HR: 1400h
AN: H73A-02    [Abstracts]
TI: Applying hillslope-storage models to simulate low streamflow at a watershed scale
AU: * Matonse, A H
EM: ahmatons@syr.edu
AF: State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, 1 Forestry Drive 402 Baker Laboratory, Syracuse, NY 13210, United States
AU: Kroll, C N
EM: cnkroll@esf.edu
AF: State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, 1 Forestry Drive 402 Baker Laboratory, Syracuse, NY 13210, United States
AB: Abstract In a recent study Matonse and Kroll (2009) applied kinematic wave hillslope-storage (kw) and hillslope-storage Boussinesq (hsB) models to M8, a small steep headwater catchment that is part of the Maimai watersheds in New Zealand, to estimate low streamflow series and statistics at a watershed scale. Though hillslope partitions with variable parameters lead to improvements in model performance, the kw and hsB models performed similarly when applied to M8, as was expected given the steep slopes of this catchment. These results were constrained by the amount of available data and the size of the study area. This present paper extends this analysis for two larger North Carolina watersheds, the Linville River near Nebo (LRN) and Indian Creek near Laboratory (ICL). These watersheds are both located within the Piedmont physiographic region in North Carolina and have similar size, but their average slope is different, thus providing a good setting to further compare the kw and hsB models. In addition, both watersheds are NWS MOPEX sites, and thus are rich and consistent in data quality and length. These models are coupled with the NWS's SAC-SMA model and compared based on their ability to predict lower streamflow envelopes and low streamflow statistics. With both sites partitioned into multiple hillslopes, the impact of varying average slope is explored. Our results confirm findings from previous studies that have indicated that for relatively steep hillslopes the kw and hsB models will perform similarly. For more shallow hillslopes the kw model represents a good approximation to the hsB model, indicating some flexibility in the kw model even in shallow sloped watersheds. Calibration with the lower 20 and 50 percent of data (as opposed to the full streamflow hydrograph) resulted in models that better simulate low flow statistics, indicating that having additional high flow data impairs a model's ability to reproduce low streamflows.
DE: 1830 Groundwater/surface water interaction
DE: 1831 Groundwater quality
DE: 1847 Modeling
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: 2009 Joint Assembly