puerto Rico, 2015
The U.S. Geological Survey has compiled information on water withdrawal and use for Puerto Rico at 5-year intervals since 1980 to provide data for the management of the Commonwealth’s water resources. For 2015, water withdrawals and use were estimated for 78 municipalities from fresh groundwater and surface water in the categories of public use, domestic use, irrigation use, livestock, commercial
Estimated public-supply water withdrawals and domestic water use in Puerto Rico (ver. 2.0, March 2023)
The U.S. Geological Survey estimates annual public-supply water withdrawn from freshwater sources in Puerto Rico using data obtained from various agencies on the island, including the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA), and the Puerto Rico Department of Health (PRDOH). Public-supply withdrawals from surface and groundwater sources are tabulated by municipality, and by PRASA water ser