Project

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REALTIME FLOOD ALERT AND FLOOD SIMULATION IN THE
PUYALLUP RIVER BASIN
Contacts about the project

• Project
• U.S. Geological Survey cooperative project with
  Pierce County, Public Works, Wash.
• Develop an operational system to provide
  information about current and forecasted flow
  conditions on the major rivers in the Puyallup
  River Basin.
• Flood Simulation
• a numerical model developed by the US
  Corps of Engineers, simulates discharge
• 
  provides input to the model
• A user-interactive interface between the SSARR
  model, data inputs, and model outputs
• Provides graphical displays of flood alerts and
  simulated and observed hydrologic data

Report Abstract
Mt. Rainier

• SSARR,

• Real-time network of USGS-operated gages

• SSARRMENU

Where is the Puyallup River Basin?
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Contacts
Mark Mastin, project chief and author of the
report, is a hydrologist with the U.S.Geological
Survey/Water Resources Division at the Washington
District office in Tacoma, Wash. 253-428-3600
x2609 U.S.Geological Survey 1201 Pacific
Ave., Suite 600 Tacoma, WA 98402 Email
mcmastin_at_usgs.gov Office Home Page

• http//wa.water.usgs.gov/

Randy Brake, is a river systems engineer with
Pierce County River Improvement, a division of
the Pierce County Water Programs within the
Public Works department, and the primary user of
SSARRMENU. 253-798-4651 Pierce County Water
Programs River Improvement Division 9315
Gravelly Lake Drive S.W. Lakewood, WA
98499 email RBRAKE_at_CO.PIERCE.WA.US
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Real-Time Flood Alert and Simulation of River
Flood Discharges in the Puyallup River Basin,
WashingtonBy M.C. MastinU.S. Geological Survey
Water-Resources Investigations Report
ABSTRACT In a cooperative project, Pierce County
and the U.S. Geological Survey have developed an
operational tool called the Puyallup Flood-Alert
System to alert users of impending floods. The
system acquires real-time meteorological and
hydrological data to make real-time flood
simulations for the major rivers in the Puyallup
River Basin and provides a flood-alert computer
display. The system consists of a network of
U.S. Geological Survey-operated river discharge
and stage, precipitation and temperature gages, a
numerical watershed and flow-routing model, and a
computer interface. The Streamflow Synthesis
and Reservoir Regulation (SSARR) numerical
watershed and flow-routing model is the heart of
the system that makes real-time and forecast
simulations based on real-time data from the
gaging network and precipitation and temperature
forecasts from the National Weather Service. The
watershed model was calibrated to four storms in
water years 1995 and 1996 and validated (runoff
parameters held constant) with four storms in the
1996 and 1997 water years. Two-thirds of the
simulated peak discharges for the calibration
storms were within 36 percent of the observed
peak discharge and two-thirds of the 5-day runoff
totals were within 17 percent. For the
validation storms, two-thirds of the simulated
peak discharges were within 30 percent of the
observed peak discharges and two-thirds of the
5-day runoff totals were within 24 percent.
SSARRMENU, a customized user interface for the
Puyallup Flood-Alert System, is the central
software that provides a graphical display of
flood-alerts, model input and output, makes
retrievals of hydrologic and meteorological data
from the U. S. Geological computer, and makes
both backup- and storm-mode flood simulations.
With SSARRMENU operating on their computer,
Pierce County has an increased ability to
evaluate current and near-future floods and to
efficiently allocate its resources to potential
trouble spots.
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Mt Rainier as view from Tacoma, Wash.
Mt. Rainier is the highest (14,410 feet) mountain
in the Cascade Mountain Range. During the winter
when floods generally occur, much of the
precipitation on the mountain is in the form of
snow and contributions to flood runoff is
minimal. During the summer, however, snow and
glacier melt from the mountain are important
contributions to maintaining stream flows in the
White River and the main stem of the Puyallup
River.
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Streamflow Synthesis and Reservoir Routing (SSARR)
SSARR consists of a numerical watershed model and
a streamflow routing model. Streamflow is
simulated in subbasins from precipitation and
temperature inputs. The snowband version of
SSARR, which was used in the Puyallup River Basin
model, divides subbasins into elevation zones and
simulates snow accumulation and melt. A
storage-routing model routes flows through
channel and reservoirs under free-flow and
controlled-flow conditions. SSARR was developed
by the North Pacific Division of the U.S. Corps
of Engineers and is used in operational river
forecasting and river management of the Columbia
River.
Flow chart of simulated runoff from a snowband
Schematic diagram of the SSARR network in the
Puyallup River Basin model
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Schematic DiagramSchematic of the network of
subbasins, channel reaches, reservoirs, and
summing points used in the Puyallup River Basin
model, Washington
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Flow chart Flow chart of the simulated runoff
from a snowband for the Puyallup River Basin
model, Washington
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PUYALLUP RIVER BASIN
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Generalized flowpaths of field data to Pierce
County and the SSARRMENU program
(satellite)
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More about SSARRMENU

