Originally developed as a tool for visualizing ADCIRC output, Kalpana has evolved to include methods for downscaling ADCIRC water elevation results. The first method, now referred to as the static method, extrapolated ADCIRC water elevations horizontally until intersecting an equivalent DEM elevation. More information about the static method and about downscaling ADCIRC results with Kalpana can be found on an earlier post.
The static method has proven to be a useful tool but incorporates minimal physics. Therefore, a new method, referred to as the head loss method, has been introduced to include energy dissipation due to land cover during overland flow events. In this page, we describe the theory of the head loss method and provide examples for how to apply it using Kalpana.
Side-view schematic of downscaling methods. A one-dimensional schematic is displayed for each of the two downscaling methods, where the top figure is the static method and the bottom is the head loss method. In the static method, the water elevations from ADCIRC (blue hatched portion) are extrapolated as a flat surface until they intersect the DEM. In the head loss method, these water elevations are extrapolated to an energy cost surface (elevation plus cumulative head loss).
