Monday, 21 April 1997, approximately 12 hours before the peak flood stage during the Grand Forks flood.  The water eventually lapped onto the toe of the sandbag pile in our driveway.  We were among the lucky 15% of homeowners that did not experience basement flooding!

During the spring semester 2002 my family and I lived in Moss, Norway, a city of about 25,000  located in Østfold, the fylke (county) to the southeast of Oslo.  I taught Geog 134: Introduction to Global Climate and Geog 354: Conservation of Resources at the American College of Norway (also known as Østfoldakademiet).  Now I have to figure out a way to get back to Norway!  Maybe my next developmental leave? Skriv på meg og vi kan snakke norsk på hverandre! (Write to me and we can speak Norwegian to one another!)

Department of Geography
University of North Dakota
221 Centennial Drive Stop 9020
Grand Forks, ND 58202-9020
Voice: (70l) 777-4593
Fax: (701) 777-6195
email: paul.todhunter@und.edu

        My primary area of research interest is climatology (microclimatology, urban climatology, agricultural climatology, hydroclimatology, and climate change/variability).  I have a secondary interest in hydrology (northern prairie wetlands, flood hazards, and human impacts upon the hydrological cycle), and am interested in how interannual climatic variability affects the abundance and size of prairie wetlands. Some of my current work includes: (1) evaluating the use of borehole temperature profiles as a method of paleoclimate reconstruction, (2) investigating terminal lake flooding and wetland flooding in the Devils Lake Basin of North Dakota, (3) quantifying the uncertainty associated with flood flow frequency analysis, (4) examining the nature of seasonally frozen soils in the northern Great Plains and their effect upon snowmelt flooding, and (5) determining the climatic conditions that initiate blowing dust events in the northern Great Plains.  Over the past several years I have begun to develop an interest in the area of natural hazards, with a focus upon hazards common to the northern Great Plains region.  This has led me to study snowmelt flooding in the Red River Valley, flooding in the Devils Lake and Stump Lake Basins, and blowing dust events and wind erosion in the Red River Valley.  I use an integrative approach and a variety of methodological tools to examine environmental systems and issues of regional interest.  My principal regional focus is on the northern Great Plains, although I have a long-standing interest in the physical environment of urban systems, and have recently acquired an interest  in Scandinavia (especially Norway and Iceland).
        My teaching interests must be fairly broad because we are a small department.  I have taught introductory classes in Introduction to Global Climate, and Global Physical Environment, advanced classes in Climatology, Natural Hazards, Conservation of Resources, Human Impact on the Environment, and Hydrology and graduate classes in Geographic Research and Writing, and Advanced Physical Geography.

Wind Erosion

Todhunter, P.E., and L. Cihacek, 1999. Historical Reduction of Airborne Dust in the Red River Valley of the North. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 54, 543-551.

Godon, N., and P.E. Todhunter, 1998.   A Climatology of Airborne Dust for the Red River Valley of North Dakota.   Atmospheric Environment, 32, 1587-1594.

Todhunter, P.E., 1995.   Impact of Conservation Practices on Wind Erosion in the Red River Valley of North Dakota: 1948 - 1991. Proceedings, Symposium on Planning for a Sustainable Future: The Case of the North American Great Plains, IDIC Technical Report 95-1, 185-187.

Todhunter, P.E., 1996.   Environmental Indices for the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area (Minnesota, USA) Urban Heat Island - 1989. Climate Research, 6, 59-69.

Todhunter, P.E., 1994.  The Twin Cities Metropolitan Area Urban Heat Island: Analog for Global Warming? Proceedings, North Dakota Academy of Science, 48, 68.

Todhunter, P.E., F. Xu, and J.M. Buttle, 1992.  A Model of Net Radiation over Suburban Snowpacks. Atmospheric Environment B: Urban Atmosphere, 26B, 17-27.

Todhunter, P.E., 1990.  Microclimatic Variations Attributable to Urban-Canyon Asymmetry and Orientation. Physical Geography, 11, 131-141.

Todhunter, P.E., and W.H. Terjung, 1990.   The Resonse of Urban Canyon Energy Budgets to Variable Synoptic Weather Types - A Simulation Approach. Atmospheric Environment  B: Urban Atmosphere , 24B, 35-42.

Todhunter, P.E., 1989.   An Approach to the Variability of Urban Surface Energy Budgets under Stratified Synoptic Weather Types.   International Journal of Climatology, 9, 191-201.

Todhunter, P.E., and W.H. Terjung, 1988.   Intercomparison of Three Urban Climate Models.  Boundary-Layer Meteorology, 42, 181-205.

Todhunter, P.E., and W.D. Gosnold, Jr. 2000. A Quality-Assured Comparison of the Surface Air Temperature and Ground Surface Temperature Histories from Two North American Mid-Continent Boreholes. Proceedings of the 11th Symposium on Global Change Studies, 232-233, American Meteorological Society, Long Beach, CA, 10-14 January, 2000.

