Abstract
Global change problems place a new set of demands on hydrologic models. The primary purpose for representation of land surface hydrology in the context of coupled land-atmosphere models is to partition downward solar and longwave radiation into latent, sensible, and ground heat fluxes, and upward longwave radiation, rather than to predict streamflow. Nonetheless, past work in the development and application of conceptual streamflow simulation models for operational applications, such as forecasting, can provide valuable lessons, especially with respect to model parameter parsimony, for the development and application of land surface parameterizations for coupled land-atmosphere models. Some important issues in model development and application are illustrated in the context of the Variable Infiltration Capacity two-layer (VIC-2L) model. Application of the VIC-2L model to FIFE (central Kansas Grassland) and ABRACOS (cleared Amazonia tropical forest) field data are described. A version of VIC-2L that incorporates streamflow routing is described, along with some results of its application off-line (climatalogical forcing) to the Columbia River basin. Finally, an approach for regional estimation of the parameters of VIC-2L is described, along with preliminary results for an application to the Columbia River basin (drainage area approximately 615,000 km2) at a one degree by one degree spatial resolution.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abdulla, F., and D.P. Lettenmaier, “Development of regional equations for parameterization of land surface schemes”, paper presented at American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, San Francisco, December, 1994.
Box, G.E.P., W.G. Hunter, and J.S. Hunter, Statistics for experiments: An introduction to design, data analysis, and model buildin, 653 pp., John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1978.
Burnash, R.J.C., R.L. Ferral, and R.A. McGuire, “A generalized streamflow simulation system - Conceptual modeling for digital computers”, U.S. National Weather Service, Sacramento River Forecast Center, 1973.
Crawford, N.J., and R.K. Linsley, “Digital simulation in hydrology: Stanford Watershed Model IV”, Stanford University, Department of Civil Engineering Technical Report 39, 1966.
Duan, Q., S. Sorooshian, and V. Gupta, “Effective and efficient global optimization for conceptual rainfall-runoff models”, Water Resources Research 28(4):1015–1032, 1992.
Dumenil, L., and E. Todini, A rainfall-runoff scheme for use in the Hamburg climate model, pp. 129–157 in Advances in theoretical hydrology, A tribute to James Dooge, European Geophysical Society Series on Hydrological Sciences 1, P.E. O’Kane, ed., Elsevier, New York, 1992.
Francini, M., and M. Pacciani, Comparative analysis of several conceptual rainfall-runoff models, Journal of Hydrology 122:161–219, 1991.
Hamon, R.W., “Estimating potential evapotranspiration”, Journal of the Hydraulics Division. ASCE 87:107–120, 1961.
Henderson-Sellers, A., “Assessing the sensitivity of a land-surface scheme to parameters used in tropical-deforestation experiments”, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society 118:1101–1116, 1992.
Henderson-Sellers, A., “A factorial assessment of the sensitivity of the BATS land-surface parameterization scheme”, Journal of Climate 6:227–247, 1993.
Hodnett, M.G., L.P. da Silva, H.R. Rocha, and R. Cruz Senna, “Seasonal soil water storage changes beneath central Amazonian pasture land and rainforest”, unpublished manuscript, 1993.
Kite, G.W., “Application of a land class hydrological model to climatic change”, Water Resources Research 29(7):2377–2384, Jul., 1993.
Kite, G.W., and N. Kouwen, “Watershed modeling using land classifications”, Water Resources Research 28(12):3193–3200, 1992.
Laval, K., A. Ducharne, and J. Polcher, “Sensitivity of the LMD-GCM to the subgrid scale variability of field capacity”, paper presented at EGS General Assembly, Grenoble, April, 1994.
Liang, X., D.P. Lettenmaier, E.F. Wood, and S.J. Burges, “A simple hydrologically based model of land surface water and energy fluxes for general circulation models”, Journal of Geophysical Research 99(D3):14,415–14,428, Jul., 1994.
Liang, X., “A two-layer variable infiltration capacity land surface representation for general circulation models”, Water Resources Series Technical Report No. 140, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Washington, May, 1994.
Miller, J.R., and G.L. Russell, “The impact of global warming on river runoff”, Journal of Geophysical Research 97(D3):2757–2764, Feb. 28, 1992.
Pitman, A.J. et al., “Results from the off-line control simulation phase of the project for intercomparison of land surface parameterization schemes (PILPS)”, in press, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 1994.
Sellers, P.J., F.G. Hall, G. Asrar, D.E. Strebel, and R.E. Murphy, “An overview of the First International Satellite Land Surface Climatology Project (ISLSCP) Field Experiment”, Journal of Geophysical Research 97(D17):18,345–18,371, 1992.
Shuttleworth, W.J., J.H.C. Gash, J.M. Roberts, C.A. Nobre, L.C.B. Molion, and M. de Nazare Goes Ribeiro, “Post-deforestation Amazonian climate: Anglo-Brazilian research to improve prediction”, Journal of Hydrology 129:71–85, 1991.
Shuttleworth, W.J., “Evaporation”, Chapter 4 in Handbook of Hydrology, D.R. Maidment, ed., McGraw Hill, New York, 1993.
Stamm, J.F., E.F. Wood, and D.P. Lettenmaier, “Sensitivity of a GCM simulation of global climate to the representation of land surface hydrology”, Journal of Climate, 7(8):1218–1239, Aug., 1994.
Wetzel, S., “A hydrological model for predicting the effects of climate change”, B.S. Thesis, Department of Civil Engineering and Operations Research, Princeton University, Apr., 1994.
Wigmosta, M., L. Vail, and D.P. Lettenmaier, “A distributed hydrology-vegetation model for complex terrain” Water Resources Research 30(6):1665–1679, Jun., 1994.
Wood, E.F, D.P. Lettenmaier, and V.G. Zartarian, ‘A land-surface hydrology parameterization with subgrid variability for general circulation models,Journal of Geophysical Research 97(D3), 2717–2728, 1992.
Wright, I.R., J.H.C. Gash, H.R. da Rocha, W.J. Shuttleworth, C.A. Nobre, G.T. Maitelli, C.A.G.P. Zamparoni, and P.R.A. Carvalho, “Dry season micrometeorology of central Amazonian ranchland”, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society 118:1083–1099, 1992.
Zhao, R.J., Flood forecasting method for humid regions of China, East China College of Hydraulic Engineering, 1977.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1995 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Lettenmaier, D.P. (1995). Modeling of Runoff and Streamflow at Regional to Global Scales. In: Oliver, H.R., Oliver, S.A. (eds) The Role of Water and the Hydrological Cycle in Global Change. NATO ASI Series, vol 31. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-79830-6_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-79830-6_10
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-79832-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-79830-6
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive