Case Study: Watershed Modeling with Distributed Weather Model Data
Publication: Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 10, Issue 1
Abstract
This paper presents the results of a modeling study that is part of a collaborative distributed precipitation–snowmelt–runoff modeling study initiated by B.C. Hydro (the electric utilities company in British Columbia). Meteorological data were generated for a 23 year period by a high-resolution boundary layer model using a grid size of . The distributed daily precipitation and temperature–time sequences generated by this model were used as input to the WATFLOOD/SPL hydrological model, resulting in computed streamflows that were compared to measured streamflow at 32 flow gauging sites and four reservoirs. In this way, through a number of calibration and validation runs, the whole sequence of generating the meteorological data and their subsequent use to drive the hydrological model was tested. The study shows the importance of using both models in combination. Although the boundary layer model used the observed meteorological data to the fullest extent, the hydrologic simulations revealed a significant north–south trend in the precipitation error field. This resulted in streamflow errors as high as 60%. A reanalysis of the fields using the modeled streamflow reduced the error substantially. With the exception of a few streamflow stations, the computed flows matched the observed streamflows and reservoir inflows very well.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
Funding for this project was provided by BC Hydro, Burnaby, B. C., Canada. The support of BC Hydro is acknowledged and appreciated. This project was initiated by Dr. William Q. Chin prior to his retirement from BC Hydro. He had the vision to make use of numerical weather models to provide the meteorological data for distributed hydrological models in regions where conventional data was wholly inadequate. In addition, the many helpful suggestions by Mr. Gary Salmon, Dr. Warren Bell, and Mr. Dave Cattenach, all at BC Hydro, have made a substantial impact on this work. The work of Karen Graham and Wayne Jenkinson, undergraduate students at the University of Waterloo, is greatly appreciated. The efforts of Dr. Sayed-Farhad Mousavi in reviewing the manuscript are appreciated.
References
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). (1969). “Design and construction of sanitary and storm sewers.” Manuals and reports of engineering practice, No. 37, New York.
Anderson, E. A. (1976). “A point energy and mass balance model of a snow cover.” NOAA Technical Rep., NWS 19.
Bacchi, B., and Ranzi, R., eds. (2000). “Runoff and atmospheric processes for flood hazard forecasting and control.” RAPHAEL Final Rep., EU Contract ENV 4-CT97-0552.
Benoit, R., Pellerin, P., Kouwen, N., Ritchie, H., Donaldson, N., Joe, P., and Soulis, R. (2000). “Toward the use of coupled atmospheric and hydrologic models at regional scale.” Mon. Weather Rev., 128, 1681–1706.
Black, T. A., Price, D. T., Kelliher, F. M., and Osberg, P. M. (1984). “Effect of overstory removal on seasonal growth of a young Douglas-fir stand.” 1983-84 Annual Rep., E.P. 855, Research Branch, B.C. Ministry of Forests, Victoria, B.C., Canada.
Danard, M., Galbraith, J., and Davies, K. (1996). High resolution analyses of precipitation, maximum and minimum temperatures and snow water equivalents using boundary-layer models, Atmospheric Dynamics Corporation, Victoria, B.C., Canada.
Donald, J. R., Soulis, E. D., Kouwen, N., and Pietroniro, A. (1995). “A land cover-based snow representation for distributed hydrologic models.” Water Resour. Res., 31(4), 995–1009.
Giles, D. G., Black, T. A., and Spittlehouse, D. L. (1985). “Determination of growing season soil water deficits on a forested slope using water balance analysis.” Can. J. Forest Res., 15, 107–114.
Green, W. H., and Ampt, G. A. (1911). “Studies in soil physics. 1. Flow of air and water through soils.” J. Agric. Sci., 4, 1–24.
Hargreaves, G. H., and Samani, Z. A. (1982). “Estimating potential evapotranspiration.” J. Irrig. Drain. Eng., 108(3), 225–230.
Hooke, R., and Jeeves, T. A. (1961). “ ‘Direct search’ solution of numerical and statistical problems.” J. Assoc. Comput. Mach., 8(2), 212–229.
Jakeman, A. J., and Hornberger, G. M. (1993). “How much complexity is warranted in a rainfall-runoff model?” Water Resour. Res., 29, 2637–2649.
Kalnay, E., et al. (1996). “The NCEP/NCAR 40-year reanalysis project.” Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 7, 437–471.
Kouwen, N., Graham, A. K., Seglenieks, F., and Soulis, E. D., (2000). “The use of distributed storm rainfall data and the distributed hydrologic model WATFLOOD for the estimation of peak flows for the Columbia River Basin.” Final Rep., Project No. 2619801, Waterloo Research Institute, Univ. of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ont., Canada.
