ARS | Publication request: GIS-BASED COUPLING OF GLEAMS AND REMM HYDROLOGY: 1) DEVELOPMENT AND SENSITIVITY

Submitted to: Transactions of the ASAE
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: October 18, 2000
Publication Date: June 1, 2001
Citation: TUCKER, M.A., THOMAS, D.L., BOSCH, D.D., VELLIDIS, G. GIS-BASED COUPLING OF GLEAMS AND REMM HYDROLOGY: 1) DEVELOPMENT AND SENSITIVITY. TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERS. 43(6):1525-1534. 2001.

Interpretive Summary: Farm managers are interested in developing the best overall management systems that meet overall production and environmental goals. To determine these management systems, managers must consider many possible combinations of crop, tillage and chemical applications. Field trials are expensive and time consuming. Computer models that accurately simulate the physical processes occurring in the agricultural fields are good alternatives to field trials. A computer model that simulates the flow of water from agricultural fields through near stream buffer systems was developed. The model incorporates a well known field scale model with a recently developed riparian buffer model. Testing indicated the model does a good job of simulating surface and subsurface water flow. This multi-component model will be useful for land managers and scientists who examine alternative production systems within agricultural areas.

Technical Abstract: An integrated model system was developed for joining the hydrologic portions of GLEAMS and REMM in a cascaded format to determine the fate of surface and subsurface water leaving an upland cultivated area and traversing a riparian forest. Data was managed within a GIS to aid in inputting and manipulating both spatial and nonspatial model parameters. Transfer of subsurface flow from the upland model to the riparian model wa achieved through Darcy's equation. Partitioning of the flow was based on the hydraulic conductivity of the different layers and the depth of the water table. The model system was able to account for saturated zones encountered in the riparian area by raising the water table. The model system responded as would be expected under relatively extreme changes in precipitation for both shallow groundwater levels and runoff. The model system also exhibited expected behavior under different leaf area index parameters within the forest. The shallow groundwater levels and runoff were not drastically affected, but the levels of response were reasonable.