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Title: The KINEROS2 – AGWA Suite of modeling tools

Author
item Goodrich, David - Dave
item Unkrich, Carl
item KORGAONKAR, Y. - University Of Arizona
item BURNS, I.S. - University Of Arizona
item KENNEDY, J. - Us Geological Survey (USGS)
item SODMAN, G. - Winrock International
item SHEPPARD, B.S. - University Of Arizona
item HERNANDEZ, M. - University Of Arizona
item GUERTIN, D.P. - University Of Arizona
item MILLER, S.N. - University Of Wyoming
item KEPNER, W.G. - Us Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
item Heilman, Philip - Phil
item Nearing, Mark

Submitted to: Joint Federal Interagency Sedimentation and Hydrologic Modeling
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/1/2015
Publication Date: 4/19/2015
Citation: Goodrich, D.C., Unkrich, C.L., Korgaonkar, Y., Burns, I., Kennedy, J., Sodman, G., Sheppard, B., Hernandez, M., Guertin, D., Miller, S., Kepner, W., Heilman, P., Nearing, M.A. 2015. The KINEROS2 – AGWA Suite of modeling tools. Proc. of the 3rd Joint Federal Interagency Conference on Sedimentation and Hydrologic Modeling, p. 1759-1770. April 19-23, 2015, Reno, Nevada, USA.

Interpretive Summary: When water quantity or water quality is of interest, watersheds are a natural organizing unit in our landscape. The pathways and processes that affect runoff generation from a watershed result from a complex interaction of the climate, topography, soils, land cover, and land use. Numerous computer models have been developed to estimate how a watershed produces runoff from rainfall and snowfall. The KINEROS2 and SWAT models are two common examples. These models often require significant data preparation and input to use them. To expedite this task we have developed the AGWA (Automated Geospatial Watershed Assessment hydrologic modeling tool which uses nationally available spatial data sets to setup, run, and display the results from KINEROS2 and SWAT. With these tools, natural resource managers, engineers, and scientists can estimate runoff and places in the watershed that may be prone to flood damage or water quality problems. These users can also evaluate how conservation measures and changes in land use practices might improve water quality. This paper provides an overview of the KINEROS2 and AGWA tools; recently added tools and features; presents selected examples of its application; and discusses future developments that are underway or planned.

Technical Abstract: KINEROS2 (K2) originated in the 1960s as a distributed event-based rainfall-runoff erosion model abstracting the watershed as a cascade of overland flow elements contributing to channel model elements. Development and improvement of K2 has continued for a variety of projects and purposes resulting in an informal suite of K2-based modeling tools. Like any detailed, distributed watershed modeling tool, the K2 suite of tools can require considerable time to delineate watersheds, discretize them into modeling elements and then parameterize these elements. These requirements motivated the development of the Automated Geospatial Watershed Assessment (AGWA) tool. This ESRI ArcGIS-based tool uses nationally available, GIS data layers to parameterize, execute, and visualize results from the SWAT and KINEROS2 models. By employing these two models, AGWA can conduct watershed modeling and assessments at multiple time and space scales. The objectives of this paper are to: 1) Provide background in the development of K2 and AGWA; 2) Provide an overview of new features; 3) Briefly describe recent novel applications; and 4) Discuss plans for future model improvements.