HYDROLOGY TOOL SET (HTS)
Hydrology Tool Set (HTS) includes a suite of tools that have been developed through a collaborative research effort of Canadian Rivers Institute (CRI), University of New Brunswick (UNB), Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) and Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC). The suite of hydrology tools have been developed as part of a larger research effort aimed at evaluating the impacts of agricultural production practices on groundwater and surface water quality and on the quality of downgradient aquatic ecosystems.
The various tools included in the suite can be used for advancing the understanding of local and watershed scale hydrological processes and include algorithms for estimating 1) surface runoff and groundwater contributions to streamflow via hydrograph separation [SepHydro]; 2) potential, reference and actual evapotranspiration [ETCalc]; 3) crop water deficit and excess, irrigation requirement and its impact on aquifer storage, water budget [SWIB]; 4) water balance (e.g., snowfall, snowmelt, snowpack, soil water content, evapotranspiration, drainage, infiltration, surface runoff, etc.) [SNOSWAB]; 5) groundwater recharge [Recharge Buddy]; and 6) snowfall and rainfall amounts [Snowfall Buddy]. The tools included in the suite can be used in many areas of environmental research, such as the assessment of the impact of agricultural practices, urbanization, climate change, etc.
All the tools included in HTS have been developed using several principles as follows:
- User-friendly interface
- Streamlined and easy to follow procedures
- Customisable parameters
- Minimal input data requirement
- Required input data generally available to the public at large
- Offer a choice of methods when possible
- Freely available (i.e. tool available at no cost and without user registration)
- Integrate data import and export functions as well as graphical and tabular inspection tools
