WMS:HSPF

Introduction

Hydrological Simulation Program—FORTRAN (HSPF) is an analytical tool designed to allow simulation of hydrology and water quality in natural and man-made systems. HSPF is used to apply mathematical models to simulate the movement of water, sediment and other constituents through watersheds. This analysis helps predict possible environmental problems in the watershed. With the growing need to care for and monitor the effects of man on the environment, it became apparent that a method for rapid analysis of those effects was needed.

The WMS interface creates a way for the user to input a multitude of parameters into the input file and then to run HSPF. The input parameters are linked to all the tools within WMS including automated basin delineation and parameter definition using a graphical user interface.

Using HSPF With WMS

WMS does not currently have any post-processing capabilities for the HSPF model. When WMS is installed, there are 4 programs installed under the BASINS folder in the Windows Start menu: GenScn, WDMUtil, WinHSPF, and WinHSPFLt. GenScn is used for generating various types of scenarios and does some post-processing. You might find some value in looking at the different capabilities for scenario generation and post-processing in GenScn. WDMUtil should be used for post-processing after running an HSPF simulation. Read the WDM file from the HSPF simulation into WDMUtil and you can view the “External Targets” (output) from the HSPF simulation. WinHSPF and WinHSPFLt can be used to run HSPF. These are both windows-based programs with a graphical user interface. WinHSPF has more tools for analyzing any errors from the HSPF run and for visualizing and editing your model, but you can also run HSPF using the WinHSPFLt program. The DOS version of HSPF is no longer distributed with WMS.

As the last section of the HSPF tutorial says, you need to close WMS after saving your HSPF .uci file before running the file in WinHSPF or WinHSPFLt because WMS keeps the .wdm file open. HSPF cannot run the model unless the .wdm is closed in all other programs. The versions of WinHSPF, WinHSPFLt, WDMUtil, and GenScn are the same as the software distributed by EPA’s BASINS program.

Related Topics:

• Getting Started
• Automated Land Segmentation
• Reading Existing Files
• Saving HSPF UCI Files
• Running HSPF