EF5-Global-Parameters

Parameters for CREST and kinematic wave models in EF5 for the globe.

Set of parameters based on methodology and globally available geospatial datasets described in:

Clark, R.A., Flamig, Z.L., Vergara, H., Hong, Y., Gourley, J.J., Mandl, D.J., Frye, S., Handy, M. and Patterson, M., 2017. Hydrological modeling and capacity building in the Republic of Namibia. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 98(8), pp.1697-1715.

Parameter	Units	Description
DEM	meters	basic/dem.tif - Digital Elevation Model used for slope calculation and inundation mapping.
FAM	pixels	basic/flowacc.tif - Flow accumulation map. Indicates size of upstream drainage in number of pixels.
DDM	unitless	basic/flowdir.tif - Flow direction map. Coding scheme that dictates downstream connectivity between pixels. Uses ESRI's 8-direction coding scheme (1-128).
PWM	millimeters	parameters/soil_param_wm_5km_global.tif - Maximum Soil Water Capacity, calculated based on estimated effective porosity (see Rawls et al., 1983 at https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9429(1983)109:1(62)) and soil depth-to-bedrock.
PB	unitless	parameters/soil_param_b_5km_global.tif - Exponent of power function fitted to matric potential to measures of moisture retention as described in Cosby et al. 1984 (doi:10.1029/WR020i006p00682).
PFC	millimeters per hour	parameters/soil_param_fc_5km_global.tif - Soil's saturated hydraulic conductivity based on soil texture (see Rawls et al., 1983 at https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9429(1983)109:1(62)).
PIM	percentage	parameters/imperv_5km_global.tif - Percent of impervious area within each pixel based on satellite estimates of built-up areas. Used to compute direct runoff (no infiltration).
alpha0	$\frac{seconds^{3/5}}{meters^{1/5}}$	parameters/Alpha0_World_5km_geo_v0.tif - Coefficient in Manning's equation applied to wide-rectangular channel, where beta0 = 0.6. Computed based on terrain's slope and Manning's roughness coefficient - $\alpha_0=\left(\frac{n}{\sqrt{S_0}}\right)^{\beta_0}$.
alpha	-	parameters/Alpha_World_5km_geo_v0.tif - Coefficient of Kinematic Wave's momentum equation applied to a prismatic channel - $A=\alpha Q^{\beta}$. Computed based on fit to power function relating cross-sectional area and flow rates data in metric units following Vergara et al. (2016) (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2016.06.011).
beta	-	parameters/Beta_World_5km_geo_v0.tif - Exponent of Kinematic Wave's momentum equation applied to a prismatic channel - $A=\alpha Q^{\beta}$. Computed based on fit to power function relating cross-sectional area and flow rates data in metric units following Vergara et al. (2016) (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2016.06.011).

Update 02/07/2026:

Added Units METADATA to GeoTIFF files. Included table above for quick reference as well.

Update 06/06/2023:

EF5 control file, FAO PET grids, and basic DEM and derivatives included to enable out-of-box simulation capabilities. No rainfall data are included.

Update 04/15/2021:

Parameters at 5-km pixel resolution as presented in Clark et al. (2017).

Data format and other details

Files are GeoTIFFs using EPSG:4326. Values are Float32, which is required by EF5. No Data vaues has been set to -9999.