Rainfall - Runoff Modelling : The Primer

by Keith J. Beven (Lancaster Univ., UK)

• ISBN13: 9780470866719
• ISBN10: 0470866713
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-03-01
• Publisher: WILEY

Summary

Amid climatic changes linked to global warming, ongoing changes in land-use patterns, and growing international concern with the environment it is increasingly important to understand the potential impact of these changes on the environment. Rainfall-runoff modeling is an important predictor of that impact. This book introduces rainfall-runoff models that have been developed over the past 24-30 years, giving examples of their practical applications. It provides a summary of available techniques for rainfall modeling based upon the most recent research, but in a way that serves as a primer for the subject. Provides an overview of how catchment rainfall-runoff systems work A history of rainfall-runoff models Examples of models can be downloaded over the Internet Looks at uncertainty in model prediction

Author Biography

Keith Beven wrote his first hydrological model as an undergraduate in 1970, trying to predict the runoff generation on Exmoor during the Lynmouth flood. Since then, he has been involved with many of the major rainfall-runoff modelling innovations, including TOPMODEL, the Système Hydrologique Europèen (SHE) model, the Institute of Hydrology Distributed Model (IHDM), and Data-based mechanistic modelling (DBM). In 1991 he was awarded the American Geophysical Union Horton Award for fundamental contributions to the understanding and prediction of runoff production, particularly the role of topography and soil structure, in natural catchments. He has been Professor of Hydrology and Fluid Dynamics at Lancaster University since 1992.

Table of Contents

Preface.

1. Down to Basics: Runoff Processes and the Modelling Process.

2. Evolution of Rainfall-Runoff Models: Survival of the Fittest?

3. Data for Rainfall—Runoff Modelling.

4. Predicting Hydrographs Using Models Based on Data.

5. Predicting Hydrographs Using Distributed Models Based on Process Descriptions.

6. Hydrological Similarity and Distribution Function Rainfall—Runoff Models.

7. Parameter Estimation and Predictive Uncertainty.

8. Predicting Floods.

9. Predicting the Effects of Change.

10. Revisiting the Problem of Model Choice.

Appendix A: Demonstration Software.

Appendix B: Glossary of Terms.

References.

Index.