USING A DISTRIBUTED ROUTING RAINFALL‐RUNOFF MODEL¹

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Urban storm water data from four catchments near Miami, Florida, were collected and compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey and were used for testing the applicability of deterministic modeling for characterizing storm water flows from small land use areas. The four sites were: (1) a 40.8‐acre (0.165‐km 2 ) single family residential area (2) a 58.3‐acre (0.236‐km 2 ) highway area (3) a 20.4‐acre (0.083‐km 2 ) commercial area, and (4) a 14.7‐acre (0.059‐km 2 ) multifamily residential area. A distributed routing rainfall‐runoff model was used to simulate 328 storms at one‐minute time intervals. Weighted Standard Error of Estimates (SEE) for storm runoff volume for calibration and verification simulations were 0.072 in. (1.829 mm) and 0.117 in. (2.972 mm), respectively, while the corresponding SEE for peak discharges were 5.761 cfs (0.163 m 3 /s) and 5.119 cfs (0.145 m 3 /s), respectively.