Authors: Sifan A. Koriche, Josh Cunninghum, Mukesh Kumar, Steven Burian – The University of Alabama; Fred Odgen – NOAA-OWP; Shahabul Alam – University of West Florida
Title: HydroMORPH: Merging and Optimizing Resolutions for Predictive Hydrology via Hydrofabric and HRU Discretization
Presentation Type: Poster Presentation
Abstract: Collaborations with the APRFC and field campaigns to develop data-driven streamflow and stream temperature models for Alaska
Abstract: This study evaluates spatial discretization strategies to determine how to best represent spatial heterogeneity and improve the prediction of streamflow within the NextGen framework. We developed HydroMORPH, a suite of hydrofabric processing tools designed to customize spatial discretization within the NextGen framework. HydroMORPH features two utilities: a merging module that modifies catchment scale by aggregating the hydrofabric based on user-defined area thresholds while incorporating necessary topological corrections like ‘flying water’ detection to maintain routing integrity, and a partitioning module that explicitly represents sub-catchment heterogeneity. The latter derives Hydrologic Response Units (HRUs) based on physical attributes (elevation, soil type, and solar radiation) to compute area-weighted catchment responses. We tested these discretization strategies using two NextGen-based model permutations across a selection of CAMELS basins spanning diverse hydroclimatic regions. HydroMORPH enables researchers to systematically evaluate the impact of spatial heterogeneity with a reproducible workflow for optimizing conceptual model configurations.