Historical comparison of MOSES-PDM and MORECS
This project compared two systems MOSES and MORECS for assessing soil moisture, evaporation and drainage of a catchment using historical data.
Documents
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Details
Background
This project was originally designed to explore how the conditions in a catchment before rain falls, such as how moist the soil is, affect the likelihood of flooding.
An important piece of this research was to examine the way in which the conditions in the catchment were estimated. At the time, the MORECS soil moisture balance system was about to be replaced with a new system called MOSES. This was developed by the Met Office and CEH Wallingford. The project was therefore redefined to make a historical comparison between MOSES and MORECS using hourly weather data from the last 40 years.
Findings
The conclusion was that MOSES-PDM is better at representing the processes of evaporation, drainage and soil moisture changes than MORECS.
This report will be of interest to all involved in assessing the potential benefits of moving from MORECS to MOSES-PDM assessing on catchment conditions. The report provides a sound basis for assessing the possible effects of such a move.
The project started in 2001 and was completed in 2003.