HR: 1330h
AN: H12D-1020 [PDF]
TI: Calibration and Regionalisation of Rainfall-Runoff Models
AU: * Wagener, T 1
EM: thorsten@hwr.arizona.edu
AF: University of Arizona, SAHRA, Department of Hydrology and Water Resources, Harshbarger Bldg., Tucson,
AZ 85721-0011 United States
AU: Wheater, H S
EM: h.wheater@imperial.ac.uk
AF: Imperial College London, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, South Kensington Campus,
London, SW7 2AZ
United Kingdom
AB:
Current rainfall-runoff models require the calibration of at least some key parameters to yield reliable predictions of the
continuous response of catchment systems. Recent years have seen considerable advances in the understanding of this
calibration, or, better, parameter estimation, process. Examples are the recognition that estimates of parameter (and
therefore prediction) uncertainty should be standard in any hydrological study, the fact that more information can be
retrieved from rainfall-runoff time-series using multi-objective approaches, and the realization that model structural
uncertainty is larger than has generally been assumed so far. While these findings are considered in state-of-the-art
parameter estimation in gauged catchments, they have so far only found very limited recognition in the modeling of ungauged
catchments. However, these issues are central to the regionalisation of rainfall-runoff models. This paper examines their
effect on the regionalisation process, based on a case study using ten catchments located in the southeast of England. The
consequences of parameter and model structural uncertainty are demonstrated and new approaches to consider these effects are
introduced.
DE: 1821 Floods
DE: 1860 Runoff and streamflow
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting