Proposal My dissertation research comprises, in part, an effort to validate climate model output using hydrological data. Simulations are being run for the 20 th century using baseline data and for the 21 st century based on scenarios derived from at least two climate models.
Monthly runoff is among the output variables from the models.
Because runoff can serve as a proxy for many interesting and complex processes, it is a useful variable against which to evaluate the output of modeling exercises. Moreover, streamflow records for the US exist for much of the 20 th century, and these data are readily accessible. Finally, water is a resource very much in demand and projections of future surface water availability are vital to planners and managers. GIS is, I believe, well suited for the types of spatial evaluations I wish to make. Information contained in digital elevation models, for instance, is necessary for determining how water moves over the landscape.