HR: 1340h
AN: H43D-1612    [Abstracts]
TI: Hydrologic Response of Watersheds to Urbanization Across the Upper Great Lakes Region, USA
AU: * Yang, G
EM: yangg@purdue.edu
AF: Department of Agronomy, Purdue University, Department of Agronomy, Lilly Hall 915 W. State Street Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, United States
AU: Bowling, L
EM: bowling@purdue.edu
AF: Department of Agronomy, Purdue University, Department of Agronomy, Lilly Hall 915 W. State Street Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, United States
AU: Cherkauer, K
EM: cherkaue@purdue.edu
AF: Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Purdue University, ABE Building 225 S. University St. Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, United States
AU: Pijanowski, B
EM: bpijanow@purdue.edu
AF: Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University, Forestry and Natural Resources 715 West State Street Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, United States
AB: The Great Lakes region has experienced significant urbanization in the last century, resulting in a sharp increase in Impervious Surface Area (ISA). ISA is significantly different from the natural land cover in hydrological response, and has great potential influence on watershed hydrology. The Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) model is employed to investigate the hydrological responses in urbanized watersheds in the Great Lakes region. Previously, VIC did not consider urban as a distinct land cover, either treating the developed areas as bare soil or removing them by rescaling vegetation area. In this study, a simple urban ˇ°slabˇ± algorithm has been added to the VIC model to make it suitable for the simulation of urbanized watersheds. Approximately 15 small watersheds with drainage areas between 10 to 150 square miles in the White River watershed (Indiana) that have experienced significant urbanization between 1983 and 2001 have been selected for analysis. The change in annual streamflow statistics (e.g. frequency change of high flow peaks and low flow events, and daily variation of streamflow) are examined from 1980 to 2003. Using 1983 and 2001 land cover maps of the White River watershed, the VIC model with urban ˇ°slabˇ± algorithm is evaluated by comparing the simulated change in discharge statistics due to land use with the observed change in the small watersheds. In addition, surface temperatures from the VIC model simulation are compared to MODIS surface temperature products to evaluate the ability of the ˇ°slabˇ± algorithm to represent urban heat islands. Subsequently, the feasibility of the predicted impact of increasing ISA to regional hydrological processes is investigated, including the change pattern of the Bowen Ratio for the White River watershed. The hydrologic impact of future land cover change is then quantified for other Great Lakes regional urban watersheds (e.g. the Detroit, Milwaukee and Illinois Rivers), utilizing a 2020 land cover map created by the Land Transformation Model. The results of this work will increase our understanding of the impacts of urban expansion to hydrological processes at regional scales.
DE: 1800 HYDROLOGY
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting