U.S.-New Zealand Cooperative Research: Spatially Distributed Hydrologic Models and Spatial Patterns

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9724720 TARBOTON Spatially distributed hydrologic models are being used increasingly in environmental management and design. They have the advantage that they can capture to a large degree the spatial variability in hydrologic processes and can give spatially distributed predictions. However spatially distributed models suffer from problems associated with the large number of variables involved. When calibrated against integrated quantities, such as basin outflow, they do not generally represent internal processes correctly. The work proposed has the objective to develop and formalize methods for using spatially distributed data and spatial pattern comparison in the validation and testing of spatially distributed models. This work will be a collaboration between David Tarboton at Utah State University and Charles Pearson and Ross Woods at NIWA, New Zealand. David Tarboton has distributed hydrologic modeling experience in the semi-arid western U.S., while Woods and Pearson have experience in hydrologic modeling focusing on scale issues in New Zealand and Australia. Data from the Reynolds Creek experimental watershed in Idaho, USA as well as the Buller and Grey Rivers on the South Island of New Zealand will be used. The research will develop methods that extend model calibration and validation from reliance on integrated measures only to the use of spatially distributed data. The benefits will be greater reliability of model results and forecasts and better understanding of spatially distributed hydrological processes due to better representation of the internal watershed dynamics and variability.