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This dissertation presents a methodology for hydrologic modeling related to the design and operation of flood control detention basins. Prior to this document, a comprehensive, tractable methodology for detention basin hydrologic modeling did not exist. Furthermore, techniques used in the past have not always taken advantage of computer technology or recent advances in the field of hydrology. New and original methods are presented and are developed from personal experience, recent literature, and relevant courses at The University of Arizona. Chapters in this document include precipitation data analysis, detention basin stormwater inflow, detention basin sediment inflow, stored water losses through evaporation and infiltration, design issues, and operation under competing water use objectives. Engineering constraints and data availability are explicitly addressed throughout the methodology. The goal is to determine hydrologic variables for detention basin design such as active storage volume, spillway capacity, drain outlet capacity, and, additionally for some systems, the bypass channel capacity and side-weir threshold spill flow rate. In addition to providing an increased level of protection from flood damage, detention basins may also accommodate land use and water conservation objectives of urban society.

Phase I of the “Chaining Behavior in Urban Trip Making” research project has focused on the achievement of three principal objectives: Formulation of a theory of complex trave1 behavior based on a recognition of the full range of interdependencies associated with an individual's travel decisions in a constrained environment.  Development of an operational system of models based on that theory.  Initial empirical verification of the system of models developed. The approach advanced in this study is based on a comprehensive theory of individual travel behavior that positions travel in a broader context than in single-trip methodologies. In this approach travel is viewed as input to a more basic process involving activity decisions. A fundamental tenet of this approach is that travel decisions are driven by the collection of activities that form an agenda for participation and, as such, cannot be analyzed on a link-by-link basis. Rather, the utility of any specific travel decision can be determined only within the context of the entire agenda. A significant element in the development involves a theory of individual choice set formulation that includes both the effect of environmental/household constraints and that of individual limitations with respect to information processing and decision making. An alternate view of utility maximization and its relationship to decision making is presented in which the utility of a decision is comprised of two components: (1) the outcome of the decision and (2) the decision process itself.

Although there exists a sizeable body of literature involving complex travel behavior most of this literature is of a highly fragmentary nature due to the lack of a comprehensive theoretical framework. Within the last decade transportation research has addressed such issues as activity time allocation (duration), destination choice, trip linkages, activity participation, activity scheduling, spatial/temporal constraints and the structure of multi-purpose travel but few studies have attempted to incorporate more than one or two of these concepts into a methodological framework. Similarly, a full range of models, from conceptual to empirical involving a wide range of techniques (e.g., Markov processes, Monte Carlo simulation, multiple regression analysis, utility maximization, etc.) have been employed with varying results. Although a descriptive review of all the existing literature would provide substantial background, a critical analysis of the most relevant sources serves as a better means to identify potential "building blocks" (i.e., variables, constraints, interactions, etc.) for use in the design and construction of a comprehensive theoretical framework. In general, three types of research were considered relevant to this study: (1) studies that isolated critical variables and investigated their influence on individual's observed behavior (2) studies that employed multivariate frameworks to examine the interactions between sets of variables, and (3) studies that developed behavioral theories and empirically tested various theoretical constructs. The hypotheses generated and the inferences drawn have been compared and contrasted so that both similarities and differences in the studies are revealed. To facilitate multiple comparisons between the various approaches, a literature taxonomy has also been constructed and is included in the appendix to this paper.&nbsp