A grid-based rainfall-runoff model for flood simulation including paddy fields

A grid-based, KIneMatic wave STOrm Runoff Model (KIMSTORM) is described. The model adopts the single flow-path algorithm and routes the water balance during the storm period. Manning’s roughness coefficient adjustment function of the paddy cell was applied to simulate the flood mitigation effect of the paddy fields for the grid-based, distributed rainfall-runoff modeling. The model was tested in 2296 km² dam watershed in South Korea using six typhoon storm events occurring between 2000 and 2007 with 500 m spatial resolution, and the results were tested through the automatic model evaluation functions in the model. The average values of the Nash–Sutcliffe model efficiency (ME), the volume conservation index (VCI), the relative error of peak runoff rate (EQ_p), and the absolute error of peak runoff (ET_p) were 0.974, 1.016, 0.019, and 0.45 h for calibrated storm events and 0.975, 0.951, 0.029, and 0.50 h for verified storm events, respectively. In the simulation of the flood mitigation effect of the paddy fields, the average values of the percentage changes for peak runoff, total runoff volume, and time to peak runoff were only −1.95, −0.93, and 0.19%, respectively.