Download or read book Evaluating and Developing Parameter Optimization and Uncertainty Analysis Methods for a Computationally Intensive Distributed Hydrological Model written by Xuesong Zhang and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study focuses on developing and evaluating efficient and effective parameter calibration and uncertainty methods for hydrologic modeling. Five single objective optimization algorithms and six multi-objective optimization algorithms were tested for automatic parameter calibration of the SWAT model. A new multi-objective optimization method (Multi-objective Particle Swarm and Optimization & Genetic Algorithms) that combines the strengths of different optimization algorithms was proposed. Based on the evaluation of the performances of different algorithms on three test cases, the new method consistently performed better than or close to the other algorithms. In order to save efforts of running the computationally intensive SWAT model, support vector machine (SVM) was used as a surrogate to approximate the behavior of SWAT. It was illustrated that combining SVM with Particle Swarm and Optimization can save efforts for parameter calibration of SWAT. Further, SVM was used as a surrogate to implement parameter uncertainty analysis fo SWAT. The results show that SVM helped save more than 50% of runs of the computationally intensive SWAT model The effect of model structure on the uncertainty estimation of streamflow simulation was examined through applying SWAT and Neural Network models. The 95% uncertainty intervals estimated by SWAT only include 20% of the observed data, while Neural Networks include more than 70%. This indicates the model structure is an important source of uncertainty of hydrologic modeling and needs to be evaluated carefully. Further exploitation of the effect of different treatments of the uncertainties of model structures on hydrologic modeling was conducted through applying four types of Bayesian Neural Networks. By considering uncertainty associated with model structure, the Bayesian Neural Networks can provide more reasonable quantification of the uncertainty of streamflow simulation. This study stresses the need for improving understanding and quantifying methods of different uncertainty sources for effective estimation of uncertainty of hydrologic simulation.

Download or read book Calibration of Watershed Models written by Qingyun Duan and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2003-01-10 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Published by the American Geophysical Union as part of the Water Science and Application Series, Volume 6. During the past four decades, computer-based mathematical models of watershed hydrology have been widely used for a variety of applications including hydrologic forecasting, hydrologic design, and water resources management. These models are based on general mathematical descriptions of the watershed processes that transform natural forcing (e.g., rainfall over the landscape) into response (e.g., runoff in the rivers). The user of a watershed hydrology model must specify the model parameters before the model is able to properly simulate the watershed behavior.

Download or read book Parameter Estimation and Uncertainty Quantification in Water Resources Modeling written by Philippe Renard and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2020-04-22 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Numerical models of flow and transport processes are heavily employed in the fields of surface, soil, and groundwater hydrology. They are used to interpret field observations, analyze complex and coupled processes, or to support decision making related to large societal issues such as the water-energy nexus or sustainable water management and food production. Parameter estimation and uncertainty quantification are two key features of modern science-based predictions. When applied to water resources, these tasks must cope with many degrees of freedom and large datasets. Both are challenging and require novel theoretical and computational approaches to handle complex models with large number of unknown parameters.

Download or read book Handbook of Engineering Hydrology written by Saeid Eslamian and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2014-03-21 with total page 646 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While most books examine only the classical aspects of hydrology, this three-volume set covers multiple aspects of hydrology. It examines new approaches, addresses growing concerns about hydrological and ecological connectivity, and considers the worldwide impact of climate change.It also provides updated material on hydrological science and engine

