A MATLAB implementation of TOPMODEL

Abstract

The MATLAB SIMULINK programming language is applied to the TOPMODEL rainfall±runo model. SIMULINK requires a good recognition of model dynamics, which has been achieved here in a version based on the ®rst TOPMODEL (Beven and Kirkby, 1979). Introducing the topographic index distribution in a vector form allows the generalization and simpli®cation of the SIMULINK structure. The SIMULINK version of TOPMODEL has a very easy to understand graphical representation, which shows, in a straightforward way, all the physical interactions that take place in the model. Moreover, owing to its modular structure it is easy to add new and/or develop old submodels, depending on the available data and the goal of the modelling. In the example given here TOPMODEL was extended by two submodels representing the soil moisture and evaporation distribution in the catchment. Preparation of the data and presentation of the results is done in MATLAB. Discharge predictions and spatial patterns of hydrological response are demonstrated for a separate validation period.

Top‐down and data‐based mechanistic modelling of rainfall–flow dynamics at the catchment scale

“…Of course, other candidates for future DBM rainfall-flow modelling research are clearly available and may be more hydrologically acceptable than those discussed here: for instance, HCM models, such as the Bedford-Ouse and IHACRES models (see the comparison between these HCM models and a more complex DBM model, including temperature-induced effects, in Young (2001b)), and the core (dominant mode), Bernoulli-type differential equation of TOPMODEL (e.g. see Romanowicz (1997)). Whatever model structures are considered, however, this search for physically meaningful explanations of rainfall-flow data is made more straightforward because of the systematic, statistical approach that is the hallmark of all DBM modelling.…”

Summary of hydrologic modeling for the Delaware River Basin using the Water Availability Tool for Environmental Resources (WATER)

“…The TOPMODEL code was originally developed by Beven and Kirkby (1979); however, many researchers have extensively modified the code, and numerous versions of TOPMODEL now exist in several programming languages (e.g. Robson and others, 1992;Romanowicz, 1997;Metcalfe and others, 2014). TOPMODEL has been used to study a variety of hydrologic research topics, including topographic effects on water quality (Wolock, 1988;Wolock and others, 1990;Wolock and McCabe, 1999), topographic effects on streamflow (Beven and Wood, 1983;Beven and others, 1984;Kirkby, 1986), spatial-scale effects on hydrologic processes (Sivapalan and others, 1987;Beven and others, 1988;Wood and others, 1988;Sivapalan and others, 1990;Wood and others, 1990;Famiglietti and Wood, 1991;Famiglietti, 1992), and the geomorphic evolution of basins (Ijjász-Vásquez and others, 1992).…”

Modeling the Distribution of Water Saturation of the Soil Over Complex Terrain Based on Similarity Theory: Proposition of a Lagrangian Approach

“…Diferentes métodos de otimização são revisados e codificados por Press et al (1996), por exemplo, o método simplex multidimensional. Entre as implementações numéricas do modelo topmodel citamos aqui duas: a codificação em Matlab de Romanowicz (1997) e a biblioteca R-hydro em C++ do R.…”