The Rapid Forcing Retrieval (RFR)

The Rapid Forcings Retrieval (RFR) tool gets the hourly Forcings in CSV and GeoTIFF formats for small and large-scale areas to drive hydrological models. The CSV is the main output for driving the dynamic hydrologic process, while the GeoTIFF is an average of the selected period. The RFR retrieves Forcings for specific United States Geological Survey (USGS) Hydrologic Units watersheds, CAMELS (Catchment Attributes and Meteorology for Large-sample Studies) basins, and points (gauged and ungauged locations). RFR relies on the North American Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS) hosted on Google Earth Engine. NLDAS Forcings (Precipitation, Evapotranspiration, Temperature, Specific Humidity, Surface Pressure, Convective Fraction, wind, Potential Energy, Long and Shortwave Radiation) are vital model inputs for discharge prediction. Users can quickly select a specific date range and area of interest to subset Forcings which are then served into a model for streamflow predictions. RFR allows users to export specific Forcings at a time, keeping the interface clean while preventing crowding of panel.

To use RFR Web App, visit:
Ekpetere, K. O., X. Li, J. Frame (2022). The Rapid Forcing Retrieval (RFR), HydroShare, http://www.hydroshare.org/resource/adc37a792a6144c9a1d45e05621e4230