Download or read book Developments in Informal Multi Criteria Calibration and Uncertainty Estimation in Hydrological Modelling written by Mahyar Shafii Hassanabadi and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 129 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hydrologic modelling has benefited from significant developments over the past two decades, which has led to the development of distributed hydrologic models. Parameter adjustment, or model calibration, is extremely important in the application of these hydrologic models. Multi-criteria calibration schemes and several formal and informal predictive uncertainty estimation methodologies are among the approaches to improve the results of model calibration. Moreover, literature indicates a general agreement between formal and informal approaches with respect to the predictive uncertainty estimation in single-criterion calibration cases. This research extends the comparison between these techniques to multi-criteria calibration cases, and furthermore, proposes new ideas to improve informal multi-criteria calibration and uncertainty estimation in hydrological modelling. GLUE is selected as a candidate informal methodology due to its extreme popularity among hydrological modellers, i.e., based on the number of applications in the past two decades. However, it is hypothesized that improvements can be applied to other certain types of informal uncertainty estimation as well. The first contribution of this research is an in-depth comparison between GLUE and Bayesian inference in the multi-criteria context. Such a comparison is novel because past literature has focused on comparisons for only single criterion calibration studies. Unlike the previous research, the results show that there can be considerable differences in hydrograph prediction intervals generated by traditional GLUE and Bayesian inference in multi-criteria cases. Bayesian inference performs more satisfactorily than GLUE along most of the comparative measures. However, results also reveal that a standard Bayesian formulation (i.e., aggregating all uncertainties into a single additive error term) may not demonstrate perfect reliability in the prediction mode. Furthermore, in cases with a limited computational budget, non-converged MCMC sampling proves to be an appropriate alternative to GLUE since it is reasonably consistent with a fully-converged Bayesian approach, even though the fully-converged MCMC requires a substantially larger number of model evaluations. Another contribution of this research is to improve the uncertainty bounds of the traditional GLUE approach by the exploration of alternative behavioural solution identification strategies. Multiple behavioural solution identification strategies from the literature are evaluated, new objective strategies are developed, and multi-criteria decision-making concepts are utilized to select the best strategy. The results indicate that the subjectivity involved in behavioural solution identification strategies impacts the uncertainty of model outcome. More importantly, a robust implementation of GLUE proves to require comparing multiple behavioural solution identification strategies and choosing the best one based on the modeller's priorities. Moreover, it appears that the proposed objective strategies are among the best options in most of the case studies investigated in this research. Thus, it is recommended that these new strategies be considered among the set of behavioural solution identification strategies in future GLUE applications. Lastly, this research also develops a full optimization-based calibration framework that is capable of utilizing both standard goodness-of-fit measures and many hydrological signatures simultaneously. These signatures can improve the calibration results by constraining the model outcome hydrologically. However, the literature shows that to simultaneously apply a large number of hydrological signatures in model calibration is challenging. Therefore, the proposed research adopts optimization concepts to accommodate many criteria (including 13 hydrologic signature-based objectives and two standard statistical goodness-of-fit measures). In the proposed framework, hydrological consistency is quantified (based on a set of signature-based measures and their desired level of acceptability) and utilized as a criterion in multiple calibration formulations. The results show that these formulations perform better than the traditional approaches to locate hydrologically consistent parameter sets in the search space. Different hydrologic models, most of which are conceptual rainfall-runoff models, are used throughout the thesis to evaluate the performance of the developed strategies. However, the developments explored in this research are typically simulation-model-independent and can be applied to calibration and uncertainty estimation of any environmental model. However, further testing of these methods is warranted for more computationally intensive simulation models, such as fully distributed hydrologic models.

Download or read book Hydrogeophysics written by Yorum Rubin and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2006-05-06 with total page 518 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This ground-breaking work is the first to cover the fundamentals of hydrogeophysics from both the hydrogeological and geophysical perspectives. Authored by leading experts and expert groups, the book starts out by explaining the fundamentals of hydrological characterization, with focus on hydrological data acquisition and measurement analysis as well as geostatistical approaches. The fundamentals of geophysical characterization are then at length, including the geophysical techniques that are often used for hydrogeological characterization. Unlike other books, the geophysical methods and petrophysical discussions presented here emphasize the theory, assumptions, approaches, and interpretations that are particularly important for hydrogeological applications. A series of hydrogeophysical case studies illustrate hydrogeophysical approaches for mapping hydrological units, estimation of hydrogeological parameters, and monitoring of hydrogeological processes. Finally, the book concludes with hydrogeophysical frontiers, i.e. on emerging technologies and stochastic hydrogeophysical inversion approaches.

