Simulation models are useful tools for analysis of
watershed processes and their interactions, and for
development and assessment of watershed management
scenarios. Implementation of these models, however,
often requires integration of geographic information systems
(GIS), remote sensing, and multiple databases for
development of the model input parameters and for
analysis and visualization of the simulation results (He
et al., 2001). For example, a software package, real-time
interactive basin simulator (RIBS) by Garrote and Bras
(1995) integrates a radar-based rainfall prediction model,
a digital elevation-based rainfall-runoff model, and other
multiple databases to forecast real-time flooding. A GIS
and a groundwater model (MODFLOW) is combined to
model regional groundwater flow (Brodie, 1999), and a
conceptual rainfall-runoff model is parameterized using
GIS for catchment modeling (Schumann et al., 2000).
Interfaces between GIS and simulation models have also
been developed to facilitate such endeavor, e.g. GRASS