Toward Simple Modeling Practices in the Complex Canadian Prairie Watersheds
Publication: Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 25, Issue 6
Abstract
The prairie region in Canada has been characterized as a graveyard of hydrological models due to its challenging cold-regions processes and complex landscape with numerous land depressions that influence runoff pathways. Efforts were made at the small-basin scale to propose new algorithms and/or modify existing physically based hydrological models in order to achieve some semblance of a coherent mathematical runoff modeling system. To date, there has been very little research on modifying conceptual bucket-type models to include lateral pothole flow complexities for peak-flow estimation. In this study, the conceptual Hydrologiska Byråns Vattenbalansavdelning (HBV)-light model is modified to work in the prairies by incorporating a conceptual lateral-flow component to represent the pothole storage complexities. The modification of the HBV-light model resulted in a HYdrological model for Prairie Region (HYPR) that can be used for prairie streamflow simulation. The traditional HBV-light and HYPR conceptual models are tested on different pothole-dominated watersheds within the Qu’Appelle River Basin in Saskatchewan, Canada. The incorporation of a pothole storage-modeling component in HYPR results in a better streamflow simulation than that of HBV-light. Also, a new approach is proposed in this study to better identify the proper calibration period to arrive at a successful streamflow simulation. Although HYPR’s processes representation is simplified, the model shows potential for simulating the overall hydrograph and peak flows. HYPR shows strengths as a possible tool for operational and flood prediction purposes in the prairies, especially when data are limited.
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Data Availability Statement
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The observed snow water equivalent measurements used during the study were provided by a third party (Saskatchewan Water Security Agency). Direct requests for these materials may be made to the provider.
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HYPR’s code is available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
The financial support of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) strategic network through the Canadian FloodNet research network is acknowledged (Grant No. NETGP451456-13). The funding of the Department of Civil, Geological and Environmental Engineering, University of Saskatchewan devolved scholarship is appreciated. The authors acknowledge the Saskatchewan Water Security Agency for providing snow water equivalent measurements.
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Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 25 • Issue 6 • June 2020
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©2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jun 15, 2019
Accepted: Dec 13, 2019
Published online: Apr 6, 2020
Published in print: Jun 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Sep 6, 2020
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