Impact of parameter set dimensionality and calibration procedures on streamflow prediction at ungauged catchments

Spatial proximity, physical similarity and multiple linear regression are implemented on 266 snowmelt dominated catchments located in Québec, Canada. This paper evaluates: (1) the impact of the parameter set dimensionality by comparing 6, 9 and 15 free parameters structures of the GR4J hydrological...

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Main Authors: Dominique Poissant, Richard Arsenault, François Brissette
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2017-08-01
Series:Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221458181730191X
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author Dominique Poissant
Richard Arsenault
François Brissette
author_facet Dominique Poissant
Richard Arsenault
François Brissette
author_sort Dominique Poissant
collection DOAJ
description Spatial proximity, physical similarity and multiple linear regression are implemented on 266 snowmelt dominated catchments located in Québec, Canada. This paper evaluates: (1) the impact of the parameter set dimensionality by comparing 6, 9 and 15 free parameters structures of the GR4J hydrological model coupled to the CemaNeige snow model and; (2) the impact of the parameter set calibration method by comparing SCE-UA, CMAES and a uniform random sampling procedure. Results show that physical similarity performs better than spatial proximity and that both methods outperform multiple linear regression. Among 12 catchment descriptors, the percentage of water and geographical coordinates are the most relevant for this region. Results show that 9 free parameters are globally sufficient to regionalize the snow covered catchments but that 15 free parameters are necessary for lower quality time-series or catchments dominated by arctic or subarctic climates, high water storage capacity or low annual precipitation. Compared to complex models, parsimonious models are more robust in regionalization but their lower performance in model calibration results in lower performance in regionalization. Results show a relationship between the robustness of the parameter sets generated by the calibration procedures and their dispersion within the parameter space. Uniform random sampling is the most robust calibration method but shows an overall performance that is similar to both optimization algorithms because of its weaker performance in model calibration.
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spelling doaj.art-de28ab98a6cb46a7ad943a1099cfd8042022-12-21T23:02:56ZengElsevierJournal of Hydrology: Regional Studies2214-58182017-08-0112C22023710.1016/j.ejrh.2017.05.005Impact of parameter set dimensionality and calibration procedures on streamflow prediction at ungauged catchmentsDominique PoissantRichard ArsenaultFrançois BrissetteSpatial proximity, physical similarity and multiple linear regression are implemented on 266 snowmelt dominated catchments located in Québec, Canada. This paper evaluates: (1) the impact of the parameter set dimensionality by comparing 6, 9 and 15 free parameters structures of the GR4J hydrological model coupled to the CemaNeige snow model and; (2) the impact of the parameter set calibration method by comparing SCE-UA, CMAES and a uniform random sampling procedure. Results show that physical similarity performs better than spatial proximity and that both methods outperform multiple linear regression. Among 12 catchment descriptors, the percentage of water and geographical coordinates are the most relevant for this region. Results show that 9 free parameters are globally sufficient to regionalize the snow covered catchments but that 15 free parameters are necessary for lower quality time-series or catchments dominated by arctic or subarctic climates, high water storage capacity or low annual precipitation. Compared to complex models, parsimonious models are more robust in regionalization but their lower performance in model calibration results in lower performance in regionalization. Results show a relationship between the robustness of the parameter sets generated by the calibration procedures and their dispersion within the parameter space. Uniform random sampling is the most robust calibration method but shows an overall performance that is similar to both optimization algorithms because of its weaker performance in model calibration.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221458181730191XRegionalizationSpatial proximityPhysical similarityMultiple linear regressionUniform random samplingModel complexity
spellingShingle Dominique Poissant
Richard Arsenault
François Brissette
Impact of parameter set dimensionality and calibration procedures on streamflow prediction at ungauged catchments
Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies
Regionalization
Spatial proximity
Physical similarity
Multiple linear regression
Uniform random sampling
Model complexity
title Impact of parameter set dimensionality and calibration procedures on streamflow prediction at ungauged catchments
title_full Impact of parameter set dimensionality and calibration procedures on streamflow prediction at ungauged catchments
title_fullStr Impact of parameter set dimensionality and calibration procedures on streamflow prediction at ungauged catchments
title_full_unstemmed Impact of parameter set dimensionality and calibration procedures on streamflow prediction at ungauged catchments
title_short Impact of parameter set dimensionality and calibration procedures on streamflow prediction at ungauged catchments
title_sort impact of parameter set dimensionality and calibration procedures on streamflow prediction at ungauged catchments
topic Regionalization
Spatial proximity
Physical similarity
Multiple linear regression
Uniform random sampling
Model complexity
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221458181730191X
work_keys_str_mv AT dominiquepoissant impactofparametersetdimensionalityandcalibrationproceduresonstreamflowpredictionatungaugedcatchments
AT richardarsenault impactofparametersetdimensionalityandcalibrationproceduresonstreamflowpredictionatungaugedcatchments
AT francoisbrissette impactofparametersetdimensionalityandcalibrationproceduresonstreamflowpredictionatungaugedcatchments