Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC)
Macroscale Hydrologic Model

Current Release Version 3.2.1 (September 1, 1999)

Release 4.0 is currently undergoing beta testing and the web page has been updated to reflect changes to the model in the new version. The following icons are used to identify changes between version 3.2.1 and 4.0 in the documentation:

indicates new features added to the code,

indicates features no longer available in the code,

indicates web pages that have modifications for release 4.0.

This web site is devoted to the continued development and documentation of the VIC hydrologic model. Originally developed by Xu Liang at the University of Washington, the model code is now being cleaned and unified so that all currently documented versions are available in an easily understandable and modifiable code.

VIC is a macroscale hydrologic model that solves full water and energy balances. It is a research model and in it's various forms it has been applied to many watersheds including the Columbia River, the Ohio River, the Arkansas-Red Rivers, and the Upper Mississippi Rivers, as well as being applied globally. If you make use of this model, please acknowledge the references listed at the bottom of this web site.

Every new application addresses new problems and conditions which the model may not currently be able to handle, and as such the model is always under development. For information about the current release of the new VIC-NL code, to get the source code, and to get your name in the VIC User Group mailing list, send e-mail to vicadmin@hydro.washington.edu

Development Team

University of Washington

Keith Cherkauer: cherkaue@u.washington.edu

Greg O'Donnell: tempgd@hydro.washington.edu

Dag Lohmann: lohmann@earth.princeton.edu

Kevin Czajkowski: kczajkow@geog.umd.edu

Faculty Advisors

Dennis P. Lettenmaier, University of Washington

Eric F. Wood, Princeton University

Ralph Dubayah, University of Maryland

Schedules and Progress Reports

VIC Summit Report: June 3, 1997

VIC Progress Report: September 29, 1997

Initial Model Release: May 4, 1998

Model Work in Progress

VIC References

Liang, X., D. P. Lettenmaier, E. F. Wood, and S. J. Burges, A Simple hydrologically Based Model of Land Surface Water and Energy Fluxes for GSMs, J. Geophys. Res., 99(D7), 14,415-14,428, 1994.

Liang, X., A Two-Layer Variable Infiltration Capacity Land Surface Representation for General Circulation Models, Water Resour. Series, TR140, 208 pp., Univ. of Washington, Seattle, 1994.

Liang, X., D. P. Lettenmaier, E. F. Wood, One-dimensional Statistical Dynamic Representation of Subgrid Spatial Variability of Precipitation in the Two-Layer Variable Infiltration Capacity Model, J. Geophys. Res., 101(D16) 21,403-21,422, 1996.

Liang, X., E. F. Wood, and D. P. Lettenmaier, Surface soil moisture parameterization of the VIC-2L model: Evaluation and modifications, Global and Planetary Change, 13, 195-206, 1996.

Liang, X., E. F. Wood, and D. P. Lettenmaier, Modeling ground heat flux in land surface parameterization schemes, J. Geophys. Res., 104(D8), 9581-9600, 1999.

Cherkauer, K. A. and D. P. Lettenmaier, Hydrologic effects of frozen soils in the upper Mississippi River basin, J. Geophys. Res., 104(D16), 19,599-19,610, 1999.