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San Francisquito Catchment - Controlled Rainfall Example

Purpose​

This example presents a controlled rainfall-runoff simulation for the San Francisquito catchment near Stanford, California. It shows how HydroPol2D is configured for a realistic watershed domain under a prescribed storm.

Case setup​

The case Stanford_30m_100mmh_1h_24h uses:

ItemValue
DomainSan Francisquito sub-catchment, California, USA
Grid resolution30 m
Forcing typeSpatially invariant rainfall
Rainfall event100 mm/h for 1 hour
Simulation duration24 h
Map output interval15 min
Routing familyLocal inertial
Outlet treatmentPerimeter outlet

Input data​

The static inputs were prepared from a Google Earth Engine workflow and aligned to a 30 m grid over the catchment. The main layers used in the current example are:

  • DEM;
  • land use and land cover;
  • soil texture;
  • depth to bedrock or soil depth.

The simulation uses the current HydroPol2D layered soil and vadose formulation. Parameter values come from the Stanford configuration distributed with the model.

What this case is meant to show​

This case highlights:

  • runoff generation under a simple, known forcing;
  • the interaction between topography, roughness, and infiltration;
  • the spatial organization of routed flood depth, velocity, hazard, and cumulative infiltration;
  • long recession behavior after the rainfall pulse ends.

Input maps​

Figure 1 - Terrain and drainage​

Terrain Hydrology

Figure 2 - Surface properties​

Surface Properties

Figure 3A - Soil hydraulic properties​

Soil Hydraulic Properties

Figure 3B - Soil retention and storage​

Soil Retention and Storage Properties

Simulation video​

The animation below shows the 30 m simulation. The panels show flood depth, velocity, hazard metric, and cumulative infiltration.

Stanford 30 m controlled rainfall simulation: flood depth, velocity, hazard, and cumulative infiltration.

Each panel uses one color scale for the full sequence. The scale is based on the 99th percentile of all saved frames.

Summary results​

The simulation produced 97 saved map frames. Summary metrics are:

  • a drainage area of 156.823 km²;
  • a run-total rainfall depth of 100 mm;
  • a maximum flood depth of 0.64 m;
  • a peak outlet flow of 335.03 m³/s;
  • preprocessing figures for terrain, surface properties, and soil properties.