Dr Bithin Datta ~ Senior Lecturer
College of Science & Engineering
- About
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- Teaching
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- CS2002: Catchment, Stream and Lake Engineering (Level 2; TSV)
- CS3004: Transportation Engineering (Level 3; TSV)
- CS4002: Hydraulic and Coastal Engineering (Level 4; TSV)
- CS4008: Water and Wastewater Engineering (Level 4; TSV)
- CS5108: Advanced Ground Water Modelling and Management (Level 5; TSV)
- CS5308: Advanced Water and Wastewater Engineering (Level 5; TSV)
- Interests
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- Research
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- Water Resources Systems Management; Systems Engineering; Groundwater Contamination Management; Coastal Aquifer Saltwater intrusion control; Reservoir Operations, Drought prediction.
- Research Disciplines
- Socio-Economic Objectives
Currently at Discipline of Civil Engineering, College of Science and Engineering, Division of Tropical Environments and Societies at James Cook University, Australia. Also associated with: Water Quality and Contaminants Research Group, TropWATER (Centre for Tropical Waters and Aquatic Ecosystem Research), the Economic Geology Research Centre (EGRU) at James Cook University, and CRC-for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRC-CARE), University of Newcastle, Australia. He completed his B.Tech. (Hons.) degree in Civil Engineering from the internationally renowned and premiere Engineering University in India, I.I.T Kharagpur, with first class Honors, and was a rank holder. He then completed his Masters Degree in Civil Engineering with first rank in his specialization. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in Civil Engineering from Purdue University in U.S.A., specializing in Hydraulics and Systems Engineering, with a Major in Water Resources and Minor in Industrial and Systems Engineering.
After completion of his Ph.D. he worked in various positions at University of Washington, Seattle, WA, U.S.A., University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, U.S.A., and then as a Research Faculty at University of California, Davis, CA, U.S.A., totaling bout 11 years. He then joined the Civil Engineering Department at IIT Kanpur in India, and was promoted to the Position of Professor in 1995 and also Senior Professor Position in 2009. There, he also held the positions of Professor and Head of the Civil Engineering Department, and Head of the interdisciplinary Postgraduate Environmental Engineering and Management Program. He also served as Visiting Professor at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada, Denmark Technical University, Copenhagen, and Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok. He has guided many Master’s Theses and has completed guidance of many Ph.D. theses, at I.I.T. Kanpur India, then at James Cook University, and one at University of South Australia, Adelaide. He has authored: many Technical Articles in very reputed peer reviewed international Journals, Book Chapters, and numerous Conference papers. He is also internationally well known for his pioneering research work on Optimal Identification of unknown pollution sources in contaminated Groundwater aquifers, design of optimal monitoring networks incorporating uncertainties for management of contaminated aquifers, management of coastal aquifers for saltwater intrusion control and remediation, and real-time operation of water reservoir (dams) systems. He was the Co-Chair of the ASCE-EWRI (American Society of Civil Engineers- Environmental and Water Resources Institute) International conference on Water and Environmental Systems held first time outside U.S.A. He also, served as an advisor in the Water Resources Systems Technical Committee of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
He was instrumental in guiding to successful completion a new integrated Bachelors and Masters degree program in Civil Engineering at I.I.T. Kanpur, during his headship of the Civil Engineering Department. This program was designed to attract the best student talents to postgraduate studies in Engineering. He has been the project leader in a number of state of the art applied mega research projects related to Hydrologic Modeling and Water Resources/ Groundwater Management, first in U.S.A., then in India. He has worked as advisor to the U.P. government in the World Bank supported project on Restructuring of the Water Resources Sector in the state of U.P., India. He has served as a member of the high powered committee of the Government of India for final clearance of Large Scale River Basin Projects, including hydropower projects. At James Cook University he was the project leader and sole PI of a Mega, technology development project: developing computational tools for identification of unknown groundwater pollution sources and optimal design of monitoring networks for detection of groundwater pollution, funded by CRC-CARE, University of Newcasle, Australia, and University of South Australia, Adelaide. The total cash funding for this project including additional full Scholarship support for Ph.D. students, and dedicated project funding amounts to $629,000.00, starting in 2009.
- Publications
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These are the most recent publications associated with this author. To see a detailed profile of all publications stored at JCU, visit ResearchOnline@JCU. Hover over Altmetrics badges to see social impact.
