Eng. Daniel Wonde Mebrie

Professional Summary

Eng. Daniel Wonde Mebrie is an Ethiopian Water Resources and Irrigation Engineer, lecturer, published researcher, and emerging leader in data-driven water resources science. He serves at Woldia University, where he teaches and supports academic development in hydrology, irrigation and drainage engineering, GIS and remote sensing, fluid mechanics, and water resources engineering. His professional profile combines field-based irrigation and hydrology knowledge with modern geospatial analysis, hydroinformatics, and machine learning. His research contributions address some of Ethiopia’s most important water challenges, including evapotranspiration evaluation, water-resource assessment, groundwater recharge and potential mapping, rainwater harvesting, reservoir site selection, rainfall-runoff modelling, irrigation suitability, and climate-resilient water management. He has contributed to peer-reviewed publications in respected journals and continues to work on multidisciplinary research that supports water security, climate adaptation, sustainable agriculture, and capacity building for water professionals across Africa. His profile reflects a new generation of African water experts who combine engineering, research, digital tools, and practical development vision.

Key Expertise

Major Projects and Contributions

• Lecturer and Researcher – Woldia University
  Teaches and supports undergraduate education in hydrology, irrigation and drainage engineering, GIS and remote sensing, fluid mechanics, water resources engineering, and applied water systems. He also supervises student research and contributes to the academic development of future Ethiopian water professionals.
• Stream Chair of Hydrology and Irrigation Engineering
  Served as Stream Chair of Hydrology and Irrigation Engineering at Woldia University from January 2023 to March 2026, coordinating curriculum mapping, undergraduate research selection, resource infrastructure management, and academic quality assurance activities.
• Integrated Surface Water Reservoir Site Selection for Drought-Resilient Communities
  Works on integrated reservoir site selection for sustainable drought-resilient community development in North Wollo Zone, Amhara Region, Ethiopia, supporting climate adaptation, water security, and community resilience.
• Evapotranspiration Evaluation and Water-Resource Assessment in the Lake Tana Basin
  Conducted and published research on the spatiotemporal evaluation of remote-sensing and reanalysis evapotranspiration products for water-resource assessment in the Lake Tana Basin, Ethiopia.
• Machine Learning and Geo-Hydrological Modelling for Rainwater Harvesting in the Upper Tekeze Basin
  Contributed to research integrating machine learning and geo-hydrological modelling to identify rainwater harvesting potential zones in the Upper Tekeze Basin, Ethiopia.
• Percolation Tank Site Selection for Groundwater Enhancement in Kesem Sub-Basin
  Contributed to an integrated approach for identifying suitable percolation tank sites to enhance groundwater recharge in the Kesem Sub-basin, Ethiopia.
• Remote Sensing Assessment of Irrigated Agriculture in Eastern Amhara
  Conducted research using remote sensing to assess impacts on irrigated agriculture in the Eastern Amhara Region of Ethiopia, demonstrating the value of geospatial technologies for agricultural water monitoring.
• Variable Crop Coefficient and Evapotranspiration Estimation in the Ethiopian Highlands
  Published research applying remote sensing approaches to estimate variable crop coefficient and evapotranspiration for improved agricultural water productivity in the Ethiopian Highlands.
• Groundwater and Irrigation Suitability Mapping in Ethiopian River Basins
  Works on groundwater potential mapping, shallow groundwater assessment, and surface irrigation suitability analysis using GIS, multi-criteria decision analysis, Google Earth Engine, ArcGIS, and hydrological datasets.
• SWAT and Machine Learning Rainfall-Runoff Modelling
  Develops and contributes to hydrological modelling studies combining SWAT and machine learning approaches to understand rainfall-runoff response, land-use and land-cover dynamics, and basin-scale water-resource behaviour in Ethiopia.
• Climate Change, Drought, and Water Security Research
  Engages in research and professional development related to climate change impacts, drought early warning, soil-water availability, sorghum water needs, climate-risk informed decision analysis, and resilient water-management planning.
• Hydroinformatics, GIS, and Machine Learning Capacity Development
  Applies and advances modern technical tools including Google Earth Engine, ArcGIS Pro, QGIS, ERDAS Imagine, Python, Random Forest, XGBoost, ANN, LSTM, SWAT, HEC-RAS, WEAP, CROPWAT, AquaCrop, WinSRFR, and SIRMOD for practical water resources and irrigation engineering applications.
• International Research Presentation on Data-Driven Evapotranspiration Evaluation
  Presented research on data-driven evaluation of evapotranspiration products using machine learning for climate action and water-resource management in the Lake Tana Basin at the 3rd International Space and Geospatial Sciences Annual Research Conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.