Kumagai, Toru2017-12-182017-12-182015-05http://hdl.handle.net/10125/50934M.S. University of Hawaii at Manoa 2015.Includes bibliographical references.The Manoa-Palolo watershed of Honoululu, Hawaii is very unique, as it is a small coastal tropical water basin consisting of short streams and steep slopes. There is very limited research that has been done concerning these types of watersheds especially with physically distributed hydrological models. This study was conducted using a physically distributed hydrological model, MIKE SHE, to evaluate the Manoa-Palolo watershed's susceptibility to flash floods and applicability of MIKE SHE for flood forecasting for high intensity short duration rainfall storm events. Modeling of the Manoa-Palolo Watershed was conducted utilizing data that was previously unavailable. The data includes high resolution DEM (10 m grid), high resolution land use data (10 m grid), historical 15 minute interval stream flow data, historical 1-hour rainfall accumulation radar imagery data (2 km x 2 km grid), and historical meteorological data. Calibration and validation of the model was conducted using radar imagery from the Molokai radar station and stream flow data obtained from gauges located within the study site. The model was calibrated and validated using historical storm events including the October 2004 Storm, and the March 2006 Storm. Model generated hydrographs were analyzed and compared to observed hydrographs collected during the storms in order to evaluate the performances of the radar precipitation data to the rain gage data. Additionally, the performances between high and low resolution DEM were compared in order to determine whether the highly variable slopes of the Manoa-Palolo watershed affected the higher resolution DEM model.engThesis