I.2.4 - Calibration Issues

Travel Time

The travel time submodel was calibrated for subyearling chinook, yearling chinook, and steelhead using tagging data from the entire river system and over the entire migration season. Two separate calibration processes were applied: one to measure the spread of fish as they moved through the reservoir, and the other to measure the change in relative migration velocity with fish age. The first used marked, individual stock releases over a short period of time, and the second used marked and recaptured fish over entire seasons.

Predation Rate

Predator-prey interactions in CRiSP.1 were calibrated with information from predation studies in John Day Reservoir and information on predator densities for each of the major reservoirs.

Gas Bubble Disease

The rate of mortality due to gas bubble trauma was calibrated from dose-response studies conducted in both field and laboratory conditions.

Dam Passage

Diel passage elements of CRiSP.1 were calibrated from hydroacoustic and radio-tagging studies at dams. Fish guidance efficiency and spill efficiency were calibrated from a number of studies at a variety of dams. Fish guidance efficiency can be set to change with fish age and reservoir level or it can be set constant over the year. Mortalities in dam passage were determined from mark-recapture studies at dams.

Transportation Passage

Separation of large and small fish in transportation was applied from general information on the efficiency of the separators in the transportation facilities at dams. A transportation mortality was determined for each species, based on transport-benefit studies. In addition, time to transport fish through the river system was specified.

Nitrogen Supersaturation

Nitrogen supersaturation models were calibrated with data from the Army Corps and includes information collected in the 1992 drawdown study in Lower Granite Reservoir and Little Goose Reservoirs, as well as monitoring data from recent aggressive spill programs.

Flow

Headwater flows in Scenario Mode were calibrated from information on stream flows provided by the USGS. In Monte Carlo Mode, the modulators of the period average hydro model flows were calibrated against historical daily flow records at dams.

Water Velocity

Water velocity requires information on reservoir and geometry. The relationship between geometry and elevation and free stream velocities were determined from Lower Granite Reservoir drawdown studies.

Stochastic Processes

The ranges for variables used in the Monte Carlo Mode have been calibrated to available data in the above mentioned studies.