- Journal Articles
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- Al-Juboori M and Datta B (2019) Performance evaluation of a genetic algorithm-based linked simulation-optimization model for optimal hydraulic seepage-related design of concrete gravity dams. Journal of Applied Water Engineering and Research, 7 (3). pp. 173-197
- Al-Juboori M and Datta B (2019) Optimum design of hydraulic water retaining structures incorporating uncertainty in estimating heterogeneous hydraulic conductivity utilizing stochastic ensemble surrogate models within a multi-objective multi-realisation optimisation model. Journal of Computational Design and Engineering, 6 (3). pp. 296-315
- Al-Juboori M and Datta B (2019) Minimum cost design of hydraulic water retaining structure by using coupled simulation optimization approach. KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering, 23 (3). pp. 1095-1107
- Amirabdollahian M, Datta B and Beck P (2019) Application of a link simulation optimization model utilizing quantification of hydrogeologic uncertainty to characterize unknown groundwater contaminant sources. Modeling Earth Systems and Environment, 5 (1). pp. 119-131
- Lal A and Datta B (2019) Multi-objective groundwater management strategy under uncertainties for sustainable control of saltwater intrusion: solution for an island country in the South Pacific. Journal of Environmental Management, 234. pp. 115-130
- Roy D and Datta B (2019) Adaptive management of coastal aquifers using entropy-set pair analysis-based three-dimensional sequential monitoring network design. Journal of Hydrologic Engineering, 24 (3).
- Al-Juboori M and Datta B (2018) Linked simulation-optimization model for optimum hydraulic design of water retaining structures constructed on permeable soils. International Journal of GEOMATE, 14 (44). pp. 39-46
- Esfahani H and Datta B (2018) Fractal singularity-based multiobjective monitoring networks for reactive species contaminant source characterization. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 144 (6).
- Hayford M and Datta B (2018) Geochemical reactive modeling of flow and transport process at a mine site in Northern Territory, Australia. International Journal of Geomate, 15 (51). pp. 9-15
- Lal A and Datta B (2018) Multiple objective management strategies for coastal aqifers utilizing new surrogate models. International Journal of Geomate, 15 (48). pp. 79-85
- Conference Papers
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- Hazrati-Yadkoori S and Datta B (2019) Characterization of groundwater contaminant sources by utilizing MARS based surrogate model linked to optimization model. Advances in Computer Communication and Computational Sciences: proceedings of IC4S 2017. In: IC4S 2017: 2nd International Conference on Computer, Communication and Computational Sciences, 11-12 October 2017, Patong, Thailand
- Lal A and Datta B (2018) Genetic programming and Gaussian Process Regression models for groundwater salinity prediction: machine learning for sustainable water resources management. Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Technologies for Sustainability. In: SusTech 2018: IEEE Conference on Technologies for Sustainability, 11-13 November 2018, Long Beach, CA, USA
- More
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ResearchOnline@JCU stores 116+ research outputs authored by Dr Bithin Datta from 1981 onwards.
- Current Funding
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Current and recent Research Funding to JCU is shown by funding source and project.
Department of Environment and Heritage Protection - Tender
Denitrification bioreactor trial in the Russell catchment of the Wet Tropics
- Indicative Funding
- $235,087 over 4 years (administered by Jaragun Pty Ltd)
- Summary
- This project will establish the effectiveness of denitrification bioreactors as an on-farm technology for removing dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) in waters draining the Babinda Swamp Drainage Area. The region has been identified as a hotspot for DIN in the Great Barrier Reef catchment. This will be the first trial of denitrification bioreactors in the Wet Tropics. Denitrifying bioreactors route water through a high-carbon substrate under anaerobic conditions to encourage denitrification (the conversion of DIN to atmospheric N2). Two bioreactor configurations will be tested at two sites, and the potential for broader adoption will be assessed.
- Investigators
- Paul Nelson, Alex Cheesman, Liz Owen, HanShe Lim, Bithin Datta, Colin MacGregor and Ian Layden in collaboration with Nathan Waltham, Bart Dryden and Mark Bayley (College of Science & Engineering, Jaragun Pty Ltd, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, TropWATER, Terrain Natural Resource Management (Wet Tropics) and Australian Wetland Consulting)
- Keywords
- sugarcane; Water quality; nitrate; runoff; Wet Tropics; Great Barrier Reef
Terrain Natural Resource Management - Contract Research
Johnstone bioreactor data analysis ? first 6 months
- Indicative Funding
- $15,000
- Summary
- In the Wet Tropics Major Integrated Project (WTMIP), bioreactor 'walls' are being trialled for their ability to remove nitrate from shallow groundwater leaving sugarcane fields. Bioreactor walls consist of a woodchip-filled trench, approximately 30 m long x 2 m deep x 1 m wide, perpendicular to groundwater flow direction. To determine their effectiveness, the removal of nitrate from water flowing through them must be measured. In this project we will calculate nitrate removal in a bioreactor in the Johnstone catchment during the Jan-Jun 2019 period, using topographic survey, rainfall, water table depth and solute concentration data.
