ABSTRACT:

This study will investigate whether antecedent soil moisture measured in urban bioswales can serve as a useful local proxy for broader antecedent wetness conditions and improve predictions of peak river discharge during rainfall events. The study will use soil-moisture records from four previously monitored bioswale sites together with publicly-available soil moisture, rainfall and river-discharge observations. Before modeling begins, a data-feasibility assessment will determine whether each site can be linked meaningfully to suitable rainfall and downstream discharge records and whether sufficient temporal overlap, sampling frequency, and storm events are available. CyberWater will provide the conceptual framework for data retrieval, preparation, analysis, evaluation, and visualization. Custom scripts may be required for event identification, feature extraction, regression analysis, and model comparison.