Using a Hydrologic and Storm Water Model to Predict the Movement of Water Soluble Tracers via Surface Water Runoff at the Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station

Abstract

GPS and stormwater models are two extremely powerful technologies that can effectively predict the movement of rainfall runoff and soluble pollutants via surface water, when applicable correctly. Using the Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station, North Carolina, topographic information, historical and observed rainfall datasets, streamflow measurements, subsurface conduits attributes and GPS acquired data was inserted into XPSWMM to model the downstream movement of user-defined tracer elements. The overall objective of the research was to develop a hydrologic/hydraulic model to predict pollutant movement from a spill site to subcatchment outlets on the Marine Corps Air Station at Cherry Point. Other related research objectives were to: 1) to use spatial information gathered from the GIS to construction drainage areas in efforts to estimate catchment characteristics, 2) to evaluate the results of peak outflow rates gathered from several event-based hydrologic models and to explain the evolution from lumped parameter models to process-based, rainfall-runoff simulations and 3) to generate continuous simulations for rainfall-runoff processes using a calibrated/validated version of XPSWMM and 4) to introduce the concept of using pulse tracers to estimate travel times via surface water to understand associated reaction times.