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Hydrologic Related Activities within the Joint Institute for Caribbean Climate Studies

This article explores the hydrologic cycle and the threats to water resources in the humid tropical region, particularly in small islands. It discusses the development of tools for estimating and predicting components of the hydrologic cycle and the use of models in groundwater flow and surface hydrologic modeling. It also highlights ongoing studies and potential challenges faced in Puerto Rico.

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Hydrologic Related Activities within the Joint Institute for Caribbean Climate Studies

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  1. Hydrologic Related Activities within the Joint Institute for Caribbean Climate Studies Eric Harmsen, Ph.D., P.E. Dept. of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering University of Puerto Rico – Mayagüez Campus

  2. Background • Countries within the humid tropics contain almost one-third of the total world population.  • Within this region there are many small islands whose water resources are subject to an ever-increasing risk. • The threat to water resources include: population pressure, urban development, pollution, and potentially adverse changes in the climate

  3. A Small-Scale View of theHydrologic Cycle

  4. Objective • Develop tools for estimating and predicting components of the hydrologic cycle. (e.g., soil moisture) • Construct island-wide groundwater flow and surface hydrologic models to be coupled with the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS)

  5. “Soil Moisture Retrieval Algorithm and its Implementation Applied to a Selected Area in Puerto Rico”

  6. “Inverse procedure for estimating vertically distributed soil hydraulic parameters using GPR”“Validation of an inverse procedure forestimating soil moisture content using GPR”

  7. “Estimating long-term average monthly evapotranspiration from pan evaporation data at seven locations in Puerto Rico”

  8. ATLAS Mission

  9. Initial Hydrologic ModelingEfforts • Development Conceptual Groundwater Model for Puerto Rico • Literature Study • Use of Numerical Tools • GMS • GIS • Remote Sensing • Model Configuration (MODFLOW) • Calibration and validation efforts • Model Coupling • Predictive Simulations

  10. Locations of USGS Groundwater Resource and Modeling Studies in Puerto Rico

  11. Groundwater Finite Difference Grid

  12. Characterization of Aquifer Units

  13. Geological Characterization Boreholes Solid TINS Cross Sections 3-D Visualization

  14. Surface Hydrologic Model • Development of a Surface Hydrologic Conceptual Model • Literature Study • Use of Numerical Tools • WMS • GMS • Remote Sensing • Model Selection • LEAF-2 • TOPMODEL • HSPF • Calibration and validation efforts • Model Coupling • Predictive Simulations

  15. HSPF HSPF is capable of simulating the balance of moisture within the first few meters of the ground surface.

  16. Groundwater/Surface Water • Proposals • NSF-WEAVE (PR Hydrologic Model) • Sea Grant (Submarine Groundwater Discharge) • EQSERC (Air and Watershed Modeling) • NASA (El Yunque Climate/Hydrologic Modeling)

  17. PR Climate/Hydrologic Model

  18. Real-Time Hydrologic Modeling System Flowchart

  19. Potential Challenges • Puerto Rico has extreme variations in • Topography • Geology • Soils • Weather

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