wflow - Catchment Hydrology
Water managers need insight into the available water resources within their catchments in both the short and long-term, especially in the face of climate change. Whilst at the same time struggling with a lack of reliable data. wflow enables users to simulate all catchment hydrological processes even in data scarce environments. Thus empowering them with the information and knowledge about their water resources and climate risks, and leading to smarter planning.
wflow was developed to address several challenges that hydrological modellers face. This includes the need for complete source-to-sea hydrological analysis using gridded topography, soil, land use and climate data, to calculate all hydrological fluxes at any given point in the model at a given time step. As well as the need for easier model building by maximizing the use of open earth observation data.
wflow is also specifically designed to support the modelling of complex systems and problems by coupling it with other software such as:
- Delft-FEWS for flood forecasting
- D-Flow FM of the Delft3D FM Suite for river, sediment and flood modelling
- D-Emissions (DELWAQ) of the Delft3D FM Suite for emissions modelling
- MODFLOW 6 of the iMOD Suite for groundwater modelling
- RIBASIM for water allocation modelling
Features of wflow
- wflow is free and open-source hydrological software.
- wflow allows a user to model all catchment hydrological processes, accounting for precipitation, interception, snow accumulation and melt, evapotranspiration, soil water, surface water and groundwater recharge in a fully distributed environment.
- The movement of surface water across the landscape is simulated by the reservoir, kinematic wave and local inertial modules providing more accurate representation of river discharges.
- wflow contains four model concepts, wflow-sbm, wflow-hbv, wflow-flextopo and wflow-sediment, which are all gridded mass balance models.
- wflow is designed for flexibility and easy coupling with other models and software applications.
- Model building in data scarce environments is made easy with HydroMT.
How to obtain wflow
wflow is free to use. The latest fully validated release can be downloaded via our Download Portal.
If wflow is free, why should I get a service package? For users where wflow is part of a critical workflow we recommend a service package where users receive support from Deltares during Netherlands office hours.
Order a Service package via our Sales Service team: software@deltares.nl
If you already have an older PCRaster Python wflow model and want it updated to the latest wflow Julia version, then get in touch with us.
For technical questions about wflow, please contact: wflow@deltares.nl.
