Welcome to the RVIC User Guide
The RVIC Streamflow Routing model is a simple source to sink routing model. The model represents each grid cell by a node in the channel network. Unit hydrographs are developed that described the time distribution of flow from each source grid cell to a corresponding sink grid cell. The development of the unit hydrographs is done as a pre-processing step (i.e. parameters
or convert
). The final step is the convolution
of the unit hydrographs with fluxes from a land surface model, typically VIC.
Using RVIC from the command line
From the command line, the rvic
executable can be used giving one of the {parameters
, convert
, convolution
} subcommands and a configuration file:
rvic {parameters, convert, convolution} configuration_file.cfg
Other command line options can be found using rvic -h
Using RVIC inside a Python interpreter
from rvic.parameters import parameters
from rvic.convolution import convolution
# Run the parameter generation routine
parameters.parameters(config_file, np=1)
# Or run the convolution routine
convolution.convolution(config_file)
For more information on the RVIC
api, see this page.
The RVIC Model Workflow
There are three main utilities in the RVIC Model:
- Parameter Development: Development of impulse response functions using input datasets such as a flow direction grid, outlet locations, etc.
- Flux Convolution: This utility generates streamflows by convolving the impulse response function developed in the previous setp with runoff fluxes from a land model (e.g. VIC).
- Conversion from Older VIC Routing Model Versions: A simple conversion utility to provide users with the ability to convert old routing model setups into RVIC parameters.