Applications of GSSHA in Real World Situations

Governmental agencies have a vested interest in maintaining the statistical integrity of protection provided by their constructed flood mitigation infrastructure. In addition, water supply officials need to be able to understand the full hydrologic cycle including snow melt. Hydrographs are significantly changed due to modifications of hydrologic parameters such as land use, vegetation, snow depth, topography, and soil type. Therefore modeling the changes in the hydrograph due to these alterations allows the owners to understand potential loads on existing infrastructure. In addition water resources planners are more capable in their understanding of available water volumes and extreme rain events. As part of the CI-WATER project funded by National Science Foundation, natural and urban watershed are being modeled and calibrated by a team of BYU researchers to reflect the existing hydrologic state. These models will be used in web applications that can modify hydrologic parameters to determine changes in the hydrograph. The models are being developed using the Gridded Surface and Subsurface Hydraulic Analysis (GSSHA) model. GSSHA is a physically based, two-dimensional hydrologic modeling program that can be used without the need of historical hydrologic data. This makes it possible to run simulations in ungaged watersheds. These models, in connection with the web applications of CI-WATER, will allow government agencies to plan, make decisions, and set policy to maximize the benefit of infrastructure investment and water resources