PNNL

Kyongho Son is an Earth scientist in watershed hydrology and is involved in PNNL’s Subsurface Biogeochemistry Research Scientific Focus Area sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research. Son’s research evaluates the impact of the hyporheic zone process on the spatial and temporal variations in denitrification and respiration across the Columbia River Basin. Also, his research develops an integrated watershed to quantify the change of watershed biogeochemistry followed by the disturbance, including extreme precipitation and wildfire. He has extensive research experience in watershed ecohydrological modeling, model evaluation, uncertainty analysis, remotely sensed data analysis, and sampling design. 

• Interactions between climate, forest ecosystem, and watershed hydrology 
• Critical controls on the spatial/temporal variation of hyporheic zone processes 
• Improving model structure and reductions of predictive uncertainty in hydrologic models
• Impacts of climate change/land-use change on watershed hydrology and biogeochemistry 
• Strategic sampling design for collecting the environmental data

• PhD in Environmental Science and Management, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2015
• MS in Geography, State University of New York, Buffalo State College, 2008
• MS in Environmental System Engineering, University of Western Australia, 2006
• BS in Environmental Engineering, Pusan National University, 2003

• American Geophysical Union

2025

• Regier P.J., K. Son, X. Chen, Y. Fang, P. Jiang, M.S. Taylor, and W. Wollheim, et al. 2025. "Allometric scaling of hyporheic respiration across basins in the Pacific Northwest United States." Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences 130, no. 3:Art. No. e2024JG008344. PNNL-SA-195984. doi:10.1029/2024JG008344
• Regier P.J., Y. Chen, K. Son, J. Bao, B.K. Forbes, A.E. Goldman, and M.H. Kaufman, et al. 2025. "Different methods of estimating riverbed sediment grain size diverge at the basin scale." Frontiers in Earth Science 13:1529503. PNNL-SA-190072. doi:10.3389/feart.2025.1529503

2024

• Rathore S.S., D. Svyatskiy, E. Coon, K. Son, and S.L. Painter. 2024. "Modeling the Effects of Artificial Drainage on Agriculture-dominated Watersheds using a Fully Distributed Integrated Hydrology Model." Water Resources Research 60, no. 6:Art. No. e2023WR035993. PNNL-SA-198315. doi:10.1029/2023WR035993

2023

• Danczak R.E., V.A. Garayburu-Caruso, L. Renteria, S.A. McKever, O.C. Otenburg, S.R. Grieger, and K. Son, et al. 2023. "Riverine organic matter functional diversity increases with catchment size." Frontiers in Water 5. PNNL-SA-179439. doi:10.3389/frwa.2023.1087108

2022

• Mudunuru M., K. Son, P. Jiang, G.E. Hammond, and X. Chen. 2022. "Scalable Deep Learning for Watershed Model Calibration." Frontiers in Earth Science 10. PNNL-SA-176859. doi:10.3389/feart.2022.1026479
• Son K., Y. Fang, J.D. Gomez Velez, and X. Chen. 2022. "Spatial microbial respiration variations in the hyporheic zones within the Columbia River Basin." Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences 127, no. 11:Art. No. e2021JG006654. PNNL-SA-178479. doi:10.1029/2021JG006654
• Son K., Y. Fang, J.D. Gomez Velez, K. Byun, and X. Chen. 2022. "Combined effects of stream hydrology and land use on basin-scale hyporheic zone denitrification in the Columbia River Basin." Water Resources Research 58, no. 12:Art. No. e2021WR031131. PNNL-SA-165887. doi:10.1029/2021WR031131

2021

• Chen X., R.M. Lee, D. Dwivedi, K. Son, Y. Fang, X. Zhang, and E.B. Graham, et al. "Integrating Field Observations and Reactive Transport Modeling to Predict Watershed Water Quality under Environmental Perturbations."
• Chen X., R.M. Lee, D. Dwivedi, K. Son, Y. Fang, X. Zhang, and E.B. Graham, et al. 2021. "Integrating Field Observations and Process-based Modeling to Predict Watershed Water Quality under Environmental Perturbations." Journal of Hydrology 602. PNNL-SA-148272. doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2020.125762

2020

• Yang YE, K Son, F Hung, and V Tidwell. 2020. “Impact of climate change on adaptive management decisions in the face of water scarcity.” Journal of Hydrology, p.125015.

2019

• Contosta AR, NJ Casson, S Garlick, SJ Nelson, MP Ayres, EA Burakowski, J Campbell, I Creed, C Eimers, C Evans, and I Fernandez. 2019. “Northern forest winters have lost cold, snowy conditions that are important for ecosystems and human communities.” Ecological Applications, 29(7), p.e01974.
• Son K and C Tague. 2019. “A top-down soil moisture and sap flux sampling design of a rain-snow transition mountain watershed.” Hydrological Processes;10.1002/hyp.13421 
• Son K, L Lin, L Band, and E Owens. “Modeling integration of climate, forest ecosystem and hydrology to estimate catchment dissolved organic carbon export.” Hydrological Processes;10.1002/hyp.13412 
• Son K and C Tague. 2018. “Hydrologic responses to climate warming for a snow‐dominated watershed and a transient snow watershed in the California Sierra.” Ecohydrology; https://doi.org/10.1002/eco.2053

2016

• Son K, C Tague, and CT Hunsaker. 2016. “Effects of Model Spatial Resolution on Ecohydrologic Predictions and Their Sensitivity to Inter-Annual Climate Variability.” Water, 8, 321; doi:10.3390/w8080321 
• Son K and M Sivapalan. 2007. “Improving model structure and reducing parameter uncertainty in conceptual water balance models through the use of auxiliary data.” Water Resources Research, VOL. 43, W01415, doi: 10.1029/2006WR005032, 2007.