Authors: S. Lawal, F. Gilbert, T. Olason, S. Bridgeman
Abstract
The Khuzestan River system comprises 5 major rivers with several hydroelectric facilities and important water supply functions. The operational flow-forecasting module of the Vista Decision Support System is being implemented for the river system to provide both short-term and long-term (i.e. Extended Streamflow Prediction, ESP) forecasting capabilities, as well as the hydraulic connectivity of the river system and the routing of water through reservoirs and river reaches.
In the future it will provide key input to comprehensive water resources management and generation scheduling.
The Khuzestan basin is 127080 km2 in area and is quite mountainous, with elevation ranging from about 100 m to about 4400 m. a.m.s.l. It includes numerous tributaries and the climates as well as hydrological characteristics vary considerably. Consequently, twenty-five forecast points were modelled which includes tributaries and local inflows to main stem river sections and reservoirs. The adequacy of the network of weather stations with respect to spatial and altitude coverage was assessed. In this paper, the various tasks involved in the operational forecasting and the meteorological data challenges are discussed. Recommendations for increased weather network density are also provided.