• S S A R R M E N U

Pierce County Public Works
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Opening Screen of SSARRMENU This is the opening
screen of the SSARRMENU program showing Menu
Items, the Alert Map, and Model Run Information
Window
Menu Items
Alert Map
Model Run Information Window
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Model Run Information Window Model runs should be
started when initial conditions of previous model
runs have been stored so that continuity is
maintained between model runs. The Model Run
Information Window provides the times when
initial conditions have been stored and
information on the last model run.
Model Run Times Also shown is the Model Run Times
dialog box that allows users to enter the
beginning and ending times of the next model run
and select from the two time-step options. These
two windows in SSARRMENU are examples of how the
interface facilitates the running of the SSARR
model by the user.
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Schematic of Menu Items for SSARRMENU
(click on one of these buttons for example
plots or more information)
Top-level menu items that are visible on the menu
bar of the opening screen
Menu items activated after first selecting the
top-level menu item
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Pick Plot
From the Data/Pick Plot menu item, hydrographs of
simulated and observed discharge are produced by
clicking on the stations on the Alert Map. In
this example, discharge is plotted for the
Puyallup River at Orting stream gage during the
February 1996 peak of record at this site.
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Precipitation Plots The user is allowed to view
the precipitation data prior to the data
conversion and select those stations with good
data to be used in the model runs. SSARRMENU
automatically computes subbasin precipitation
time series based on the user-selected list of
stations.
In this example, three of the six precipitation
stations in the basin are shown
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Data Conversion/ Temperature Plot Before the data
is converted from USGS-format to SSARR format,
the user may choose to plot the temperature data
and deselect those stations that may have bad
data. Only the selected stations are used in the
model runs.
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Adjust Model RunThis is an example of an
Adjust model run on the Upper Puyallup
subbasin. This type of model run is generally
made just prior to a forecast model run in order
to begin the forecast model run with the
simulated discharge in reasonably close agreement
with the observed discharge Note in the upper
hydrograph, that the simulated discharge is
significantly less than the observed discharge at
the end of the model run. The model is rerun for
the same period using the SSARR model automatic
adjust algorithm as seen in the lower hydrograph.
In order to adjust the simulated discharge, the
amount of precipitation was increased from 6.61
inches of precipitation in the unadjusted run to
8.48 inches in the adjusted run for the three-day
time period.
Click here to see the results of the Forecast
model run that followed the Adjust model run
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Forecast Model RunThis is an example of a
forecast model run that was run after an adjust
model run was made for the Upper Puyallup
subbasin. Click here to see the
adjust model run. The observed discharge and
precipitation plot was added after the forecast
model run was made when the data became
available. Precipitation and temperature inputs
for the forecast model run are provided by the
National Weather Service at six-hour time steps.
UPPER PUYALLUP SUBBASIN
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SSARRMENU provides text files of simulated
discharge for the user.
Time code representing February 5, 1996 at 0800
hours for the first value in the row of eight
values.
The letter code in the column near the left side
of this file is the SSARR time series code that
identifies the data corresponding to it.
Click on the button below for a listing of the
SSARR time series codes used in the Puyallup
River Basin model
Simulated discharge, in cubic feet per second,
from the Carbon River Subbasin on February 7,
1996 at 1200 noon.