Download or read book Global Sensitivity Analysis written by Andrea Saltelli and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2008-02-28 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Complex mathematical and computational models are used in all areas of society and technology and yet model based science is increasingly contested or refuted, especially when models are applied to controversial themes in domains such as health, the environment or the economy. More stringent standards of proofs are demanded from model-based numbers, especially when these numbers represent potential financial losses, threats to human health or the state of the environment. Quantitative sensitivity analysis is generally agreed to be one such standard. Mathematical models are good at mapping assumptions into inferences. A modeller makes assumptions about laws pertaining to the system, about its status and a plethora of other, often arcane, system variables and internal model settings. To what extent can we rely on the model-based inference when most of these assumptions are fraught with uncertainties? Global Sensitivity Analysis offers an accessible treatment of such problems via quantitative sensitivity analysis, beginning with the first principles and guiding the reader through the full range of recommended practices with a rich set of solved exercises. The text explains the motivation for sensitivity analysis, reviews the required statistical concepts, and provides a guide to potential applications. The book: Provides a self-contained treatment of the subject, allowing readers to learn and practice global sensitivity analysis without further materials. Presents ways to frame the analysis, interpret its results, and avoid potential pitfalls. Features numerous exercises and solved problems to help illustrate the applications. Is authored by leading sensitivity analysis practitioners, combining a range of disciplinary backgrounds. Postgraduate students and practitioners in a wide range of subjects, including statistics, mathematics, engineering, physics, chemistry, environmental sciences, biology, toxicology, actuarial sciences, and econometrics will find much of use here. This book will prove equally valuable to engineers working on risk analysis and to financial analysts concerned with pricing and hedging.

Download or read book On the Predictive Uncertainty of a Distributed Hydrologic Model written by Huidae Cho and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We use models to simulate the real world mainly for prediction purposes. However, since any model is a simplification of reality, there remains a great deal of uncertainty even after the calibration of model parameters. The model's identifiability of realistic model parameters becomes questionable when the watershed of interest is small, and its time of concentration is shorter than the computational time step of the model. To improve the discovery of more reliable and more realistic sets of model parameters instead of mathematical solutions, a new algorithm is needed. This algorithm should be able to identify mathematically inferior but more robust solutions as well as to take samples uniformly from high-dimensional search spaces for the purpose of uncertainty analysis. Various watershed configurations were considered to test the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model's identifiability of the realistic spatial distribution of land use, soil type, and precipitation data. The spatial variability in small watersheds did not significantly affect the hydrographs at the watershed outlet, and the SWAT model was not able to identify more realistic sets of spatial data. A new populationbased heuristic called the Isolated Speciation-based Particle Swarm Optimization (ISPSO) was developed to enhance the explorability and the uniformity of samples in high-dimensional problems. The algorithm was tested on seven mathematical functions and outperformed other similar algorithms in terms of computational cost, consistency, and scalability. One of the test functions was the Griewank function, whose number of minima is not well defined although the function serves as the basis for evaluating multi-modal optimization algorithms. Numerical and analytical methods were proposed to count the exact number of minima of the Griewank function within a hyperrectangle. The ISPSO algorithm was applied to the SWAT model to evaluate the performance consistency of optimal solutions and perform uncertainty analysis in the Generalized Likelihood Uncertainty Estimation (GLUE) framework without assuming a statistical structure of modeling errors. The algorithm successfully found hundreds of acceptable sets of model parameters, which were used to estimate their prediction limits. The uncertainty bounds of this approach were comparable to those of the typical GLUE approach.

Download or read book Sensitivity Analysis in Practice written by Andrea Saltelli and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2004-07-16 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sensitivity analysis should be considered a pre-requisite for statistical model building in any scientific discipline where modelling takes place. For a non-expert, choosing the method of analysis for their model is complex, and depends on a number of factors. This book guides the non-expert through their problem in order to enable them to choose and apply the most appropriate method. It offers a review of the state-of-the-art in sensitivity analysis, and is suitable for a wide range of practitioners. It is focussed on the use of SIMLAB – a widely distributed freely-available sensitivity analysis software package developed by the authors – for solving problems in sensitivity analysis of statistical models. Other key features: Provides an accessible overview of the current most widely used methods for sensitivity analysis. Opens with a detailed worked example to explain the motivation behind the book. Includes a range of examples to help illustrate the concepts discussed. Focuses on implementation of the methods in the software SIMLAB - a freely-available sensitivity analysis software package developed by the authors. Contains a large number of references to sources for further reading. Authored by the leading authorities on sensitivity analysis.