- Investigators
- Paul Nelson, Bithin Datta and Alex Cheesman (College of Science & Engineering)
- Keywords
- Water Quality; Nitrate; Bioreactor; Groundwater; Sugarcane; Hydrology
CRC CARE - Contract Research
Developing Additional Computational Capabilities for Unknown Groundwater Contamination Source Characterization
- Indicative Funding
- $37,000 over 3 years
- Summary
- The most challenging problems in effective management of contaminated aquifers is the detection of contaminant movement in the subsurface, and to characterize the unknown sources of groundwater contamination in terms of magnitude, location, and timing. These are essential first steps in the remediation and management of contaminated quifers. This project will carry forward the research and outcome of the recently completed CR-CARE James Cook University project by Dr Bithin Datta on development of comprehensive and user-friendly computational tools for characterization of contaminant sources and designing effective monitoring networks under uncertainties for the characterization of the sources in a contaminated aquifer.
- Investigators
- Bithin Datta (College of Science & Engineering)
- Keywords
- Groundwater Pollution; Contaminant Source; Aquifer Management
CRC CARE - Research Grant
Development Validation and Delivery of Complete Set of Computational Tools for Monitoring Network Design of contaminated Aquifers and foridentification/characterisation of groundwater contaminant sources.
- Indicative Funding
- $379,175 over 7 years
- Summary
- The first phase of this proposed project will be devoted to the development, validation, and final delivery of complete set of computer based tools for optimal design of efficient and effective monitoring networks for detection of contaminant movement in the aquifer. The second phase will be devoted to the development of another set of computer based comprehensive tools for detection of unknown sources of groundwater contamination. A comprehensive set of tools would be invaluable for reliable identification of unknown contaminant sources. The outcomes will provide new capabilities for detection of groundwater pollution, and characterization of the contaminant sources. These outcomes would be immensely useful for different organisation involved with management of contaminated aquifers to develop strategies for economical and efficient management of contaminated aquifer sites, and to prioritise sites for remediation.
- Investigators
- Bithin Datta (College of Science & Engineering)
- Keywords
- groundwater management; optimal identification; remediation of contaminated aquifiers; pollution source identification; monitoring network design
- Supervision
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Advisory Accreditation: I can be on your Advisory Panel as a Primary or Secondary Advisor.
These Higher Degree Research projects are either current or by students who have completed their studies within the past 5 years at JCU. Linked titles show theses available within ResearchOnline@JCU.
- Current
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- Investigation and assessment of groundwater quality and conditions for sustainable management in dry tropical coastal plain aquifer(s): Townsville, Queensland Australia (PhD , Secondary Advisor/AM)
- Robust Optimal Management of Saltwater Intrusion in Costal Aquifer Using Couples Simulation - Optimization Compliance Monitoring and Feedback Information. (PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
- Evaluation of Mathematical Models and Tools for Assessing Groundwater Quality, Availability and Sustainability in Ground Water-Aquifer Resource Systems. (PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
- Development of sustainable groundwater management methodologies to control saltwater intrusion into coastal aquifers and an application to a coastal aquifer in tropical pacific island country (PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
- Linked Simulation- optimization methodology for reactive contaminant source characterization and optimal design of monitoring networks in abandoned mine sites (PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
- Multiple-Objective Optimal Groundwater Monitoring Network Design for Initial Detection of a Contaminant Plume Under Conditions of Uncertainty (Masters , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
- Completed
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- Optimal identification of unknown groundwater contaminant sources in conjunction with designed monitoring networks (2018, PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
- Seepage criteria based optimal design of water retaining structures with reliability quantification utilizing surrogate model linked simulation-optimization approach (2018, PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
- Development of a sustainable groundwater management strategy and sequential compliance monitoring to control saltwater intrusion in coastal aquifers (2018, PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
- Development of integrated methodologies for optimal monitoring and source characterization in contaminated groundwater systems under uncertainty (2016, PhD , Primary Advisor)
- Development of integrated methodologies for optimal characterization of reactive contaminant sources and monitoring network design in polluted aquifer sites (2016, PhD , Primary Advisor)
- Optimal monitoring network design and identification of unknown pollutant sources in polluted aquifers (2014, PhD , Primary Advisor)
- Collaboration
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The map shows research collaborations by institution from the past 7 years.
Note: Map points are indicative of the countries or states that institutions are associated with.- 5+ collaborations
- 4 collaborations
- 3 collaborations
- 2 collaborations
- 1 collaboration
- Indicates the Tropics (Torrid Zone)
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