Watershed model parameter estimation in low data environments

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dc.contributor.authorGarna, Roja K.en
dc.contributor.authorFuka, Daniel R.en
dc.contributor.authorFaulkner, Joshua W.en
dc.contributor.authorCollick, Amy S.en
dc.contributor.authorEaston, Zachary M.en
dc.coverage.countryUnited Statesen
dc.coverage.stateVermonten
dc.date.accessioned2023-01-05T18:52:15Zen
dc.date.available2023-01-05T18:52:15Zen
dc.date.issued2022-12en
dc.date.updated2023-01-05T14:20:57Zen
dc.description.abstractStudy region: Three watersheds in the Lake Champlain Basin of Vermont, USA. Study focus: Watershed models are essential for evaluating the impact of watershed management; however, they contain many parameters that are not directly measurable. These parameters are commonly estimated by calibration against observed data, often streamflow. Unfortunately, many areas lack long-term streamflow records, making parameter estimation in low data environments (LDE) challenging. A new calibration technique, simultaneous multi-basin calibration (MBC), was developed to estimate model parameters in LDE. Three Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model initializations for USGS gages with ~ 2-year records in the Lake Champlain Basin of Vermont, USA, were evaluated by comparing MBC and the commonly used similarity-based regionalization (SBR) approach, where calibrated parameters from a watershed with an extended data record are transferred to the LDE receptor watersheds. In MBC, each watershed is initialized, and observed flows from each initialization are aggregated to generate a combined streamflow record of sufficient length to calibrate using a differential evolution algorithm. New hydrological insights for the region: Using this new MBC method, we demonstrate improved model performance and more realistic model parameter values. This study demonstrates that short periods of hydrological measurement from multiple locations in a basin can represent a system similarly to long term measurements and that even short records taken at multiple locations significantly improve our hydrologic knowledge of a system as compared to relying on the similarity of a basin with a long record of flow. In addition, this study revealed that the hydrologic response is mediated by the interplay of very low soil-saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) and cracking soils. As a result, even if Ksat is very low, cracking clays have a large impact on runoff production Garna et al. (2022).en
dc.description.versionPublished versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2022.101306en
dc.identifier.orcidEaston, Zachary [0000-0001-7997-1958]en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/113050en
dc.identifier.volume45en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherElsevieren
dc.rightsCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 Internationalen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en
dc.titleWatershed model parameter estimation in low data environmentsen
dc.title.serialJournal of Hydrology: Regional Studiesen
dc.typeArticle - Refereeden
dc.type.dcmitypeTexten
dc.type.otherArticleen
pubs.organisational-group/Virginia Techen
pubs.organisational-group/Virginia Tech/Agriculture & Life Sciencesen
pubs.organisational-group/Virginia Tech/Agriculture & Life Sciences/Biological Systems Engineeringen
pubs.organisational-group/Virginia Tech/All T&R Facultyen
pubs.organisational-group/Virginia Tech/Agriculture & Life Sciences/CALS T&R Facultyen

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