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Hydrological Effects of Historic Rainfall on the Waccamaw River
Abstract This study focuses on the overall water budget of the Waccamaw River during and after a historic rainfall event related to Hurricane Joaquin. Because the amount of rainfall that occurred during this period was too large, the Waccamaw River received more water than it is used to. While rainfall is the only input, it enters the basin through various means. Some rainwater enters the soil as soil moisture while rainfall also goes underground and enters the river channels from underground, which is defined as bucket in. Over time, the rainfall was removed from the river site through various natural processes. Those processes, including evaporation, soil storage as soil moisture, discharge runoff through the river channel, among others, were modeled and validated against the USGS gauge stations. The validated model results were then used to estimate the hydrological response of the Waccamaw River to the rainfall event and to determine the overall water budget. The experiment was completed using a WRF-Hydro modeling system for the purposes of weather forecasting and meteorological analysis. Upon completion of the data analysis, the WRF-Hydro model result showed that large amounts of rainfall were variously dispersed through the aforementioned areas. It was determined that, after entering the soil, rainfall would leave the river basin mostly through discharge. Evaporation accounted for the second most common destination of the rainfall. Base flow also accounted for a destination of rainfall, though not as much as those previously mentioned.
Faculty Advisor: Shaowu Bao, Coastal and Marine Systems Science
Graduate Student Mentor: Samantha Ladewig, Coastal and Marine Wetland Studies
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