VIC Documentation

This page contains links to various documents that should help the average user make use of the VIC large scale hydrologic model. Please mail corrections, comments, and suggestions to vicadmin@hydro.washington.edu.

Model Operation Overview

• Model Operation Overview and Sample Data Sets
• Summary of VIC processes (VIC overview, distributed precipitation, snow algorithm and elevation bands)

Model Preprocessing

• Gridding Atmospheric Forcing Data
• Disaggregating Daily Precipitation
• Preparing Soil and Vegetation Parameter Files
• Preparing the Snow Band Definition File
• Preparing the Routing Network

Pre-processor Options

• Pre-processor options

Input Parameters and Forcing File Data Types

• Model Control File
• Soil Parameters: ASCII Column Format (original) or ASCII ARC/INFO Grid Format
• Vegetation Parameters
• Vegetation Library
• Snow Elevation Bands
• Forcing Data

Grid Cell Initialization Input Files (Optional)

• Model State File

Output File Formats

• How to use the Flexible Output Configuration (VIC 4.0.6 and later; VIC 4.1.0_r4 and later)
• How to create a new output variable (VIC 4.0.6 and later; VIC 4.1.0_r4 and later)
• Standard Output Files
  • Flux Files
  • Snow Files
  • Snow Band Files
  • Frozen Soil File
• LDAS Project Output Files

Post Model Run Processing

• Reducing Hourly Output to Daily
• Generating Outflow Hydrographs using the Routing Model
• Available Plotting Scripts
• Splus
• GMT
• Converting VIC output files to NetCDF format

VIC Model Utility Packages

• Aggregation of VIC model files
• Optimization of VIC model parameters

Technical Notes

VIC/GOES Radiation Evaluation

A discussion of the various modes which the VIC model can use for simulations

Estimating shortwave radiation from daily temperature extremes

Issues of model time step selection

Time steps with the frozen soil algorithm

Effects of stability on the energy balance model