Introduction to Calibrating a Continuous Simulation Model

Background

Coyote Valley Dam (Lake Mendocino) is located on the East Fork of the Russian River, about 2 miles north east of Ukiah California. Below the Coyote Valley Dam, the East Fork of the Russian River flows a very short distance (approximately 1 mile), until it merges with the main Russian River. The total drainage area for the watershed above Coyote Valley Dam is approximately 105 square miles. A map of the Russian River basin is shown in Figure 1.

Coyote Valley Dam and Lake Mendocino were the focus of a recent forecast informed reservoir operation (FIRO) study. A continuous simulation of the 60 year period 1951-2010 was created using historical observations. Different reservoir operation scenarios were tested for the 60 year period, using the calibrated model. A key component to the hydrologic modeling was accurately recreating reservoir inflows.

Objectives

In this workshop you will learn methods for calibrating a continuous simulation model. You will learn how to extract model output time series using HEC-DSSVue and evaluate the time series for model calibration.

Overview

In this workshop you will:

1. Calibrate the Deficit & Constant Basin Model for a Single Water Year
2. Calibrate the Soil Moisture Accounting Basin Model for a Single Water Year
3. Calibrate the Deficit and Constant Basin Model to Observed Annual Maximum Flows
4. Calibrate the Soil Moisture Accounting Basin Model to Observed Annual Maximum Flows
5. Calculate Performance Metrics for Daily Flows
6. Validate an HEC-HMS Model using Flow Frequency

Spend approximately 25 minutes per task to accomplish this workshop within the time allotted.

Continue to Calibrate the Deficit & Constant Basin Model for a single water year