The applicability of a parsimonious model for local and regional prediction of runoff

Abstract

The Hydrological Recursive Model (HRM), a conceptual rainfall-runoff model, was applied for local and regional simulation of hourly discharges in the transnational Alzette River basin (Luxembourg-France-Belgium). The model was calibrated for a range of various sub-basins with a view to analysing its ability to reproduce the variability of basin responses during flood generation. The regionalization of the model parameters was obtained by fitting simultaneously the runoff series of calibration sub-basins after their spatial discretization in lithological contrasting isochronal zones. The runoff simulations of the model agreed well with the recorded runoff series. Significant correlations with some basin characteristics and, noticeably, the permeability of geological formations, could be found for two of the four free model parameters. The goodness of fit for runoff predictions using the derived regional parameter set was generally satisfactory, particularly for the statistical characteristics of streamflow. A more physically-based modelling approach, or at least an explicit treatment of quick surface runoff, is expected to give better results for high peak discharge.

Regional runoff prediction through aggregation of first-order hydrological process knowledge: a case study

“…Previous research in the same study area highlighted a significant correlation between the permeability of the geological top layer and storm runoff coefficients , and eventually also between this permeability and two out of four parameters of a parsimonious model (Drogue et al, 2002). Following these findings, it is acknowledged that the first-order controls on the runoff behaviour are linked to the lithological substrata of the area.…”

Simulating the spatio-temporal variability of streamflow response to climate change scenarios in a mesoscale basin

“…The Hydrological Recursive Model (HRM) is a 4-parameter lumped reservoir model, which simulates daily discharge using rainfall (P), and potential evapotranspiration (PET) as input (Leviandier et al, 1994;Drogue et al, 2002). Based on assumptions about scaling properties of the channel network structure, the HRM model performs a conceptual discretization of a given basin into nested sub-basins, with velocity fitting being the only free parameter, which determines the number of isochronal zones.…”

Predicting storm runoff from different land‐use classes using a geographical information system‐based distributed model

“…Daily rainfall was disaggregated into hourly rainfall series according to the nearest hourly reference rain gauges. Potential evapotranspiration was estimated using the Penman-Monteith formula (Monteith and Unsworth, 1990) with daily meteorological data measured at Luxembourg airport, and extended to each rainfall Thiessen polygon based on the proportions of different land-use type over the polygon (Drogue et al, 2002). A total of 52 months of hourly rainfall, discharge and potential evapotranspiration data from December 1996 to March 2001 are available for model application.…”