Application of HEC-HMS in a Cold Region Watershed and Use of RADARSAT-2 Soil Moisture in Initializing the Model

Hassan Bhuiyan,Amine Merzouki,Jarrett Powers,Heather Mcnairn

doi:10.3390/hydrology4010009

Abstract

This paper presents an assessment of the applicability of using RADARSAT-2-derived soil moisture data in the Hydrologic Modelling System developed by the Hydrologic Engineering Center (HEC-HMS) for flood forecasting with a case study in the Sturgeon Creek watershed in Manitoba, Canada. Spring flooding in Manitoba is generally influenced by both winter precipitation and soil moisture conditions in the fall of the previous year. As a result, the soil moisture accounting (SMA) and the temperature index algorithms are employed in the simulation. Results from event and continuous simulations of HEC-HMS show that the model is suitable for flood forecasting in Manitoba. Soil moisture data from the Manitoba Agriculture field survey and RADARSAT-2 satellite were used to set the initial soil moisture for the event simulations. The results confirm the benefit of using satellite data in capturing peak flows in a snowmelt event. A sensitivity analysis of SMA parameters, such as soil storage, maximum infiltration, soil percolation, maximum canopy storage and tension storage, was performed and ranked to determine which parameters have a significant impact on the performance of the model. The results show that the soil moisture storage was the most sensitive parameter. The sensitivity analysis of initial soil moisture in a snowmelt event shows that cumulative flow and peak flow are highly influenced by the initial soil moisture setting of the model. Therefore, there is a potential to utilize RADARSAT-2-derived soil moisture for hydrological modelling in other snow-dominated Manitoba watersheds.

Highlights

Flooding is a common occurrence in the Red and Assiniboine River sub-basins; part of the largerLake Winnipeg basin in Southern Manitoba, Canada
Simulation 2 is performed using soil moisture values for each sub-watershed estimated from RADARSAT-2
This study investigated the applicability of the Hydrologic Modelling System developed by the Hydrologic Engineering Center (HEC-HMS) in the Sturgeon Creek watershed; a snow melt-dominated watershed in Manitoba, Canada

Summary

Introduction

Flooding is a common occurrence in the Red and Assiniboine River sub-basins; part of the largerLake Winnipeg basin in Southern Manitoba, Canada. Flooding is a common occurrence in the Red and Assiniboine River sub-basins; part of the larger. Of the ten highest recorded floods on the Red. River dating back to the 1800s, four have occurred in the last twenty years. River dating back to the 1800s, four have occurred in the last twenty years This includes the 1997 flood, which stands as the third largest flood ever recorded on the Red River. River experienced a one in 145 year flood and the largest in recorded history lasting over 120 days [1]. Floods of this magnitude have a devastating impact, resulting in damage to homes, infrastructure and lost agricultural production. Costs for recovery programs and investments in flood infrastructure are shared by all levels of government and cost billions of dollars [2]

Objectives

Results

Conclusion