Surface water flow in landscape models: 2. Patuxent watershed case study

We developed a system for modeling regional, spatially explicit hydrology i n a way that allows integration with broader plant, nutrient, and socio-eco nomic model components. The relatively coarse spatial and temporal resoluti on of these broader components relative to existing hydrologic models requi res a different approach to hydrologic modeling. We developed a quasi-empir ical model which still retains as much of the underlying process dynamics a s possible. We tested the approach in the Patuxent watershed, Maryland, USA where we needed a time step of 1 day (compared to 1 h in most hydrologic m odels) and a spatial resolution of 1 km(2). The model was developed, calibr ated and tested at several spatial and temporal scales and extensive testin g shows that it performs at least as well as more complex hydrologic models , even using the 1 day and 1 km2 resolution. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.