The Great Lakes Large Basin Runoff Model

by Thomas E. Croley, Great Lakes Environmental Research, Lab, Ann Arbor, MI, USA,



Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Engineering Hydrology

Abstract:

The Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) developed its Large Basin Runoff Model (LBRM) specifically for modeling runoff and moisture storages in the large river basins (from 100 to 100,000 square kilometers) about the Great Lakes. The LBRM is an interdependent tank-cascade model which employs analytic solutions of physical considerations relevant for large watersheds. The mass balances for snowpack, upper and lower soil zones, groundwater, and surface water are coupled with physically-based concepts of linear reservoir storages, partial-area infiltration, complementary evapotranspiration and heat available (evapotranspiration opportunity) based on available supply, and degree-day determinations of snowmelt and net supply. The 9 model parameters are determined in an automated systematic search of the parameter space to minimize the sum-of-squared errors between actual and model outflow volumes. The physical relevance of the parameters aids in interpreting hydrology and in using hydrologic interpretations to set parameter values.

Subject Headings: Lakes | Runoff | Basins | Parameters (statistics) | Water storage | Physical models | Hydrology | Great Lakes

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