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ATTRIBUTE DEFINITIONSHYDROLOGY SURFACE WATER Channel flow - Does the model compute the flow of water in well-defined stream channels and route this downstream? Lakes - Does the model account for water flow into and out of natural or artificial impoundments, particularly those of sufficient size to represent a significant storage of water? Wetlands - Does the model deal explicitly with water flow into and out of marshes and small ponds? Estuaries - Does the model have special treatment of areas near the mouths of rivers where they enter the ocean and are subject to salt water intrusion and tides? Irrigation - Does the model account for application of water to the soil by artificial means? SUBSURFACE WATER Groundwater storage - Does the model account for water flows into and out of geologic strata generally below the water table? Artificial drainage - Does the model account for water flows out of the soil by means of artificial conveyances such as tile drains? Lateral flow - Does the model account for water flows into or out of the modeled point, field, or watershed due to water flowing laterally (as opposed to strictly vertically) through the soil? SEDIMENT Ephemeral Gully – Does the model utilize a low, medium or high (L, M, or H) level of process definition in computing ephemeral gully erosion? Classic Gully – Does the model utilize a low, medium or high (L, M, or H) level of process definition in computing gully erosion? Streambed and Bank – Does the model utilize a low, medium or high (L, M, or H) level of process definition in computing streambed and bank erosion? TRANSPORT Bed Load – Does the model utilize a low, medium or high (L, M, or H) level of process definition in computing bedload? Deposition – Does the model utilize a low, medium or high (L, M, or H) level of process definition in computing deposition? CHARACTERISTICS Organic/inorganic – Does the model compute the organic/inorganic fraction based on material application (Inorganic fertilizer or animal waste), surface cover, soil erodibility characteristics, and dynamic hydrologic conditions? YIELD NUTRIENTS – Does the model have one or more components that deal with the fate of nutrients in the landscape? NITROGEN (N) Fertilizer (inorganic) – Does the model deal with inorganic fertilizers (commercial fertilizers)? Manure (organic) – Does the model deal with manure or other organic wastes such as food processing residues, municipal sludges, etc? Nitrate – Does the model deal with nitrogen in the oxidized form? Total Nitrogen – Does the model account for all forms of nitrogen that can be summed as total N? NITROGEN – Ground water - Does the model have a component that deals with the fate of nitrogen in ground water – often referenced as leached or infiltrated? Fertilizer (inorganic) – Does the model deal with inorganic fertilizers (commercial fertilizers)? Manure (organic) – Does the model deal with manure or other organic wastes such as food processing residues, municipal sludges, etc? Nitrate – Does the model deal with nitrogen in the oxidized form? Total N – Does the model account for all forms of nitrogen that can be summed as total N? PHOSPHORUS (P) Fertilizer (inorganic) – Does the model deal with inorganic fertilizers (commercial fertilizers)? Manure (organic) – Does the model deal with manure or other organic wastes such as food processing residues, municipal sludges, etc? Dissolved/particulate – Does the model nutrient component differentiate between dissolved and particulate phosphorus? Total P – Does the model account for all forms of phosphorus that can be summed as total P? PHOSPHORUS – Ground water - Does the model have a component that deals with the fate of phosphorus in ground water or that fraction of water moving below the root-zone? Fertilizer (inorganic) – Does the model deal with inorganic fertilizers (commercial fertilizers)? Manure (organic) – Does the model deal with manure or other organic wastes such as food processing residues, municipal sludges, etc? Dissolved/particulate – Does the model nutrient component differentiate between dissolved and particulate phosphorus? Total P – Does the model account for all forms of phosphorus that can be summed as total P? OTHER – Surface Water – Does the model consider other nutrients such as potassium or the micro-nutrients in surface water? OTHER – Ground Water – Does the model consider other nutrients such as potassium or the micro-nutrients in the ground water or that fraction of the water moving below the root-zone? ORGANIC CARBON - Surface Water – Does the model consider changes in organic carbon that may impact surface water? ORGANIC CARBON– Ground Water – Does the model consider changes in organic carbon that may impact ground water? PESTICIDES - Does the model have one or more components that deals with the fate of pesticides in the landscape? SURFACE WATER - Does the model have one or more components that deals with the fate of pesticides that impact surface waters? Dissolved/attached – Does the model track the movement of pesticides in surface waters in both their dissolved and attached phases? GROUND WATER - Does the model have one or more components that deals with the fate of pesticides that impact ground water? Dissolved/attached – Does the model track the movement of pesticides in ground water in both their dissolved and attached phases? SALINITY GROUND WATER - Does the model provide information on salinity in ground water? PATHOGENS - Does the model provide information on pathogen (or indicator bacteria) numbers or transport? TEMPERATURE - Does the model predict the temperature of the receiving waters in response to modeling scenarios? DISSOLVED OXYGEN - Does the model predict the dissolved oxygen of the receiving waters in response to modeling scenarios? DATA REQUIREMENTS Temperature - Does the model require air temperature for each time step of the modeled period? Wind speed - Does the model require the wind speed for each time step of the modeled period? Humidity etc. - Does the model require either relative humidity, dew point temperature, or wet bulb temperature for each time step of the modeled period? Solar radiation etc. - Does the model require either incoming (or net) solar radiation, or percent sky cover, or sunshine hours for each time step of the modeled period? Spatially distributed - Does the model require spatial fields of climate inputs rather than just station data? Other - Does the model require other climate data not mentioned above? LANDSCAPE CHARACTERISTICS Soils - Does the model require information on soil characteristics, such as texture class, porosity, wilting point, saturated hydraulic conductivity, etc.? Land use/cover - Does the model require the specification of land use, land cover, or vegetation type? Spatially distributed - At the watershed or river basin scale, does