CRHM Terminology
The purpose of this section is to provide the user with a glossary of terms and definitions used in the CRHM user's guide.
Observations.
The meteorological or climate time series data required for model input (e.g. air temperature, wind speed). Observation files must follow the ASCII space or tab delimited format with an '.obs' extension. Access to these files is via the CRHM Observations pull down menu.
Parameters
.The basin/HRU spatial data required as model input (e.g. area, elevation, cover type). The basin/HRU spatial data can be manually inserted into the model or imported as a text file with a '.par' extension or a database file with a '.dbx' extension. Access to parameters is by the CRHM parameters pull down menu. Parameters are also known as coefficients.
Hydrological Response Unit (HRU).
HRUs are subdivisions of the basin characterized by the operator from an understanding of the hydrological processes and land use.
Build.
This feature is on the CRHM pull down menu and allows the user to select modules and to create a model.
Construct.
A CRHM pull down menu option located within the Build feature that allows the user to determine more information about individual modules and to add/delete modules to/from the current model.
Run.
This feature is on the CRHM pull down menu and allows the user to execute the model.
State.
This feature on the pull down menu allows the user to save the final state of a model run. This state can then be used as the initial state of the model for a subsequent run starting from that time on. This feature can save the user a lot of time. For example the model could be run once over winter to determine snow accumulation and the final model state saved in the spring. The model could then be run many times from this time on with a range of melt parameters to check out different melt scenarios.
Project.
A feature from the menu that allows the user to save a model to a project file. The save includes modules, observation files, parameters, displayed variables etc. This project file can be loaded and run at a later time.
Module.
Each module represents a physically-based algorithm (e.g. Evaporation, Melt etc.) or a modeling procedure (e.g. basin, obsBad) and are added to a model using the Build feature in the CRHM pull down menu.
Macro.
The macro feature allows the user to create simple modules as text commands in the macro screen within CRHM instead of having to code the module off line in C++. Macros are intended for testing algorithms and diagnosing model output. There is a speed penalty and limited capability.
Check.
A Selection within the Construct option that verifies that all the supporting modules required by the modules selected for the current model are available and attempts to load these modules or makes suggestions if there is a choice of modules.
Chart.
Refers to the graph displayed in the Graphical Output window (TeeChart®) when observing data or outputing model results.
Spreadsheet.
A term referring to the table containing data. Example are the Build and Parameters screens in the CRHM pull down menu.