Development of a physically-based catchment-scale rainfall-runoff model using the vertical quasi-two-dimensional surface-subsurface flow modeling

Sora Fugami, Yutaka Ichikawa, Kazuaki Yorozu, Hyunuk An, Yasuto Tachikawa
Received 19 July, 2024
Accepted 4 January, 2025
Published online 15 March, 2025

Sora Fugami1), Yutaka Ichikawa1), Kazuaki Yorozu2), Hyunuk An3), Yasuto Tachikawa1)

1) Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, Japan
2) Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto University, Japan
3) Department of Agricultural and Rural Engineering, Chungnam National University, Korea

In this study, we developed a catchment-scale rainfall-runoff model using the vertical quasi-two-dimensional surface-subsurface flow model (quasi-2D model) and applied it to the upstream catchment of the Kamo River in Japan. The modeling of slope connections was devised to enhance computational stability, and the settings of computational cell sizes were designed according to the slope angles to reduce the computational cost while maintaining accuracy. Rainfall-runoff simulations were conducted for several floods, and the model was validated by comparing it to observational data. The quasi-2D model generally reproduced the observed river discharge well; however, it tended to overestimate the peak discharge. The present model seemed to generate excessive surface flows in mountainous areas, suggesting the need to incorporate various flow pathways, such as macropores in the soil and groundwater flows, which enhance the underground drainage capacity. The simulations for an area of 138.1 km2 required less than one-tenth of the actual time, partly because of the parallel computation of two independent catchments.

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Copyright (c) 2025 The Author(s) CC-BY 4.0

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