Gosnold, Jr., W.D., P.E. Todhunter, and W. Schmidt, 1997.   The Borehole Temperature Record of Climate Warming in the Mid-Continent of North America. Global and Planetary Change, 15, 33-45.

Todhunter, P.E., 1995.   Hydroclimatic Perspectives on Waterfowl Production in the North Dakota Prairie Pothole Region. Great Plains Research, 5, 137-162.

Todhunter, P.E., 1993.  Historical Temperature and Precipitation Trends at Jamestown, North Dakota. Proceedings, North Dakota Academy of Science, 47, 5.

Sethre, P.R., Rundquist, B.C. and P.E. Todhunter, 2005. Remote Detection of Prairie Pothole Ponds in the Devils Lake Basin of North Dakota. GIScience and Remote Sensing, 42(4), 277-296.

Todhunter, P.E. and B.R. Rundquist, 2004. Terminal Lake Flooding and Wetland Expansion in Nelson County, North Dakota. Physical Geography, 25(1): 68-85.

Todhunter, P.E., 2002. A Hydroclimatic Analysis of the 1997 Flood at Grand Forks, North Dakota (USA), In: The Extremes of the Extremes: Extraordinary Floods, International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS), IAHS Publication No.271, 87-92.

Todhunter, P.E., 2001.  A Hydroclimatological Analysis of the Red River of the North Snowmelt Flood Catastrophe of 1997.  Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 37(5): 1263-1278.

Todhunter, P.E., 1997.   Historical Climate of the Devils Lake Region. Proceedings, North Dakota Academy of Science, 51, 29-33.

Grundstein, A., Todhunter, P.E., and T. Mote, 2005. Snowpack Control over the Thermal Offset of Air and Soil Temperatures in Eastern North Dakota. Geophysical Research Letters, 32, L08503, doi:10.1029/2005GL022532.

Geiger, R., R.H. Aron, and P.E. Todhunter, 2003.   The Climate Near the Ground. Sixth Edition, New York: Rowman & Littleferld Publishers, Inc., 584 pp.

Todhunter, P.E. and B.R. Rundquist, 2003.  Flood Damage Assessment and Survey of Mitigation Efforts at Stump Lake, North Dakota: A Study of a Closed-basin Lake Flood. Quick Response Research Report #164, Boulder, CO: Natural Hazards Research and Applications Information Center, University of Colorado. URL: http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/qr/qr164/qr164.html.

Gosnold, Jr., W.D., LeFever, J.A., Todhunter, P.E., and L.F. Osborne, Jr., 2000. Rethinking Flood Prediction: Does the Traditional Approach Need to Change?  Geotimes, 45(5), 20-23.

Todhunter, P.E., 1998.   Flood Hazard in the Red River Valley: A Case Study of the Grand Forks Flood of 1997. North Dakota Quarterly, 65(4): 254-275.

Todhunter, P.E., 2005.  Introduction to Global Climate. Division of Continuing Education, Correspondence Division Course, Grand Forks, ND: University of North Dakota, 119 pp.

Todhunter, P.E., 1998.  The Teaching Journey of a Slow Learner. UND Writing Across the Curriculum Newsletter, 8(3), 1-2, 4-5.

A Test of Borehole Paleoclimatology as a Method to Quantify Radiative Climate Forcing, W.D. Gosnold (PI), P. Todhunter, B. Rundquist, X. Dong, J. Majorowicz (Co-PIs), National Science Foundation, ATM - 0318384, 3 Years, 1 July 2003 - 30 June 2006, $385,768.

Assessing Loss of Agricultural Lands to Wetland Expansion in the Devils Lake Basin of North Dakota Using Satellite Remote Sensing. Faculty Research Seed Money Committee, University of North Dakota, Office of Research and Program Development, Co-PI with Dr. B. C. Rundquist, Department of Geography, $8,221.

Flood Damage Assessment and Survey of Mitigation Efforts at Stump Lake, North Dakota: A Case Study of a Closed-Basin Lake Flood. Quick Response Research Program, Natural Hazards Research and Applications Information Center, University of Colorado, Boulder, Co-PI with Dr. B. C. Rundquist, Department of Geography, $1,200.

Climate Change in the Midcontinent of North America, National Institute for Global Environmental Change (DOE), Great Plains Regional Center, Co-PI with Dr. W.D. Gosnold, Jr. (PI), Department of Geology and Geological Engineering, 1 July 1993 - 30 June 1995, $153,750.

Todhunter, P.E. and J.L. Popham, 2005: Relationship Between Snow Cover and Thermal Offset of Soil and Air Temperatures in the Great Plains of the United States. Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union, San Francisco, CA, 5-9 December 2005.

