Development of a Cell-Based Streamflow Routing Model

Abstract

This study presents the development of a cell-based stream flow routing model called as “The Cell-to-Cell Stream flow routing model”. This model is a two parameter hydrological routing model that uses a coarse resolution stream network to route a runoff depth from each cell in the watershed to the outlet. The watershed is divided into a number of equal cells, which are approximated as cascade of linear reservoirs. Water is routed from a cell, downstream depending on the flow direction of the cell using the cascade of tanks. The routing model consists of two phases. In the first phase, water is routed using a cascade of linear reservoirs or tanks from the center of a cell to the side or corner of the cell depending on its flow direction. In the second phase, water is routed using a cascade of tanks from the exit point of a cell to the outlet of the watershed across the coarse resolution stream network. In this study, the cell-to-cell stream flow routing model is applied to the Brazos River Basin to demonstrate the impact of the cascade of tanks on the flow over a simple linear reservoir method. This watershed was tested with a uniform runoff depth in absence of observed runoff data. A case study on Waller Creek in Austin, Texas with observed runoff depths and stream flow is used to demonstrate the calibration and validation of model parameters.