Watershed Modeling

Precipitation Runoff Modeling System (PRMS)

The Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System is a deterministic, distributed-parameter, physical process based modeling system developed to evaluate the response of various combinations of climate and land use on streamflow and general watershed hydrology.

Information

Summary of PRMS, including version history

Installation instructions

Download Software (Current Version 3.0.1, February 6, 2012)

PRMS 3.0.1 (compiled for Windows), GUI, and examples

PRMS 3.0.1 (compiled for 64-bit Linux), GUI, and examples

PRMS 3.0.1 (compiled for 32-bit Linux), GUI, and examples

All of these compiled versions are built from the same source code: PRMS 3.0.1 source code

Compilation notes

Known issues

Update Summary

Changes in the specification of user inputs since the last major release are here.

Previous Versions

PRMS 3.0.0 (compiled for Windows), GUI, and examples

PRMS 3.0.0 (compiled for 64-bit Linux), GUI, and examples

PRMS 3.0.0 (compiled for 32-bit Linux), GUI, and examples

All of these compiled versions are built from the same source code: PRMS 3.0.0 source code

Support

Support is provided for correcting bugs and clarification of how the code is intended to work. Only limited assistance can be provided for applying PRMS in specific studies.

Before contacting us for support, please:

Make sure that you have downloaded the most current version of PRMS (available above).
Run the model in "command line mode" (see the example problems included in the download on how to do this) and correct any issues that are identified by either error or warning messages.
If you were unable to get rid of any messages, capture (screen grabs are best) them in their entirety.
Describe the action that seems to have triggered the problem (ie "started crashing when I try to load a new data file").

For support, send an email to the USGS MOWS project.

Email: mows-help@usgs.gov

Documentation

The structure, input and output files, and most of the hydrological process modules are documented in the GSFLOW manual by Markstrom and others (2008) , or in updates to the GSFLOW program that can be found on the GSFLOW software webpage.