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Time Series Codes used in the Puyallup River
Basin ModelSUBBASINS BASIN
PRECIP. FORECASTED TEMP. UPPUY Upper Puyallup
River Subbasin UPPP STMP - Stampede
PassLWPUY Lower Puyallup River
Subbasin LPUP FTLT - Fort LewisUPWHT Upper
White River Subbasin UPWPLWWHT Lower White
River Subbasin LWHPSOPRE South Prairie Creek
Subbasin SOPPCARBON Carbon River
Subbasin CARPGRNWTR Greenwater River
Subbasin GRNPOBSERVED PRECIPITATION OBSERVED
TEMPERATUREBUCP - Buck Ck. Camp Met. Site
470118121330800 BUCT - Buck Creek Camp Met.
SiteELEP - Puyallup R. at Electron, Sta.
1209200 ELET - Puyallup R. at ElectronSOPR -
South Prairie Creek, Sta. 12095000 SPRT - So.
Prairie Creek at So. PrairieCARB - Carbon R. nr.
Fairfax, Sta. 12094000 CAYU - Cayuse Pass Snow
PillowsWHTP - White River Canal, Sta.
12099000 GNWP - Greenwater River at Greenwater,
Sta. 12097500SIMULATED DISCHARGE OBSERVED
DISCHARGEUPPUY (basin outflow) ORTOBS -
Puyallup R. nr. Orting, Sta. 12093500CARBON
(basin outflow) CRFOBS - Carbon R. nr. Fairfax,
Sta 12094000SOPRE (basin outflow) SOPOBS -
South Prairie at South Prairie,
Sta.12095000GRNWTR (basin outflow) GRNOBS -
Greenwater R. at Greenwater,Sta12097500SUM1Q
(summation point) WBCOBS - White R. blw.
Clearwater, Sta. 12097850MMDQ(reservoir
outflow) WNBOBS - White nr. Buckley (not
available for realtime)CANAL (CANALB
outflow) WCBOBS - White R. Canal at
Buckley,Sta.12099000 SUM2Q (summation
point WBQOBS - White R. at Buckley
12100000TAPPSQ(reservoir outflow) LTDOBS -
Lake Tapps Diversion, Sta. 12101100PUYSIM
(REACH5 outflow) PUYOBS - Puyallup R. at
Puyallup, Sta. 12101500PUYDIF
(PUYBAL--difference between PUYOBS and
REACH5) MCQOBS - addition of flows (12099000
12100000) WCQOBS - subtraction of
flows(12097850 - 12097500)SIMULATED
STAGE OBSERVED STAGEORSSIM (ORSSTG
rating) ORSOBS - Puyallup R. nr. Orting, Sta.
12093500CRSSIM (CRSSTG rating) CRSOBS - Carbon
River at Orting, Sta. 12095690PASSIM (PASSTG
rating) PASOBS - Puyallup at Alderton, Sta.
12096500MMDE MMDOBS - Forebay elevation, Mud
Mtn. Lake, Sta. 1209800WASSIM (WASSTG
rating) WASOBS - White River near Auburn , Sta.
12100496TAPPSE TAPOBS - Lake Tapps nr.
Sumner, Sta. 12101000PUSSIM (PUSSTG
rating) PUSOBS - Puyalllup R. at Puyallup, Sta.
12101500
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Water-Balance Plot
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Precipitation PlotOne of two precipitation
information plots from SSARRMENU for the Puyallup
River Basin, Washington
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SMI PLOTExample soil moisture index (SMI) plot
from SSARRMENU for the Puyallup River Basin,
Washington
Soil Moisture Index is an index to the simulated
moisture computed for each subbasin, measured in
inches
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SWE PLOTExample snow water equivalent (SWE) plot
from SSARRMENU for the Puyallup River Basin,
Washington
Snow water equivalent is the simulated depth of
water content contained in the snow pack, in
inches
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Threshold Values for Alert Status
STATION ALERT
REMARKS CAYUSE PASS NONE WHITE-AUBURN
STAGE gt 80.0 (PEAK MEAN DAILY STAGE
79.77 (WY '95) LK.TAPPS DIV. NONE
PUYALLUP-ALDERTON STAGE gt 53.0
(PEAK MEAN DAILY STAGE 52.56
WY'95) PUYALLUP-PUYALLUP DISCHARGE gt
17,000 (PEAK MEAN DAILY Q 15,400
WY'95) PUYALLUP-ORTING DISCHARGE gt 4,000
(PEAK MEAN DAILY Q 3,480 WY'95) CARBON-ORTING
STAGE gt 27.0 (PEAK MEAN DAILY STAGE
26.56 WY'95) CARBON-FAIRFAX DISCHARGE gt
3,500 (PEAK MEAN DAILY Q 3,390 WY'95) MUD
MTN INFLOW DISCHARGE gt 7,090 (PEAK MEAN
DAILY Q 7,090 WY'95) MUD MTN LAKE STAGE
gt 1092.00 (PEAK STAGE 1092.35
WY'95) WILLIAMS BRIDGE STAGE gt 47.80
(2.0 FEET BELOW TOP OF LEFT BANK) SOUTH PRAIRIE
DISCHARGE gt 2,500 (PEAK MEAN DAILY Q
1,970 WY'95) WHITE-BUCKLEY STAGE gt 7.10
(1.0 FEET BELOW TOP OF LEFT
BANK) GRNWTR-GRNWTR DISCHARGE gt 1,300
(PEAK MEAN DAILY Q 1,160 WY'95) BUCK CREEK
PREC24 gt3.0,PREC6HR gt1.4 (2-yr,24hr
3.0in2-yr,6hr1.4in) WHITE-CANAL NONE
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Flood Alert Map
View the threshold list
Note the large red dots. These represent
stations that are on alert, and in this example,
three stations have exceeded pre-defined
threshold values since the last data retrieval.
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