Dr James Shucksmith
PhD
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering
Senior Lecturer in Water Engineering
j.shucksmith@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114222 5706
+44 114222 5706
Room F130, Sir Frederick Mappin Building (Broad Lane Building)
Full contact details
Dr James Shucksmith
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering
Room F130
Sir Frederick Mappin Building (Broad Lane Building)
Mappin Street
Sheffield
S1 3JD
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering
Room F130
Sir Frederick Mappin Building (Broad Lane Building)
Mappin Street
Sheffield
S1 3JD
- Profile
-
A better understanding of our waterways is important to help protect against flooding and the impacts of pollution.
Dr James Shucksmith
James completed his undergraduate degree and his PhD here in the Department, before joining the academic staff in 2010 after a period as a KTP associate with Yorkshire Water.
James has worked with a range of external partners including local water companies, local authorities, the Environment Agency on a number of projects; recent examples include the development of a surface water pesticide concentration warning system with Severn Trent Water, and the development of a low-cost real-time control system for the reduction of urban flooding (CENTAUR).
Dr Shucksmith is the Sheffield lead of both the the STREAM and WIRE EPSRC Centres for Doctoral Training.
Research Themes
- Research interests
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James has two overarching research interests; pollution and flooding in both urban and rural environments.
He wants to understand how pollutants move and spread through waterways, urban drainage systems and within floodwaters and quantify risks to the environment and/or public health.
He is also interested in understanding and mitigating the likely pressures on water management caused by climate change, population growth and asset deterioration.
His EPSRC and EU funded work includes experimental-laboratory based research into hydrodynamics of urban flooding using physical scale models and novel measurement techniques as well as catchment scale modelling and monitoring studies of water quality processes.
- Publications
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Journal articles
- Quantifying flood model accuracy under varying surface complexities. Journal of Hydrology, 129511-129511.
- Comparing methods to place adaptive local RTC actuators for spill volume reduction from multiple CSOs. Journal of Hydroinformatics, 24(1), 78-92.
- Exchange between drainage systems and surface flows during urban flooding: Quasi-steady and dynamic modelling in unsteady flow conditions. Journal of Hydrology, 602.
- Regional flow-ecology relationships in small, temperate rivers. Water and Environment Journal.
- Evaluation of data-driven and process-based real-time flow forecasting techniques for informing operation of surface water abstraction. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 147(7).
- Editorial—Modelling of floods in urban areas. Water, 13(12).
- Hydraulic optimisation of multiple flow control locations for the design of local real time control systems. Urban Water Journal, 18(2), 91-100. View this article in WRRO
- CFD modelling of the transport of soluble pollutants from sewer networks to surface flows during urban flood events. Water, 12(9).
- Optimisation of a fuzzy logic-based local real-time control system for mitigation of sewer flooding using genetic algorithms. Journal of Hydroinformatics, 22(2), 281-295. View this article in WRRO
- Designing an environmental flow framework for impounded river systems through modelling of invertebrate habitat quality. Ecological Indicators, 106. View this article in WRRO
- Evaluation of a coupled hydrodynamic-closed ecological cycle approach for modelling dissolved oxygen in surface waters. Environmental Modelling & Software. View this article in WRRO
- Quantifying the Impact of Uncertainty within the Longitudinal Dispersion Coefficient on Concentration Dynamics and Regulatory Compliance in Rivers. Water Resources Research, 55(5), 4393-4409. View this article in WRRO
- Recent insights on uncertainties present in integrated catchment water quality modelling. Water Research, 150, 368-379. View this article in WRRO
- Cost effective measuring technique to simultaneously quantify 2D velocity fields and depth-averaged solute concentrations in shallow water flows. Flow Measurement and Instrumentation. View this article in WRRO
- On the Characteristics of Velocities Fields in the Vicinity of Manhole Inlet Grates During Flood Events. Water Resources Research, 54(9), 6408-6422. View this article in WRRO
