Estimating runoff in ungauged catchments from rainfall, PET and the AWBM model

Abstract

Multiple linear regressions are used to relate average annual runoff to average annual rainfall and areal potential evapotranspiration (PET) using data from 213 catchments grouped according to location in six of the major Drainage Divisions of Australia. A method is presented for estimating daily runoff from daily rainfall data using the AWBM model, which self-calibrates its surface storage parameters to the estimate of average annual runoff from the regressions, and using default values for its baseflow parameters. Two-thirds of the estimates of average annual runoff were within +/-25% of the actual value. The approach can also estimate satisfactorily the monthly and annual runoff series in many catchments, with the simulations being only slightly poorer than those obtained by directly calibrating the AWBM against recorded runoff.

HESS Opinions "Crash tests for a standardized evaluation of hydrological models"

“…But we are convinced that large catchment sets are the only possible way to learn from the variety of catchments, simply because they make it easier to falsify (refute) the models we wish to test (Popper, 1959). A few modellers seem to share this point of view: they also have published model tests based on large catchment sets, particularly in the perspective of modelling ungauged catchments (see among others Nathan and McMahon, 1990;Vandewiele et al, 1992;Merz and Blöschl, 2004;McIntyre et al, 2005;Kay et al, 2006;Young, 2006;Boughton and Chiew, 2007).…”

Assessment of lumped hydrological balance models in peninsular Spain

“…A lumped hydrological balance model may have only three or four parameters (Xu and Singh, 1998;Vandewiele et al, 1992;Alley, 1984) and can be implemented with several lines of computer code, whereas a complex model may have more than 20 parameters (Chiew, 2010). Some examples of lumped models are the ABCD model (Zhao et al, 2016;Wang and Tang, 2014;Sankarasubramanian and Vogel, 2002;Alley, 15 1985) GR2M (Lacombe et al, 2016;Mouelhi et al, 2006), Sacramento (Burnash et al, 1973), Guo-5p (Xiong and Guo, 1999;Guo, 1995), Témez (Singh and Kumar, 2016;Singh, 2000;Ferrer, 1993;Témez, 1991Témez, , 1987, Thornwaite-Mather (Lyon et al, 2004;Frankenberger et al, 1999;Calvo, 1986), IHACRES (Croke et al, 2006), SIMHYD (Chiew et al, 2002), GR4J (Perrin et al, 2003), AWBM (Boughton, 2009(Boughton, , 2007(Boughton, , 2006(Boughton, , 2004Boughton and Chiew, 2007) and SMAR (O'Connel et al, 1970). More examples of rainfall-runoff models can be found in Singh (1995) and Singh and Frevert (2002).…”

Partitioning of catchment water budget and its implications for ecosystem carbon exchange

“…Moreover, the regression between measured P and Q (with or without additional variables) often establishes catchment specific P − Q relationship that can be applied to estimate discharge for ungauged catchments or for the period of missing observation (e.g., Boughton and Chiew, 2007). The effect of evaporation (from soil and open water surface) during the residence of water in catchments is generally expressed as the enrichment of heavy isotopes in the remaining water due to kinetic fractionation effects.…”