The National Weather Service River Forecast System

Abstract

Proceedings of the 1999 Georgia Water Resources Conference, March 30 and 31, Athens, Georgia.The National Weather Service River Forecast System (NWSRFS) comprises techniques and programs for developing river forecasts. NWSRFS contains three major systems which are utilized to set up and use hydrologic and hydraulic models in river forecasting. The three systems include the Calibration System, the Operational Forecast System (OFS), and the Ensemble Streamflow Prediction System (ESP). These systems are evaluated frequently, and changes are made as becomes necessary. New components are added to improve the flexibility and functionality of the NWSRFS. Each system is interrelated and can be used with different models to produce a river forecast. This paper will describe each system and how the National Weather Service Southeast River Forecast Center (SERFC) uses them to produce river forecasts which are disseminated to the public.Sponsored and Organized by: U.S. Geological Survey, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, The University of Georgia, Georgia State University, Georgia Institute of TechnologyThis book was published by the Institute of Ecology, The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602-2202 with partial funding provided by the U.S. Department of Interior, geological Survey, through the Georgia Water Research Insttitute as authorized by the Water Research Institutes Authorization Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-397). The views and statements advanced in this publication are solely those of the authors and do not represent official views or policies of the University of Georgia or the U.S. Geological Survey or the conference sponsors