Systems Analysis Applications at Hydrologic Engineering Center

Abstract

In the broadest sense of systems analysis, the Hydrologic Engineering Center (HEC) has been actively applying systems analysis techniques since its inception in 1964. HEC's basic systems analysis method has been the simulation of watershed and river basin processes. Several other systems analysis activities are an outgrowth of that basic simulation capability: automated parameter estimation algorithms, synthetic streamflow generation, network analysis, branch‐and‐bound search techniques, numerical methods, risk and uncertainty analysis, and expert systems. Systems analysis at the HEC has been an approach to problem solving as much as the actual technical methods. This philosophy of problem solving can be likened to a local hardware store's approach to do‐it‐yourself home repair. The hardware store personnel make a genuine effort to understand the homeowner's problem; then, they offer tools, supplies, and advice to solve the problem. Examples of these systems analysis techniques and their application to hydrologic engineering problem solving are presented in this paper.