Model:TopoFlow-Snowmelt-Degree-Day

Name	Scott Peckham
Type of contact	Model developer
Institute / Organization	CSDMS, INSTAAR, University of Colorado
Postal address 1	1560 30th street
Postal address 2
Town / City	Boulder
Postal code	80305
State	Colorado
Country	USA"USA" is not in the list (Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, ...) of allowed values for the "Country" property.
Email address	Scott.Peckham@colorado.edu
Phone	303-492-6752
Fax

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TopoFlow-Snowmelt-Degree-Day

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Also known as
Model type	Single
Model part of larger framework
Note on status model
Date note status model

basins,

Supported platforms	Unix, Linux, Mac OS, Windows
Other platform
Programming language	Python
Other program language	None (but uses NumPy package)
Code optimized	Single Processor
Multiple processors implemented
Nr of distributed processors
Nr of shared processors
Start year development	2001
Does model development still take place?	Yes
If above answer is no, provide end year model development
Code development status
When did you indicate the 'code development status'?
Model availability	As code, As teaching tool
Source code availability (Or provide future intension)	Through CSDMS repository
Source web address
Source csdms web address
Program license type	Apache public license
Program license type other
Memory requirements	Standard
Typical run time	Minutes to hours

Describe input parameters	The input variables used for the Degree-Day method of estimating runoff due to snowmelt are defined as follows: c_0 = coefficient T_0 = threshold temperature (deg C) T_air = air temperature (deg C) ρ_snow = density of the snow (kg / m^3) ρ_water = density of liquid water, 1000 (kg / m^3) h0_snow = initial snow depth (m) h0_swe = initial depth, snow water equivalent (m) The behavior of this component is controlled with a configuration (CFG) file, which may point to other files that contain input data. Here is a sample configuration (CFG) file for this component: Method code: 0 Method name: Degree-Day Time step: Scalar 3600.00000000 (sec) Cp_snow: Scalar 2090.00000000 (J/kg/K) rho_snow: Scalar 300.00000000 (kg/m^3) c0: Scalar 2.70000005 (mm/day/deg C) T0: Scalar -0.20000000 (deg C) h0_snow: Scalar 0.50000000 (m) h0_swe: Scalar 0.15000000 (m) Save grid timestep: Scalar 60.00000000 (sec) Save mr grids: 0 Case5_2D-SMrate.rts (m/s) Save hs grids: 0 Case5_2D-hsnow.rts (m) Save sw grids: 0 Case5_2D-hswe.rts (m) Save cc grids: 0 Case5_2D-Ecc.rts (J/m^2) Save pixels timestep: Scalar 60.00000000 (sec) Save mr pixels: 0 Case5_0D-SMrate.txt (m/s) Save hs pixels: 0 Case5_0D-hsnow.txt (m) Save sw pixels: 0 Case5_0D-hswe.txt (m) Save cc pixels: 0 Case5_0D-Ecc.txt (J/m^2)
Input format	ASCII, Binary
Other input format
Describe output parameters
Output format	ASCII, Binary
Other output format
Pre-processing software needed?	Yes
Describe pre-processing software	Another program must be used to create the input grids. This includes a D8 flow grid derived from a DEM for the region to be modeled. The earlier, IDL version of TopoFlow can be used to create some of these.
Post-processing software needed?	Yes
Describe post-processing software	None, except visualization software. Grid sequences saved in netCDF files can be viewed as animations and saved as movies using VisIt.
Visualization software needed?	Yes
If above answer is yes
Other visualization software	VisIt

Describe processes represented by the model	The Degree-Day method for modeling Snowmelt.
Describe key physical parameters and equations	Equations Used by the Degree-Day Method M = (c_0 / 86400) * (T_air - T_0) = meltrate (mm / sec) M_max = (1000 * h_snow / dt) * (ρ_water / ρ_snow) = max possible meltrate (mm / sec) dh_snow = M * (ρ_water / ρ_snow) * dt = change in snow depth (m)
Describe length scale and resolution constraints	Recommended grid cell size is around 100 meters, but can be parameterized to run with a wide range of grid cell sizes. DEM grid dimensions are typically less than 1000 columns by 1000 rows.
Describe time scale and resolution constraints	The basic stability condition is: dt < (dx / u_min), where dt is the timestep, dx is the grid cell size and u_min is the smallest velocity in the grid. This ensures that flow cannot cross a grid cell in less than one time step. Typical timesteps are on the order of seconds to minutes. Model can be run for a full year or longer, if necessary.
Describe any numerical limitations and issues	This model/component needs more rigorous testing.

Describe available calibration data sets	This model/component is typically not calibrated to fit data, but is run with a best guess or measured value for each input parameter.
Upload calibration data sets if available:
Describe available test data sets	Available test data sets: Treynor watershed, in the Nishnabotna River basin, Iowa, USA. (Two large rainfall events.) Small basin in Kentucky. Inclined plane for testing. Arctic watershed data from Larry Hinzman (UAF). See /data/progs/topoflow/3.0/data on CSDMS cluster.
Upload test data sets if available:
Describe ideal data for testing	Several test datasets are stored on the CSDMS cluster at: /data/progs/topoflow/3.0/data.

Do you have current or future plans for collaborating with other researchers?	Collaborators include: Larry Hinzman (UAF), Bob Bolton, Anna Liljedahl (UAF), Stefan Pohl and others

Is there a manual available?	Yes
Upload manual if available:
Model website if any	This site.
Model forum / discussion board

Comments	About this component: This component was developed as part of the TopoFlow hydrologic model, which was originally written in IDL and had a point-and-click GUI. For more information on TopoFlow, please goto: http://csdms.colorado.edu/wiki/Model:TopoFlow. When used from within the CSDMS Modeling Tool (CMT), this component has "config" button which launches a graphical user interface (GUI) for changing input parameters. The GUI is a tabbed dialog with a Help button at the bottom that displays HTML help in a browser window. This component also has a configuration (CFG) file, with a name of the form: <case_prefix>_channels_diff_wave.cfg. This file can be edited with a text editor. The Numerical Python module (numpy) is used for fast, array-based processing. This model has an OpenMI-style interface, similar to OpenMI 2.0. Part of this interface is inherited from "CSDMS_base.py".

This part will be filled out by CSDMS staff

OpenMI compliant	No but planned
BMI compliant	Yes
WMT component	Yes
PyMT component
Is this a data component

Model info

Authors

Scott Peckham

Source code

Go to external source code site

Model citations

Nr. of publications:	1
Total citations:	12
h-index:	1
m-quotient:	0.06

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