the model require the specification of the landscape characteristics as spatial fields rather than using a single value for the entire area being modeled? MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES - Does the model accept data for agricultural management practices for the purpose of alternative evaluation ? Tillage: Does the model accept data on soil disturbance (and non-disturbance) ? Crop Rotation: Does the model allow for changes of crop with time at a location? Nutrient Management: Does the model accept data on application and management of fertilizer and/or animal waste ? Pest Management: Does the model use data on application and management of pesticides, herbicides, etc ? Conservation Practices – Does the model accept data on various conservation practices (such as terraces, strip cropping, etc) to evaluate their impacts on water quality/quantity? Irrigation – Does the model accept data related to irrigation (such as application rate, furrow, sprinkler, etc)? Drainage – Does the model accept data on artificial drainage of soil surface or subsurface in order to evaluate impacts on water quality and quantity? Spatially distributed – May data on management activities be entered uniquely for each specific land unit in the area being modeled? MODEL OUTPUT Pathogens - Does the model account for all (i.e., urban, agricultural, forests) imports, growth, die-off, and export of pathogen on a watershed scale? Nitrogen - Does the model account for all (i.e., urban, agricultural, forests) imports and exports of nitrogen on a watershed scale? LUMPED Does the model output display a total for the land area or total time being analyzed (an example is the display of total runoff from the watershed) ? Time: Does the model output lump results with respect to time (an example is the display of total runoff for the entire period of simulation)? Spatial: Does the model output lump results with respect to land or watershed area (an example is the display of total runoff from the watershed) ? DISTRIBUTED Does the model output distribute results with respect to time or space (an example is the display of daily runoff at several locations in a watershed) ? Time: Does the model output distribute results with respect to time (for example, display of output by day or month)? Spatial: Does the model output distribute results with respect to space (for example, to display nitrogen in runoff at various watershed locations) ? This may apply to field scale models if output is generated at locations within the field or along a hill-slope? SOURCE TRACKING Is the source of a certain output (such as water quantity or pollutant loading) displayed in the model output (for example, sediment delivered to the outlet of a watershed can be traced back to its original location within the watershed)? FORMAT Does the model generate output in a file or readable form so the user can interpret results? Tabular: Is output generated in a table format based on location, time, or model component? Graphical: Is output displayed in graphical form based on location, time, or model component (for example, a plot of nitrogen in runoff for each month)? Statistical: Is model output analyzed statistically to provide the user with information such as averages, standard deviations, probability, or risk? GIS: Is output data formatted for display by a Geographic Information System ? The GIS may be integrated through a user interface or files produced by the model to be displayed in a standard GIS package. TIME STEP Daily: Is model output displayed for an interval of one day? Monthly/Seasonal: Is model output displayed for a monthly or seasonal (more than a month) interval? Average Annual: Is an average annual value of a certain quantity or pollutant loading displayed in the model output? APPLICATION Field - Is the modeled area intended to be a small parcel of land that is relatively homogeneous? Small watershed - Is the modeled area the land surface draining to a definable point on a stream channel, where the area is less than 10 square mile (sq. mi.)? Large watershed - Is the modeled area the land surface draining to a definable point on a stream channel, where the area is between 10 and 400 sq. mi.? River basin - Is the modeled area the land surface draining to a definable point on a major river, where the area is greater than 400 sq. mi.? TIME SCALE Event - Does the model simulate only a single precipitation event at a time? GEOGRAPHICAL APPLICABILITY Regional: Is the model applicable in a multi-state region (for example, models developed for snowmelt or irrigation)? National: Is the model applicable to nation-wide conditions ? (Local data, including contents of a data base, for the model may be required for specific applications.) NRCS OFFICE LEVEL – At what level within the agency is this technology most appropriately applied? FIELD – Is this technology/tool appropriate for use by our field personnel or area specialists; e.g. is it relatively easy to use? STATE – Is this technology most appropriate for use at a state office technical specialist level? NATIONAL – Is this technology most appropriately applied by national level specialists such as those found in the Institutes and Centers? DEVELOPMENT AND SUPPORT ARS Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Other DEVELOPMENT STATUS Operational Version Update – Is the model still under Active development to add additional features and processes even though an operational version of the model has been made available for general public use? Again, AGNPS98 is an example of a model in this category. This category is not to be confused with the general routine maintenance of a model. Under Development – Has the model been released for general public use? This category covers models from the early stages of development up though an operational version of a model that is only available to select users (Alpha and Beta test versions). The WEND model is an example where the necessary testing and validation necessary for public release has not been completed. Envisioned – Has active model development been undertaken? Even though a need exists and potential solutions may have been identified, there is no active model development underway at the present time. USER SUPPORT – Who is primarily responsible for supporting the model? This includes model maintenance, continued documentation, training, help desk, etc. ARS NRCS EPA Other DEFINITIONS OF RESPONSES Low (L) - Model element present, with a very simple, empirical representation Medium (M) - Model element present, with a conceptual or moderately complex representation High (H) - Model element present, with a very detailed, sophisticated, physically-based representation ? - Model element present, complexity level unknown FOR OTHER RESPONSES (DATA REQUIREMENTS THROUGH END): Blank - No N - No
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