Documentation of PRMS Process Modules

Module name	Description	Hydrologic process	Reference
basin	Defines watershed-wide and HRU physical parameters and variables	Basin definition	Markstrom and others (2008)
cascade	Determines computational order of the HRUs and groundwater reservoirs for routing flow downslope	Cascading flow	Markstrom and others (2008)
obs	Reads and stores measured time series data from all specified measurement stations	Time series data	Markstrom and others (2008)
soltab	Compute potential solar radiation and sunlight hours for each HRU for each day of year	Solar table	Markstrom and others (2008)
soltab_prms	DEPRECATED: Similar to module soltab, except this version uses conceptual radiation planes instead of HRUs. THIS MODULE IS PROVIDED FOR BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY AND MAY BE REMOVED FROM SUBSEQUENT VERISONS OF PRMS.	Solar table	PRMS Update
temp_1sta	Distributes maximum and minimum temperatures to each HRU using temperature data measured at one station and an estimated mnlthly lapse rate	Temperature distribution	Markstrom and others (2008)
temp_laps	Distributes maximum and minimum temperatures to each HRU by computing a daily lapse rate with temperature data measuerd at two stations	Temperature distribution	Markstrom and others (2008)
temp_dist2	Distributes maximum and minimum temperatures to each HRU using a basin-wide lapse rate applied to the temperature data, adjusted for distance, measured at each station	Temperature distribution	Markstrom and others (2008)
temp_2sta_prms	DEPRECATED: Changed the name of this module to temp_dist2. THIS MODULE IS PROVIDED FOR BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY AND MAY BE REMOVED FROM SUBSEQUENT VERISONS OF PRMS.	Temperature distribution	PRMS Update
precip_1sta	Determines the form of precipitation and distributes it from one or more stations to each HRU using monthly correction factors to account for differences in altitude, spatial variation, topography, and measurement gage efficiency	Precipitation distribution	Markstrom and others (2008)
precip_laps	Determines the form of precipitation and distributes it to each HRU using monthly lapse rates	Precipitation distribution	Markstrom and others (2008)
precip_dist2	Determines the form of precipitation adn distributes it to each HRU using an inverse distance weighting scheme	Precipitation distribution	Markstrom and others (2008)
xyz_dist	Determines the form of precipitation and distributes precipitation and temperatures to each HRU using a multiple linear regression of measured data from a group of measurement stations or from atmospheric model simulation	Combined climate distribution	Markstrom and others (2008)
climate_hru	Reads precomputed values of temperature, precipitation, potential evapotranspiration, and solar radiation directly from a file	Combined climate distribution	PRMS Update
ddsolrad	Distributes solar radiation to each HRU and estimates missing solar radiation data using a maximum temperature per degree-day relation	Solar radiation distribution	Markstrom and others (2008)
ddsolrad_prms	DEPRECATED: Similar to module ddsolrad, except this version uses conceptual radiation planes instead of HRUs. THIS MODULE IS PROVIDED FOR BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY AND MAY BE REMOVED FROM SUBSEQUENT VERISONS OF PRMS.	Solar radiation distribution	PRMS Update
ccsolrad	Distributes solar radiation to each HRU and estimates missing solar radiation data using a relation between solar radiation and cloud cover	Solar radiation distribution	Markstrom and others (2008)
ccsolrad_prms	DEPRECATED: Similar to module ccsolrad, except this version uses conceptual radiation planes instead of HRUs. THIS MODULE IS PROVIDED FOR BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY AND MAY BE REMOVED FROM SUBSEQUENT VERISONS OF PRMS.	Solar radiation distribution	PRMS Update
transp_frost	Determines whether the current time step is in a period of active transpiration by the killing frost method	Transpiration period	Markstrom and others (in press)
transp_tindex	Determines whether the current time step is in a period of active transpiration by the temperature index method	Transpiration period	Markstrom and others (in press)
frost_date	Determines the last killing frost fo the spring and the first killing frost of the fall	Transpiration period	Markstrom and others (in press)
potet_hamon	Computes the potential evapotranspiration using the Hamon formulation	Potential evapotranspiration	Markstrom and others (2008)
potet_jh	Computes the potential evapotranspiration using the Jensen-Haise formulation	Potential evapotranspiration	Markstrom and others (2008)
potet_pan	Computes the potential evapotranspiration for each HRU using pan-evaporation data	Potential evapotranspiration	Markstrom and others (2008)
intcp	Computes volume of intercepted precipitation, evaporation from intercepted preceptation, and throughfall that reaches the soil or snowpack	Canopy interception	Markstrom and others (2008)
snowcomp	Initiates development of a snowpack and simulates snow accumulation and depletion processes using an energy-budget approach	Snow	Markstrom and others (2008)
srunoff_smidx	Computes surface runoff and infiltration for each HRU using a nonlinear variable-source-area method allowing for cascading flow	Surface runoff	Markstrom and others (2008)
srunoff_carea	Computes surface runoff and infiltration for each HRU using a linear variable-source-area method allowing for cascading flow	Surface runoff	Markstrom and others (2008)
soilzone	Computes inflows to and outflows from soil zone of each HRU and includes inflows from infiltration, groundwater, and upslope HRUs, and outflows to gravity drainage, interflow, and surface runoff to down-slope HRUs	Soil zone	Markstrom and others (2008)
smbal_prms	DEPRECATED: Superceeded by the soilzone module. THIS MODULE IS PROVIDED FOR BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY AND MAY BE REMOVED FROM SUBSEQUENT VERISONS OF PRMS.	Soil zone	PRMS Update
ssflow_prms	DEPRECATED: Superceeded by the soilzone module. THIS MODULE IS PROVIDED FOR BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY AND MAY BE REMOVED FROM SUBSEQUENT VERISONS OF PRMS.	Soil zone	PRMS Update
gwflow	Sums inflow to and outflow from groundwater reservoirs; outflow can be routed to downslope groundwater reservoirs and stream segments	Groundwater	Markstrom and others (2008)
strmflow	Computes daily streamflow as the sum of surface runoff, shallow-subsurface flow, detention reservoir flow, and groundwater flow	Streamflow	Markstrom and others (2008)
musroute	Routes water between segments in the system using Muskingum routing	Streamflow	Mastin and Vaccaro (2002); PRMS Update
strmflow_lake	Computes basin on-channel reservoir storage and outflows	Streamflow	Dudley (2008); PRMS Update
hru_sum	Computes daily, monthly, rearly, and total flow summaries of volumes and flows for each HRU	Summary	Markstrom and others (2008)
basin_sum	Computes daily, monthly, rearly, and total flow summaries of volumes and flows for all HRU	Summary	Markstrom and others (2008)
subbasin	Computes streamflow at internal basin nodes	Summary	PRMS Update
map_report	Writes HRU output to different spatial resolutions	Summary	PRMS Update
	Surface depression storage is computed as a proportion of the small water bodies present in each HRU. This is not simulated by any single module, but rather by algorithms in many of the modules. Use "dprst_flag" in the Control File for this simulation option.		PRMS Update, Viger and others (2010)

Documentation of previous PRMS versions

Leavesley, G.H., Lichty, R.W., Troutman, B.M., and Saindon, L.G., 1983, Precipitation-runoff modeling system—User’s manual: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 83-4238, 207 p.

Leavesley, G.H., Restrepo, P.J., Markstrom, S.L., Dixon, M., and Stannard, L.G., 1996, The Modular Modeling System (MMS): User’s manual: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 96-151, 142 p.

Additional Publications

Comprehensive PRMS Bibliography

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U.S. Department of the Interior \| U.S. Geological Survey URL: http://wwwbrr.cr.usgs.gov/projects/SW_MoWS/software/oui_and_mms_s/prms.shtml Page Contact Information: <> Page Last Modified: Feb 29, 2012