Kouwen, N., Soulis, E. D., Pietroniro, A., Donald, J., and Harrington, R. A. (1993). “Grouped response units for distributed hydrologic modeling.” J. Water Resour. Plan. Manage., 119(3), 289–305.
Kouwen, N., Soulis, E. D., Pietroniro, A., and Harrington, R. A. (1990). “Remote sensing to access vegetative cover effects for flood forecasting.” Int. Conf. on River Flood Hydraulics, September 17-20, 1990, Paper M2, 437–446.
Lamb, R. (1999). “Calibration of a conceptual rainfall-runoff model for flood frequency estimation by continuous simulation.” Water Resour. Res., 35(10), 3103–3114.
Leavesley, G. H., and Stannard, L. G. (1995). “The precipitation-runoff modelling system-PRMS.” Computer models of watershed hydrology, V. P. Singh, ed., Water Resources Publications, Highlands Ranch, Colo., 281–310.
Linsley, R. K., Jr., Kohler, M. A., and Paulhus, J. L. H. (1949). Applied hydrology, McGraw-Hill, New York.
McNaughton, K. G., and Black, T. A. (1973). “A study of evapotranspiration from a Douglas Fir forest using the energy balance approach.” Water Resour. Res., 9(6), 1579–1590.
Monro, J. C. (1971). “Direct search optimization in mathematical modelling and a watershed application.” NOAA Technical Memorandum, NWS HYDRO-12.
Mroczkowski, M., Raper, G. P., and Kuczera, G. (1997). “The quest for more powerful validation of conceptual catchment models.” Water Resour. Res., 33(10), 2325–2335.
Neff, T. (1996). “Mesoscale water balance of the Boreal Forest using operational evapotranspiration approaches in a distributed hydrologic model.” MASc thesis, Univ. of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ont., Canada.
Newell, J. E., and Deaven, D. G. (1981). “The LFM-II Model—1980.” NOAA Technical Memorandum NWS NMC 66, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Weather Service.
Philip, J. R. (1954). “An infiltration equation with physical significance.” Soil Sci., 77(1), 153–157.
Price, D. T. (1987). “Some effects of variations in weather and soil water storage on canopy evapotranspiration and net photosynthesis of a young Douglas-fir stand.” PhD thesis, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., Canada
Priestley, C. H. B., and Taylor, R. J. (1972). “On the assessment of surface heat flux and evaporation using large-scale parameters.” Mon. Weather Rev., 100(2), 81–92.
Refsgaard, J. C. (1997). “Parameterisation, calibration and validation of distributed hydrological models.” J. Hydrol., 198, 69–97.
Rowe, L. K. (1983). “Rainfall interception by an evergreen beech forest, Nelson, New Zealand.” J. Hydrol., 66, 143–158.
Singh, V. P., and Frevert, D. K., eds. (2002). Mathematical models of watershed hydrology, Water Resources Publications, Highlands Ranch, Colo.
Spittlehouse, D. L., and Black, T. A. (1981). “A growing season water balance model applied to two Douglas fir stands.” Water Resour. Res., 17, 1651–1656.
Stagnitti, F., Parlange, J. Y., and Rose, C. W. (1989). “Hydrology of a small wet catchment.” Hydrolog. Process., 3, 137–150.
Stewart, R. E., et al. (1998). “The Mackenzie GEWEX study: The water and energy cycles of a major north-flowing North American river.” Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 79(12), 2665–2683.
Tao, T., and Kouwen, N. (1989). “Remote sensing and fully distributed modeling for flood forecasting.” J. Water Resour. Plan. Manage., 115(6), 809–823.
Terstriep, M. L., and Stall, J. B. (1969). “Urban runoff by the road research laboratory method.” J. Hydraul. Div., Am. Soc. Civ. Eng., 95(6), 1809–1834.
Thyer, M., Kuczera, G., and Bates, B. C. (1999). “Probabilistic optimization for conceptual rainfall-runoff models: A comparison of the shuffled complex evolution and simulated annealing algorithms.” Water Resour. Res., 35(3), 767–773.
Viessman, W., Jr., Lewis, G. L., and Knapp, J. W. (1989). Introduction to hydrology, 3rd Ed., Harper Collins, New York.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 10 • Issue 1 • January 2005
Pages: 23 - 38
Copyright
© 2004 ASCE.
History
Received: Jun 13, 2000
Accepted: Nov 26, 2003
Published online: Jan 1, 2005
Published in print: Jan 2005
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.