Implementation and calibration of the new version of variable inflitration capacity, VIC 4.1.2.C.

Abstract

In this project an implementation and calibration of a simulator is realized. The simulator works using a new version of a model named “Variable Infiltration Capacity” (VIC). This model simulates the hydrologic cycle, concretely the land surface behavior (processes such as infiltration of water, evaporation from soil and plants, runoff…) for the catchment located in the target land. The model is used to predict the amount of water available in that catchment per year for hydropower production applications. The VIC model has been created at the University of Washington, in concrete at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and under the direction of Dennis P. Lettenmaier. Development and maintenance of the current official version of the VIC model is conducted at the same departments. Every new application addresses new problems and conditions which the model may not currently be able to handle, and as such the model is always under development. VIC is a research model and in its various forms it has been applied to many watersheds including the Columbia River, the Ohio River, the Arkansas-Red Rivers, and the Upper Mississippi Rivers, as well as being applied globally.