Advancing the Cyberinfrastructure for Integrated Water Resources Modeling
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Utah State University DigitalCommons@USU All Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 12-2017 Advancing the Cyberinfrastructure for Integrated Water Resources Modeling Caleb A. Buahin Utah State University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd Part of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons Recommended Citation Buahin, Caleb A., "Advancing the Cyberinfrastructure for Integrated Water Resources Modeling" (2017). All Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 6901. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/6901 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ADVANCING THE CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE FOR INTEGRATED WATER RESOURCES MODELING by Caleb A. Buahin A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in Civil and Environmental Engineering Approved: ______________________ ____________________ Jeffery S. Horsburgh David G. Tarboton Major Professor Committee Member ______________________ ____________________ Bethany T. Neilson Sarah E. Null Committee Member Committee Member ______________________ ____________________ Steven J. Burian Mark R. McLellan, Ph.D. Committee Member Vice President for Research and Dean of the School of Graduate Studies UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY Logan, Utah 2017 ii Copyright © Caleb A. Buahin 2017 All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Advancing the Cyberinfrastructure for Integrated Water Resources Modeling by Caleb A. Buahin, Doctor of Philosophy Utah State University, 2017 Major Professor: Dr. Jeffery S. Horsburgh Department: Civil and Environmental Engineering Water systems in the United States — especially those in the semi-arid western parts — are heavily human mediated because of the emphasis on managing the scarce water resources available and protecting life and property from water related hazards. While many hydrologic and hydraulic models have been developed for simulating individual components of this human-natural water system, there is rarely a single model that can be selected to investigate the increasingly multifaceted challenges we face. These challenges, including impacts of land use changes on water resources, floods, droughts, transport and fate of contaminants in the environment, etc., increasingly require integrating models that simulate different processes to make them more tractable. The research in this dissertation is an investigation of ways for achieving this model integration/coupling. An emphasis is placed on identifying those model integration strategies that enhance reproducibility of model results, flexibility of model selection and coupling configurations, and maintainability of model code bases. Using model integration application examples that investigate the interactions between the natural iv hydrologic system and engineered stormwater infrastructure in urban areas, evaluations were undertaken to: (1) identify and evaluate the suitability of different model integration approaches for different applications scenarios; (2) assess the numerical errors and computational efficiency of different model coupling configurations and approaches for improving model performance; (3) identify the most appropriate coupling configurations for different model integration scenarios; and (4) identify drawbacks in the design and data structures of the cyberinfrastructure for integrated water resources modeling and implement advancements to address them. Results from these evaluations are instructive for modelers in conducting model integration/coupling efficiently while ensuring that science underlying the coupling is correct. Additionally, new software is provided that provides domain specific data structures while allowing water resources modelers to take advantage of increasingly common, high performance, heterogeneous computing infrastructure. (213 pages) v PUBLIC ABSTRACT Advancing the Cyberinfrastructure for Integrated Water Resources Modeling Caleb A. Buahin Like other scientists, hydrologists encode mathematical formulations that simulate various hydrologic processes as computer programs so that problems with water resource management that would otherwise be manually intractable can be solved efficiently. These computer models are typically developed to answer specific questions within a specific study domain. For example, one computer model may be developed to solve for magnitudes of water flow and water levels in an aquifer while another may be developed to solve for magnitudes of water flow through a water distribution network of pipes and reservoirs. Interactions between different processes are often ignored or are approximated using overly simplistic assumptions. The increasing complexity of the water resources challenges society faces, including stresses from variable climate and land use change, means that some of these models need to be stitched together so that these challenges are not evaluated myopically from the perspective of a single research discipline or study domain. The research in this dissertation presents an investigation of the various approaches and technologies that can be used to support model integration. The research delves into some of the computational challenges associated with model integration and suggests approaches for dealing with these challenges. Finally, it advances new software that provides data structures that water resources modelers are more accustomed to and allows them to take advantage of advanced computing resources for efficient simulations. vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I dedicate this work to my wife, Cristalynn, and my children, Kyra and Dylan without whose love, support, and patience, I would not have been successful in this endeavor. I owe a debt of gratitude to my advisor, Dr. Jeffery Horsburgh for his high academic standards and invaluable mentorship. I am forever grateful for his patience, encouragement, and the time he readily made available to me during my studies. I am very grateful to my committee members Dr. David Tarboton, Dr. Bethany Neilson, Dr. Sarah Null, and Dr. Steven Burian for their time, guidance, and counsel throughout my studies. I would also like to thank other colleagues and advisors who collaborated with me during my studies including: Dr. James Nelson, Dr. David Maidment, Dr. Venkatesh Merwade, Cassandra Fagan, Nikhil Sangwan, and Enjie Li. I would like to express my gratitude to the Utah Water Research Laboratory and the Office of Research and Graduate Studies at Utah State University for the financial support they provided during my studies. The research presented in this dissertation was primarily funded by the innovative Urban Transitions and Aridregion Hydro-Sustainability (iUTAH) project, a research effort sponsored by the National Science Foundation EPSCoR Grant IIA 1208732. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. Caleb A. Buahin vii CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... iii PUBLIC ABSTRACT .........................................................................................................v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. vi LIST OF TABLES ...............................................................................................................x LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... xi CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................1 References ..............................................................................................................10 2. PROBABILISTIC FLOOD INUNDATION FORECASTING USING RATING CURVE LIBRARIES ...........................................................................12 Abstract ..................................................................................................................12 2.1 Introduction .....................................................................................................13 2.2 Background ......................................................................................................16 2.2.1 Rating Curves ................................................................................... 17 2.2.2 The European Center for Medium Range Forecasts ........................ 19 2.3 Methods ...........................................................................................................21 2.3.1 Study Area........................................................................................ 22 2.3.2 Downscaling ECMWF-HTESSEL Runoff through RAPID ............ 22 2.3.3 The Rating Curve Based Automatic Flood Forecasting Tool .......... 24 2.3.4 Assessments Performed ................................................................... 27 2.4 Results and Discussions...................................................................................29 2.5 Conclusions .....................................................................................................32 2.6 Supplemental Material .....................................................................................34