- Quantifying Uncertainty in Simulation of Sewer Overflow Volume. Journal of Environmental Engineering (United States), 144(7). View this article in WRRO
- Modelling of metaldehyde concentrations in surface waters: A travel time based approach. Journal of Hydrology, 562, 397-410. View this article in WRRO
- Surface to sewer flow exchange through circular inlets during urban flood conditions. Journal of Hydroinformatics, 20(3), 564-576. View this article in WRRO
- Quantification of energy losses at a surcharging manhole. Urban Water Journal, 15(3), 234-241. View this article in WRRO
- Experimental calibration and validation of sewer/surface flow exchange equations in steady and unsteady flow conditions. Journal of Hydrology, 552, 421-432. View this article in WRRO
- Validation of 2D shock capturing flood models around a surcharging manhole. Urban Water Journal, 14(9), 892-899. View this article in WRRO
- Quantifying the Impact of Water Abstraction for Low Head ‘Run of the River’ Hydropower on Localized River Channel Hydraulics and Benthic Macroinvertebrates. River Research and Applications, 33(2), 202-213. View this article in WRRO
- Importance of partial barriers and temporal variation in flow when modelling connectivity in fragmented river systems. Ecological Engineering, 91, 515-528. View this article in WRRO
- Parameter Uncertainties in a Conceptual Rainfall-runoff Model and Implications on Surface Water Management and Planning Decisions. Procedia Engineering, 154, 299-307.
- Briefing: Negotiating value at the research–practice interface in the water sector. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Management, Procurement and Law, 168(1), 8-11.
- The impacts of ‘run-of-river’ hydropower on the physical and ecological condition of rivers. Water and Environment Journal, 29(2), 268-276. View this article in WRRO
- Predicting combined sewer overflows chamber depth using artificial neural networks with rainfall radar data.. Water Sci Technol, 69(6), 1326-1333. View this article in WRRO
- Comparison between InfoWorks hydraulic results and a physical model of an Urban drainage system. Water Science and Technology, 68(2), 372-379.
- Onsite leak location in a pipe network by cepstrum analysis of pressure transients. Journal - American Water Works Association, 104(8).
- Bulk flow resistance in vegetated channels: Analysis of momentum balance approaches based on data obtained in aging live vegetation. Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, 137(12), 1624-1635.
- Comparative study of instantaneous frequency based methods for leak detection in pipeline networks. Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing, 29, 187-200. View this article in WRRO
- Determining longitudinal dispersion coefficients for submerged vegetated flow. Water Resources Research, 47(10).
- Instantaneous phase and frequency for the detection of leaks and features in a pipeline system. Structural Health Monitoring, 10(4), 351-360.
- Effects of emergent and submerged natural vegetation on longitudinal mixing in open channel flow. Water Resources Research, 46(4).
- Importance of advective zone in longitudinal mixing experiments. Acta Geophysica, 55(1), 95-103.
Conference proceedings papers
- CODILE - COLLABORATIVE DIGITAL LEARNING. Proceedings of the 39th IAHR World Congress, 19 June 2022 - 24 June 2022.
- Investigating the microbiological risks associated with urban flooding in the UK. Access Microbiology, Vol. 4(5). virtual, 26 April 2021 - 30 April 2021.
- Velocity distribution and mixing layer in partially vegetated channel. Proceedings of the 5th IAHR Europe Congress — New Challenges in Hydraulic Research and Engineering (pp 785-786). Trento, Italy, 12 June 2018 - 14 June 2018. View this article in WRRO
- Developing and testing a Fuzzy Logic algorithm to alleviate the risk of flooding by controlling a flow control device in a laboratory setting. Proceedings of 14th IWA / IAHR International Conference on Urban Drainage (ICUD2017). Prague, CZ, 10 September 2017 - 15 September 2017. View this article in WRRO
- Experimental and numerical investigation of water depths around a manhole under drainage conditions. Proceeding of 12th International Conference on Hydroinformatics-Smart water for the future. Incheon, Korea, Democratic People's Republic of, 21 August 2016 - 26 August 2016. View this article in WRRO
- Evaluating the performance of EMC models using case study data. 10th International Urban Drainage Modelling Conference. Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada, 20 September 2015 - 23 September 2015.
