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Full-Text Articles in Other Civil and Environmental Engineering

Dis And Distributed Watershed Models I, Jurgen Garbrecht, Fred L. Ogden, Paul A. Debarry, David R. Maidment Jun 2015

Dis And Distributed Watershed Models I, Jurgen Garbrecht, Fred L. Ogden, Paul A. Debarry, David R. Maidment

Fred L. Ogden

The increasing proliferation of spatial data, geographic information systems (GIS), and models for hydrologic applications provide many new investigation opportunities but also present a number of challenges for the uninitiated water resources practitioner. This two-part paper is intended for the practicing engineer who wants to expand into the arena of spatial data and distributed watershed modeling. It provides an integrated overview of the multiple facets of data-GIS-modeling issues and a source of background information for selection and application of GIS in watershed modeling. This first paper addresses selected spatial data issues, data structures and projections, data sources, and information on …


First-Order Catchment Mass Balance During The Wet Season In The Panama Canal Watershed, Fred Ogden Aug 2012

First-Order Catchment Mass Balance During The Wet Season In The Panama Canal Watershed, Fred Ogden

Fred L. Ogden

Tropical hydrology is poorly understood for a number of reasons. Intense biological activity in the tropics introduces complexities to the hydrologic process. Bioturbation, rapid rates of decay, and intensive insect activity all tend to promote rapid flow paths in the upper soil. Aggressive weathering leads to clays depleted of light cations and deep soil profiles. Processes in the seasonal tropics are further complicated by seasonal transitions, and very large changes in catchment storage between seasons. Beginning in 2005, we installed a suite of hydrologic sensors in a 16.7 ha first-order catchment in the Panama Canal Watershed to observe hydrologic variables …


A Method For Computing Infiltration And Redistribution In A Discretized Moisture Content Domain, Fred L. Ogden Jul 2008

A Method For Computing Infiltration And Redistribution In A Discretized Moisture Content Domain, Fred L. Ogden

Fred L. Ogden

A new one-dimensional infiltration and redistribution method is proposed as an alternative to the Richards equation (RE) for coupled surface and subsurface models. The proposed method discretizes soil water content into hypothetical hydraulically interacting bins. The entry and propagation of displacement fronts in each bin are simulated by means of explicit infiltration and drainage approximations based on capillary and gravitational driving forces. Wetting front advances within bins create water deficits that are satisfied by capillary-driven interbin flow. The method inherently provides numerical stability by precluding the need to directly estimate nonlinear gradients through numerical schemes. Comparisons of the performance of …


Runoff Production In The Upper Rio Chagres Watershed, Panama, Fred Ogden Dec 2004

Runoff Production In The Upper Rio Chagres Watershed, Panama, Fred Ogden

Fred L. Ogden

Runoff production in tropical watersheds is governed by a wide variety of potential sources and there have been few rigorous studies to date. The 414 km2 upper Río Chagres basin offers a unique opportunity to better understand the runoff production mechanisms in tropical watersheds through data analysis and modeling with rainfall and runoff data. Flow data and tipping bucket rain gage data are available at both the basin outlet (Chico gage) and for an 80.6 km2 internal basin location (Piedras gage). Modeling is performed using the Sacramento Soil Moisture Accounting Model (SAC-SMA), calibrated using data from 2000 and verified using …


Numerical Investigation Of Saturated Source Area Behavior At The Small Catchment Scale, Fred L. Ogden Dec 2003

Numerical Investigation Of Saturated Source Area Behavior At The Small Catchment Scale, Fred L. Ogden

Fred L. Ogden

The objective of this research is to explore the relationship between small catchment properties and the temporal growth and decay of saturated source areas (SSA). A simple physics-based hydrologic model, which we call the Sandbox model, is developed for this purpose. A thorough sensitivity analysis is undertaken to evaluate model response to variations in model parameters. Sandbox model output is compared to that from the semi-distributed conceptual model, TOPMODEL, a model with a wide spread acceptance. Plotting the temporal evolution of the extent of saturated source area versus catchment average soil water content dur- ing a number of wetting and …


Green And Ampt Infiltration With Redistribution, Fred L. Ogden Aug 1997

Green And Ampt Infiltration With Redistribution, Fred L. Ogden

Fred L. Ogden

Distributed, physically based watershed and irrigation advance models require robust infiltration estimation capabilities. The empirical Green and Ampt (GA) equation of infiltration is a popular method for estimating infiltration. The GA parameters have physical basis and considerable prior research has focused on relating these parameters to soil textural classification. However, the original GA method is limited in that it is applicable only for a single ponding period. An explicit Green and Ampt redistribution (GAR) technique is developed herein to estimate interstorm redistribution of soil water and allow multiple ponding simulations using the GA methodology. Soil water redistribution during interponding periods …


Strength Of Bentonite Water-Well Annulus Seals In Confined Aquifers, Fred Ogden Feb 1993

Strength Of Bentonite Water-Well Annulus Seals In Confined Aquifers, Fred Ogden

Fred L. Ogden

The advantages of bentonite clay for sealing applications are well known. Bentonites have extremely low permeability, do not affect formation water chemistry, and have the ability to swell and deform in response to subsurface changes. The major limitation on the applicability of bentonite for water well annulus sealing is strength. Strength tests conducted in a physical model of a water well identified the expected magnitude of shear strength for several commercially available bentonite well-sealing products. The dependence of bentonite strength in the annulus of a water well on both setting time and borehole geometry is discussed. Force balance calculations for …