Download or read book Assessing the Relative Contributions of Input Structural Parameter and Output Uncertainties to Total Uncertainty in Hydrologic Modeling written by Scott Pokorny and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The simulation of physical environments by hydrologic models has become common as computational power has increased. It is well known that, to simulate the hydrology of a physical environment, simplifications of that environment are needed. The simplified versions of hydrologic processes generate uncertainty, in addition to ingesting uncertainty from input data. The uncertainty from one modeling step affects the next through propagation. Although computational power has increased through time, the computational demand for uncertainty analysis still remains a common limiting factor on the level of detail an uncertainty analysis can be conducted with. This thesis generates an estimate of total uncertainty propagated from input, structural, and parameter uncertainties for the Nelson River in the Lower Nelson River Basin near the outlet to Hudson Bay, as part of the BaySys project. Each source of uncertainty was relatively partitioned for determination of the most valuable source of uncertainty for consideration in an operational environment with a limited computational budget. The results of this thesis show the complex spatial and temporal variation present in gridded climate data. This thesis also presents an ensemble-based methodology to account for the input uncertainty associated with gridded climate data subject to propagation. The ensemble of input data was propagated through an ensemble of hydrologic models. Relative sensitivities of model parameters were shown to vary temporally and based on performance metrics, suggesting that aggregated performance metrics obscure information. Lastly, relative partitions of uncertainty were compared through cumulative distribution functions. Accounting for all sources of uncertainty appeared valuable towards improving streamflow predictability, however, structural uncertainty may be the most valuable in an operational environment with a limited computational budget followed by input, and parameter uncertainty.

Download or read book Integrated Sensitivity Analysis Calibration and Uncertainty Propagation Analysis Approaches for Supporting Hydrological Modeling written by Hongjing Wu and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The successful performance of a hydrological model is usually challenged by the quality of the sensitivity analysis, calibration and uncertainty analysis carried out in the modeling exercise and subsequent simulation results. This is especially important under changing climatic conditions where there are more uncertainties associated with climate models and downscaling processes that increase the complexities of the hydrological modeling system. In response to these challenges and to improve the performance of the hydrological models under changing climatic conditions, this research proposed five new methods for supporting hydrological modeling. First, a design of experiment aided sensitivity analysis and parameterization (DOE-SAP) method was proposed to investigate the significant parameters and provide more reliable sensitivity analysis for improving parameterization during hydrological modeling. The better calibration results along with the advanced sensitivity analysis for significant parameters and their interactions were achieved in the case study. Second, a comprehensive uncertainty evaluation scheme was developed to evaluate three uncertainty analysis methods, the sequential uncertainty fitting version 2 (SUFI-2), generalized likelihood uncertainty estimation (GLUE) and Parameter solution (ParaSol) methods. The results showed that the SUFI-2 performed better than the other two methods based on calibration and uncertainty analysis results. The proposed evaluation scheme demonstrated that it is capable of selecting the most suitable uncertainty method for case studies. Third, a novel sequential multi-criteria based calibration and uncertainty analysis (SMC-CUA) method was proposed to improve the efficiency of calibration and uncertainty analysis and control the phenomenon of equifinality. The results showed that the SMC-CUA method was able to provide better uncertainty analysis results with high computational efficiency compared to the SUFI-2 and GLUE methods and control parameter uncertainty and the equifinality effect without sacrificing simulation performance. Fourth, an innovative response based statistical evaluation method (RESEM) was proposed for estimating the uncertainty propagated effects and providing long-term prediction for hydrological responses under changing climatic conditions. By using RESEM, the uncertainty propagated from statistical downscaling to hydrological modeling can be evaluated. Fifth, an integrated simulation-based evaluation system for uncertainty propagation analysis (ISES-UPA) was proposed for investigating the effects and contributions of different uncertainty components to the total propagated uncertainty from statistical downscaling. Using ISES-UPA, the uncertainty from statistical downscaling, uncertainty from hydrological modeling, and the total uncertainty from two uncertainty sources can be compared and quantified. The feasibility of all the methods has been tested using hypothetical and real-world case studies. The proposed methods can also be integrated as a hydrological modeling system to better support hydrological studies under changing climatic conditions. The results from the proposed integrated hydrological modeling system can be used as scientific references for decision makers to reduce the potential risk of damages caused by extreme events for long-term water resource management and planning.

