Temporal resolution varies from one second to one day depending on the process simulated.
Time steps are adjusted adaptively depending on the fastest water flux to enable efficient computation. This also allows simulation of high-frequency, but important, precipitation or runoff events. Solar radiation input, as modified by topographic shading, is also simulated for each cell. Compartments of water included in the model are canopy storage, snowpack, surface water, unsaturated soil water, and saturated soil water. The topographic data used for the Sevilleta are derived from USGS digital elevation models at 30 m horizontal resolution.