Rundquist, B.C., Sethre, P.R. and P.E. Todhunter, 2005: Remote Detection of Prairie Pothole Ponds in the Devils Lake Basin of North Dakota. Annual Meeting of the Great Plains/Rocky Mountain Division, Association of American Geographers, Laramie, WY, 22-24 September 2005.

Gosnold, Jr., W.D., Dong, X., Todhunter, P.E., Rundquist, B.R., and J. Majorowicz, 2005: Separation of Anthropogenic Climate Forcing from Natural Climate Variability. Geological Society of America, Earth System Processes 2, Calgary, Canada, 8-11 August 2005.

Todhunter, P.E., Popham, J.L. and W.D. Gosnold, Jr., 2005:  Thermal Offset of Soil and Air Temperatures in the Great Plains of the United States: Implications for Borehole Climate Reconstruction. Spring Meeting of the American Geophysical Union, New Orleans, LA, 23-27 May 2005.

Todhunter, P.E., 2005: The 100-Year Floodplain: A Prescription for Flood Disaster.  2005 International Water Conference, 7 April 2005, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.

Todhunter, P.E., Popham, J., Gosnold, Jr, W.D., Dong, X., and S. Wood, 2004:  Long-term Air-soil Temperature Coupling at Fargo, North Dakota: Assessment of Borehole Climate Reconstruction Assumptions. 2004 Joint Assembly, 20 May 2004, Montreal, Canada.

Todhunter, P.E., Brookman, D., Mutzenberger, C., Namberger, P., and J. Pedraza, 2004:  A Geographer's Look at Statistical Flood Risk Estimation: Necessary Assumptions and the Red River of the North. Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, March 2004, Philadelphia, PA.

Todhunter, P.E., Brookman, D., Mutzenberger, C., Namberger, P., and J. Pedraza, 2003:  Estimation of the 100-year Flood During Distinct Climatic Regimes: An Application of Hurst Rescaling. Annual Meeting of the Great Plains/Rocky Mountain Division, Association of American Geographers, October 2003, Manhattan, KS.

Todhunter, P.E. and B.C. Rundquist, 2003:  Damage Assessment of Stump Lake and Wetland Flooding in Nelson County, North Dakota.  First Annual International Water Conference, 23 April 2004, Moorhead, MN.

Todhunter, P.E. and B.C. Rundquist, 2003:  The Quiet Flood: Terminal Lake Flooding and Wetland Expansion in Nelson County, North Dakota. Meeting of the Society of Sigma Xi, University of North Dakota Chapter, 27 March 2003.

Todhunter, P.E. and B.C. Rundquist, 2003: Slow Death by Water: Ten Years of Flooding in Nelson County, North Dakota. Annual Meeing of the Association of American Geographers,  March 2003, New Orleans, LA.

Rundquist, B.C., Todhunter, P.E. and P.R. Sethre, 2002: Assessing the Loss of Agricultural Lands from a Pervasive, Closed-Basin Flooding Event in the Devils Lake Basin of North Dakota. The 25th Annual Applied Geography Conference, October 2002, Binghamton, NY.

Rundquist, B.C. and P.E. Todhunter, 2001: Assessing Potential Damage from a Pervasive Closed-Basin Flooding Event at Stump Lake, North Dakota. Annual Meeting of the Great Plains/Rocky Mountain Division, Association of American Geographers, September 2001, Omaha, NE.

"Hydrologic Uncertainty in Estimating the 100-Year Peak Discharge: A Case Study of the Red River of the North."

"Thermal Offset of Air and Soil Temperatures in the Great Plains of the United States."

"An Environmental Profile of Airborne Dust Events at Fargo, North Dakota."

Dr. Nsalambi Nkongolo, M.S., Spatial Variability of Nitrous Oxide (N₂O) Emissions and Soil Properties in a Japanese Lowland Soil, December 2005.

John Menzies, M.S., A Change Detection Comparison of Deforestation in Rondônia, Brazil and Southern Bolivia Using a Satellite Image Classification (1975-1998), June 2001.

Gordon Robertson, M.S., An Examination of Landscape History of the Northwoods: Human Management Effects on the Landscape at Itasca State Park, Minnesota, June 2000.

Christopher Atkinson, M.S., Wave-Transported Boulders Imbricated Near Marquette, Michigan, as Indicators of Past Lake Superior Storm Activity, April 2000.

Carl Dabols, M.S., A Comparison of Objective and Subjective Approaches to Temporal Synoptic Clustering: A Case Study of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Urban Heat Island, December 1997.

Nancy Godon, M.S., A Climatology of Blowing Dust Occurrences for Fargo, North Dakota: 1848-1993, June 1995.

Chris Meindl, M.S., Conflict Over Land Use in North Dakota’s Prairie Pothole Region: Historic and Geographic Perspectives on Public Policy, October 1993.

Mark van Daalen, M.S., Temperature and Precipitation Climatology of the North Dakota Prairie Pothole Region, 1895-1990, August 1993.

Here's a list of the most recent books that I've read (most recent listed first):