Download or read book Parameter Sensitivity and Uncertainty Analysis in Simplified Conceptual Urban Drainage Models written by Cintia Brum Siqueira Dotto and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Stormwater models are powerful tools to aid the planning, design and performance of different stormwater management strategies. Although these models provide a great platform for decision making, they all have an intrinsic level of uncertainty. Little is understood about the sources and magnitude of this uncertainty, which could be due to the errors in measured data (input and calibration data) and/or due to the model itself. To better understand these sources and their impacts on the model predictions, robust model calibration and sensitivity analysis should be performed. The methodologies used for such an exercise should not only be able to provide an assessment of the uncertainties in the model's parameter values and an evaluation of the confidence level of the model's predictions, but also be able to identify and propagate the different sources of uncertainties. The main aim of this research project is to assess uncertainties in conceptual urban stormwater flow and pollution generation models, with different levels of complexity, by evaluating the impact of different sources of uncertainties on the model predictions and parameter sensitivity. The research focuses on three main steps: (i) identifying suitable global sensitivity analysis method(s) to perform parameter calibration, model sensitivity and uncertainty analysis in stormwater models; (ii) exploring parameter calibration, model sensitivity and the resulting predictive uncertainties in models with different level of complexities; and, (iii) investigating the impact of measured input and calibration data uncertainty on the performance, sensitivity and predictive uncertainty of stormwater models. Four methods were applied for calibration, sensitivity and uncertainty analysis of a simple stormwater (quantity and quality) model: one is a formal Bayesian approach, and three are methods based on Monte Carlo simulations coupled with different sampling and acceptance criteria. While the application of the four methods generated similar posterior parameter distributions and predictive uncertainty, results indicated that the selection of the most appropriate method is a trade-off between the need for a strong theory-based description of uncertainty (but limited by the requirements on prior knowledge), simplicity (but limited by the subjectivity) and computational efficiency (also affected by subjectivity). The results also suggested that modellers should select the method which is most suitable for the system they are modelling, their skill/knowledge level, the available information, and the purpose of their study. Further analysis of the application of the Bayesian approach verified the potential of the method to assess urban drainage models (with different level of complexities) in urban catchments of different sizes and land-use types. The tested Bayesian approach was selected to be used in the remaining activities of this research.The likelihood function in the applied Bayesian approach assumes that the model errors (residuals) are normally distributed. This study demonstrated that this assumption is often not met in stormwater modelling (i.e. model residuals are not normally distributed), and therefore, the data was transformed (Box-Cox) to ensure the normality of the model residuals. The main finding was that the parameter sensitivity varied significantly between the scenarios in which the normality assumption of the residuals was verified or not. The main reason for this being the fact that the data transformation method to meet the assumption altered the intrinsic content of the measured data, which then influenced the emphasis on various parts of the hydrograph. The Bayesian approach was used to assess two conceptual catchment rainfall runoff models (MUSIC, which simulates runoff from both impervious and pervious areas as a series of reservoirs; and, KAREN that simulates runoff from impervious surfaces using the time-area method) and few simple stormwater quality models (empirical regressions and build-up/wash-off based models). Results from parameter calibration and sensitivity analysis of the rainfall runoff models demonstrated that the effective impervious fraction is the main parameter governing the prediction of runoff in urbanised catchments. Other key parameters are those related to the time of concentration. Indeed, the analysis indicated that the pervious area parameters play a secondary role when modelling highly urbanised catchments, which implies that the tested models could be simplified. The uncertainty analysis showed that the total predictive uncertainty bands (i.e. the total uncertainty derived from the specific modelling application) was considerably larger than the uncertainty bands contributed from parameter uncertainty alone, indicating that there are other prominent sources of uncertainty for these models. The water quality models were shown to be 'ill-posed' and unable to reproduce the pollutant processes in the catchment. The impact of both input and calibration data errors on the parameter sensitivity and predictive uncertainty was evaluated by means of propagating these errors through the selected urban stormwater model (rainfall runoff model KAREN coupled with a build-up/wash-off water quality model). It was found that random errors in measured data had minor impact on the model performance and sensitivity. Systematic errors in input and calibration data impacted the parameter distributions (e.g. changed their shapes and location of peaks). In most of the systematic error scenarios (especially those where uncertainty in input and calibration data was represented using 'best-case' assumptions), the errors in measured data were fully compensated by the parameters. For example, when rainfall was systematically under or overestimated, the effective impervious area parameter varied systematically to compensate for the changes in the input data. Parameters were unable to compensate in some of the scenarios where the systematic uncertainty in the input and calibration data were represented using extreme worst-case scenarios. As such, in these few worst case scenarios, the model's performance was reduced considerably. Systematic errors in the calibration data error did not significantly impact the parameter probability distributions of the water quality model, mainly because the model cannot even reproduce TSS concentrations when the 'true' data is used. This finding suggested that the current main limitation in water quality modelling is related to poor model structure, and not to errors in measured data.This research provides a comprehensive study of the propagation of different sources of uncertainties through stormwater models. It identifies how the different uncertainty sources impact on parameter sensitivity and the predictive uncertainty. In addition, the analysis of model parameters and their interactions provides practical recommendations for refining and further developing stormwater rainfall runoff and pollution generation models.

