Addis Ababa University | Ethiopia
Belete Berhanu is an Associate Professor and accomplished researcher in water resources engineering and management, with a strong focus on surface water hydrology, rainfall-runoff modeling, and watershed hydroinformatics. He earned his Ph.D. in Water Resources Engineering and Management from Addis Ababa University, specializing in surface water hydrology, after completing his M.Tech. in Hydrology with a specialization in watershed hydroinformatics at IIT Roorkee, India, and a B.Sc. in Agricultural Engineering from Alemaya University of Agriculture. With extensive academic and research experience, he has contributed to collaborative projects with international organizations such as SMHI, FAO, IWMI, IHE Delft, UMD, USC, and FIU, focusing on flood forecasting, water accounting, climate-smart agriculture, and model integration. His work spans multiple countries, including Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, Rwanda, Somaliland, India, Israel, and the USA, underscoring his global research engagement. A member of professional associations such as EWPA and a national expert on GERD, he has demonstrated leadership in water resource management and policy advisory roles. His expertise extends to hydrological and decision-support models, GIS, and remote sensing, and he has received recognition for his contributions to strategic water management and capacity building. With an h-index of 13 and numerous influential publications, he continues to advance hydrological research and sustainable water management practices globally.
Featured Publications
Berhanu, B., Seleshi, Y., & Melesse, A. M. (2014). Surface water and groundwater resources of Ethiopia: Potentials and challenges of water resources development. In A. M. Melesse, W. Abtew, & S. G. Setegn (Eds.), Nile River Basin: Ecohydrological challenges, climate change and hydropolitics (pp. 97–117). Springer.
Berhanu, B., Melesse, A. M., & Seleshi, Y. (2013). GIS-based hydrological zones and soil geo-database of Ethiopia. Catena, 104, 21–31.
Berhanu, B., Seleshi, Y., Demisse, S. S., & Melesse, A. M. (2015). Flow regime classification and hydrological characterization: A case study of Ethiopian rivers. Water, 7(6), 3149–3165.
Mamo, S., Berhanu, B., & Melesse, A. M. (2019). Historical flood events and hydrological extremes in Ethiopia. In A. M. Melesse & W. Abtew (Eds.), Extreme hydrology and climate variability (pp. 379–384). Elsevier.
Berhanu, E. B. B. (2018). Identification of surface water storing sites using topographic wetness index (TWI) and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Journal of Natural Resources and Development, 8, 91–100.
Derib, S. D., Assefa, T., Berhanu, B., & Zeleke, G. (2009). Impacts of micro-basin water harvesting structures in improving vegetative cover in degraded hillslope areas of north-east Ethiopia. The Rangeland Journal, 31(2), 259–265.
Berhanu, B., Seleshi, Y., Demisse, S. S., & Melesse, A. M. (2016). Bias correction and characterization of climate forecast system re‐analysis daily precipitation in Ethiopia using fuzzy overlay. Meteorological Applications, 23(2), 230–243.