Application of Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor Precipitation Product in Flash Flood Modeling

Simulating of flashflood events requires hydrologic models with a good representation of the physical processes in a landscape. While recent advancements in computing capabilities have improved the performance of such hydrologic models, accuracy and capability of such models in modeling flash floods yet remain constrained by the availability of high-quality input data (e.g., precipitation). Improved technologies and products such as the Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor (MRMS) system that allows gathering and transmission of vast meteorological data have been developed to address such data needs. The study was conducted in the Pedernales watershed, in the Lower Colorado River Basin. The Gridded Surface Subsurface Hydrologic Analysis (GSSHA) model was calibrated using rain gauge data and validated using the MRMS product, from May 2015, to simulate surface runoff at 15 min intervals. Overall, the GSSHA model performed well in capturing runoff with inputs of both rain gauge and MRMS precipitation datasets. In this presentation, we will discuss the reliability of the MRMS precipitation product in simulating flash floods using the GSSHA, physically based, distributed-parameter, hydrologic model.

Keywords: Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor, GSSHA, Flash flood, Precipitation, Radar