Download or read book Evaluation of Uncertainty in Hydrodynamic Modeling written by and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 203 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Uncertainty analysis in hydrodynamic modeling is useful to identify and report the limitations of a model caused by different sources of error. In the practice, the main sources of errors are divided into model structure errors, errors in the input data due to measurement imprecision among other, and parametric errors resulting from the difficulty of identifying physically representative parameter values valid at the temporal and spatial scale of the models. This investigation identifies, implements, evaluates, and recommends a set of methods for the evaluation of model structure uncertainty, parametric uncertainty, and input data uncertainty in hydrodynamic modeling studies. A comprehensive review of uncertainty analysis methods is provided and a set of widely applied methods is selected and implemented in real case studies identifying the main limitations and benefits of their use in hydrodynamic studies. In particular, the following methods are investigated: the First Order Variance Analysis (FOVA) method, the Monte Carlo Uncertainty Analysis (MCUA) method, the Bayesian Monte Carlo (BMC) method, the Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method and the Generalized Likelihood Uncertainty Estimation (GLUE) method. The results of this investigation indicate that the uncertainty estimates computed with FOVA are consistent with the results obtained by MCUA. In addition, the comparison of BMC, MCMC and GLUE indicates that BMC and MCMC provide similar estimations of the posterior parameter probability distributions, single-point parameter values, and uncertainty bounds mainly due to the use of the same likelihood function, and the low number of parameters involved in the inference process. However, the implementation of MCMC is substantially more complex than the implementation of BMC given that its sampling algorithm requires a careful definition of auxiliary proposal probability distributions along with their variances to obtain parameter samples that effectively belong to the posterior parameter distribution. The analysis also suggest that the results of GLUE are inconsistent with the results of BMC and MCMC. It is concluded that BMC is a powerful and parsimonious strategy for evaluation of all the sources of uncertainty in hydrodynamic modeling. Despites of the computational requirements of BMC, the method can be easily implemented in most practical applications.

