Spatial variability of the parameters of a semi-distributed hydrological model
Ideally, semi-distributed hydrologic models should provide better streamflow simulations than lumped models, along with spatially-relevant water resources management solutions. However, the spatial distribution of model parameters raises issues related to the calibration strategy and to the ident...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2016-05-01
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| Series: | Proceedings of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences |
| Online Access: | https://www.proc-iahs.net/373/87/2016/piahs-373-87-2016.pdf |
| Summary: | Ideally, semi-distributed hydrologic models should provide better streamflow
simulations than lumped models, along with spatially-relevant water resources
management solutions. However, the spatial distribution of model parameters
raises issues related to the calibration strategy and to the identifiability
of the parameters. To analyse these issues, we propose to base the evaluation
of a semi-distributed model not only on its performance at streamflow gauging
stations, but also on the spatial and temporal pattern of the optimised value
of its parameters. We implemented calibration over 21 rolling periods and
64 catchments, and we analysed how well each parameter is identified in time
and space. Performance and parameter identifiability are analysed
comparatively to the calibration of the lumped version of the same model. We
show that the semi-distributed model faces more difficulties to identify
stable optimal parameter sets. The main difficulty lies in the identification
of the parameters responsible for the closure of the water balance (i.e. for
the particular model investigated, the intercatchment groundwater flow
parameter). |
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| ISSN: | 2199-8981 2199-899X |