Read Full Article    Cited by

WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH, VOL. 36, NO. 8, PAGES 2197–2207, 2000

Global-scale flow routing using a source-to-sink algorithm

Francisco Olivera

Center for Research in Water Resources, University of Texas at Austin

James Famiglietti

Center for Research in Water Resources, University of Texas at Austin

Kwabena Asante

Center for Research in Water Resources, University of Texas at Austin

Abstract

In this paper, the development and global application of a new approach to large-scale river routing is described. It differs from previous methods by the extent to which the information content of high-resolution global digital elevation models is exploited in a computationally efficient framework. The model transports runoff directly from its source of generation in a land model cell to its sink on a continental margin or in an internally draining basin (and hence is referred to as source-to-sink routing) rather than from land cell to land cell (which we call cell-to-cell routing). It advances the development of earlier source-to-sink models by allowing for spatially distributed flow velocities, attenuation coefficients, and loss parameters. The method presented here has been developed for use in climate system models, with a specific goal of generating hydrographs at continental margins for input into an ocean model. However, the source-to-sink approach is flexible and can be applied at any space-time scale and in a number of other types of large-scale hydrological and Earth system models. Hydrographs for some of the world's major river basins resulting from a global application, as well as hydrographs for the Nile River from a more detailed application, are discussed.

Received 23 September 1999; accepted 17 April 2000.

Read Full Article    Cited by

Citation: Olivera, F., J. Famiglietti, and K. Asante (2000), Global-scale flow routing using a source-to-sink algorithm, Water Resour. Res., 36(8), 2197–2207.

Copyright 2000 by the American Geophysical Union.