Water budget record from variable infiltration capacity (VIC) model

This document describes the algorithms within the latest version of the variable infiltration capacity (VIC) model. As a semi-distributed macroscale hydrological model, VIC balances both the water and surface energy within the grid cell; and its sub-grid variations are captured statistically. Distinguishing characteristics of the VIC model include: subgrid variability in land surface vegetation classes; subgrid variability in the soil moisture storage capacity; drainage from the lower soil moisture zone (base flow) as a nonlinear recession; and the inclusion of topography that allows for orographic precipitation and temperature lapse rates resulting in more realistic hydrology in mountainous regions. VIC uses a separate routing model based on a linear transfer function to simulate the streamflow. Adaptations to the routing model are implemented in VIC to allow representation of water management effects including reservoir operation and irrigation diversions and return flows. Since its existence, VIC has been well calibrated and validated in a number of large river basins over the continental US and the globe. Applications using the VIC model cover a variety of research areas. Chapter 6 Water Budget Record from Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) Model 121 Given the numerous improvements and updates of the VIC model through its nearly twenty years of existence, this document serves as a general guideline for helping users of the long term dataset to understand the fundamental VIC algorithms up to date. Section 6.1 serves as an introduction, Section 6.2 gives a historical overview of the VIC model development, and Section 6.3 explains the classic algorithms of the VIC model for calculating the state variables, surface fluxes, and streamflow, as well as the newly implemented algorithms for taking into account the water management. Section 6.4 describes the model forcings and model parameterizations, and Section 6.5 is about the VIC calibration. Finally, Section 6.6 summarizes VIC validation and applications.

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