- Experimental and numerical validation of shallow water flow around a surcharging manhole. 10th Urban Drainage Modelling Conference. Mont-Sainte Anne, Quebec, Canada, 20 September 2015 - 23 September 2015. View this article in WRRO
- Evaluating the Use of Sewer Network Event Mean Concentrations within Integrated Catchment Models. 13th International Conference on Urban Drainage. Sarawak, Malaysia, 7 September 2014 - 12 September 2014.
- Velocities profiles and Air-entrainment characterization in a scaled circular manhole. 13th International Conference on Urban Drainage. Sarawak, Malaysia, 7 September 2014 - 12 September 2014.
- Unanswered questions when optimising retrofit SuDS. 13th International Conference on Urban Drainage. Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia, 7 September 2014 - 12 September 2014.
- Experimental Investigation of Flow-Interactions between Above and Below Ground Drainage Systems through a Manhole. 11th Conference on Hydroinfomatics. New York, 24 August 2014 - 28 August 2014.
- Water sensitive urban design in a European context. http://www.wsud2013.org/. Gold Coast, Australia, 25 November 2013 - 29 November 2013.
- Interaction of above/below urban grounds: an experimental facility developed to analyse computer modelling results. http://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00843116/. Paris, 10 July 2013 - 10 July 2013.
- Procedures for downscaling urban drainage systems for physical modelling studies. 10th Conference on Hydroinfomatics. Hamburg, July 2012.
- Modelling internal boundary conditions of a sewer network. 9th International Conference on Urban Drainage Modelling. Serbia, Belgrade., 2012.
- Similarities and differences of fluvial shallow mixing layers. River Flow 2012 - Proceedings of the International Conference on Fluvial Hydraulics, Vol. 1 (pp 45-52)
- Hydraulic performance of a scale model facility and optinisation through the use of real time sensors. 12th International Conference on Urban Drainage. Porto Alegre, Brazil
- Leakage detection in pipelines using ensemble empirical mode decomposition. Proceedings of the 5th European Workshop - Structural Health Monitoring 2010 (pp 203-208)
- The use of pressure transients to detect leaks in distribution systems. 3rd Biennial Conference of the UK Network on Potable Water Treatment & Supply. Buxton, UK
- Leak detection in a pipeline by cepstrum analysis of a pressure transient. IV ECCOMAS Thematic Conference on Smart Structures and Materials (SMART 09). Porto, Portugal
- Water sensitive urban design in a European context. ACT: Engineers Australia, 2013: 209-219 (pp 209-219). Melbourne, 25 November 2013 - 29 November 2013.
- Predicting CSO chamber depth using Artificial Neural Networks with rainfall radar data. SPN7 7th International Conference on Sewer Processes & Networks (IWA). Sheffield, 28 August 2013 - 30 August 2013.
- Quantifying flood model accuracy under varying surface complexities. Journal of Hydrology, 129511-129511.
- Research group
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SuDS (Sustainable Drainage Systems) and Urban Drainage
Environmental Fluid Mechanics
Catchments and River Engineering
- Grants
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Current Grants
Real Time Absraction Management
This project, conducted in collaboration with Severn Trent Water, aims to implement a modelling lead approach to surface water abstraction operation.
Previous Grants (Last 5 years)
- Professional activities and memberships
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- Coordinator of the STREAM Centre for Doctoral Training at the University of Sheffield.
- Winner of the 2010 SWIG (Sensors for Water Interest Group) early career researchers' prize.
- Winner of the 2015 Water and Environment Journal ‘Outstanding paper of the year award’
- Potential PhD offerings
Understanding Urban Flooding Using Physical Modelling
This project will involve experimental work using a unique surface/subsurface scale model of an urban drainage facility within the water laboratory. Students working on this project will utilise state of the art measuring techniques such as PIV to obtain new datasets describing flows in and around interface points. It is hoped that this project will lead to a more reliable methodology to describe surface/sewer flow interactions during flood events, reducing the uncertainty inherent within flood model predictions.