JOSS Publication

A new publication in Journal of Open Source Software (Raming et al., 2024) describes the release of the open source version of the tRIBS model for forest applications, including a new set of tools and documentation that will facilitate user access and interactions. Congratulations to authors associated with the Center for Hydrologic Innovations!

• Summary: Distributed hydrologic models provide earth scientists and engineers with tools to test and explore hypotheses related to the movement and storage of water within a landscape (Fatichi et al., 2016; Grayson et al., 2002; Keller et al., 2023). The Triangulated Irregular Network (TIN)-based Real-Time Integrated Basin Simulator denoted as tRIBS (Ivanov et al., 2004a, 2004b), is an example of such a process-based distributed model and has been used to address a wide range of problems from hillslope scale processes in ecohydrology (e.g., Mahmood & Vivoni, 2011) to flood management of large watersheds (e.g., Cázares-Rodríguez et al., 2017). Yet, in spite of the extensive use and application of tRIBS to current topics in hydrology, engineering, and the earth sciences, the code has been essentially maintained as a proprietary software package. Here, we document the release of tRIBS v5.2, an updated open source code base and its application for forested watersheds that serve as tributaries to larger river systems. This release includes improvements in hydrologic processes with new functionality for simulating channel transmission losses (Schreiner-McGraw & Vivoni, 2018) and reservoir routing (Cázares-Rodríguez et al., 2017). Additionally, it features updated documentation, improved infrastructure for sustainable code development and employment, and improved computational efficiency. These additions provide a robust and sustainable code base, enhancing access and applications of the model.