Download or read book An Improved Framework for Watershed Discretization and Model Calibration written by Amin Haghnegahdar and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 102 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Large-scale (~103-106 km2) physically-based distributed hydrological models have been used increasingly, due to advances in computational capabilities and data availability, in a variety of water and environmental resources management, such as assessing human impacts on regional water budget. These models inevitably contain a large number of parameters used in simulation of various physical processes. Many of these parameters are not measurable or nearly impossible to measure. These parameters are typically estimated using model calibration, defined as adjusting the parameters so that model simulations can reproduce the observed data as close as possible. Due to the large number of model parameters, it is essential to use a formal automated calibration approach in distributed hydrological modelling. The St. Lawrence River Basin in North America contains the largest body of surface fresh water, the Great Lakes, and is of paramount importance for United States and Canada. The Lakes' water levels have huge impact on the society, ecosystem, and economy of North America. A proper hydrological modelling and basin-wide water budget for the Great Lakes Basin is essential for addressing some of the challenges associated with this valuable water resource, such as a persistent extreme low water levels in the lakes. Environment Canada applied its Modélisation Environnementale-Surface et Hydrologie (MESH) modelling system to the Great Lakes watershed in 2007. MESH is a coupled semi-distributed land surface-hydrological model intended for various water management purposes including improved operational streamflow forecasts. In that application, model parameters were only slightly adjusted during a brief manual calibration process. Therefore, MESH streamflow simulations were not satisfactory and there was a considerable need to improve its performance for proper evaluation of the MESH modelling system. Collaborative studies between the United States and Canada also highlighted the need for inclusion of the prediction uncertainty in modelling results, for more effective management of the Great Lakes system. One of the primary goals of this study is to build an enhanced well-calibrated MESH model over the Great Lakes Basin, particularly in the context of streamflow predictions in ungauged basins. This major contribution is achieved in two steps. First, the MESH performance in predicting streamflows is benchmarked through a rather extensive formal calibration, for the first time, in the Great Lakes Basin. It is observed that a global calibration strategy using multiple sub-basins substantially improved MESH streamflow predictions, confirming the essential role of a formal model calibration. At the next step, benchmark results are enhanced by further refining the calibration approach and adding uncertainty assessment to the MESH streamflow predictions. This enhancement was mainly achieved by modifying the calibration parameters and increasing the number of sub-basins used in calibration. A rigorous multi-criteria comparison between the two experiments confirmed that the MESH model performance is indeed improved using the revised calibration approach. The prediction uncertainty bands for the MESH streamflow predictions were also estimated in the new experiment. The most influential parameters in MESH were also identified to be soil and channel roughness parameters based on a local sensitivity test. One of the main challenges in hydrological distributed modelling is how to represent the existing spatial heterogeneity in nature. This task is normally performed via watershed discretization, defined as the process of subdividing the basin into manageable “hydrologically similar” computational units. The model performance, and how well it can be calibrated using a limited budget, largely depends on how a basin is discretized. Discretization decisions in hydrologic modelling studies are, however, often insufficiently assessed prior to model simulation and parameter. Few studies explicitly present an organized and objective methodology for assessing discretization schemes, particularly with respect to the streamflow predictions in ungauged basins. Another major goal of this research is to quantitatively assess watershed discretization schemes for distributed hydrological models, with various level of spatial data aggregation, in terms of their skill to predict flows in ungauged basins. The methodology was demonstrated using the MESH model as applied to the Nottawasaga river basin in Ontario, Canada. The schemes differed from a simple lumped scheme to more complex ones by adding spatial land cover and then spatial soil information. Results reveal that calibration budget is an important factor in model performance. In other words, when constrained by calibration budget, using a more complex scheme did not necessarily lead to improved performance in validation. The proposed methodology was also implemented using a shorter sub-period for calibration, aiming at substantial computational saving. This strategy is shown to be promising in producing consistent results and has the potential to increase computational efficiency of this comparison framework. The outcome of this very computationally intensive research, i.e., the well-calibrated MESH model for the Great Lakes and all the final parameter sets found, are now available to be used by other research groups trying to study various aspects of the Great Lakes System. In fact, the benchmark results are already used in the Great Lakes Runoff Intercomparison Project (GRIP). The proposed comparison framework can also be applied to any distributed hydrological model to evaluate alternative discretization schemes, and identify one that is preferred for a certain case.

Download or read book Using Prediction Uncertainty Analysis to Design Hydrologic Monitoring Networks written by Michael N Fienen and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2014-08-01 with total page 50 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The importance of monitoring networks for resource-management decisions is becoming more recognized, in both theory and application. Quantitative computer models provide a science-based framework to evaluate the efficacy and efficiency of existing and possible future monitoring networks. In the study described herein, two suites of tools were used to evaluate the worth of new data for specific predictions, which in turn can support efficient use of resources needed to construct a monitoring network. The approach evaluates the uncertainty of a model prediction and, by using linear propagation of uncertainty, estimates how much uncertainty could be reduced if the model were calibrated with addition information (increased a priori knowledge of parameter values or new observations). The theoretical underpinnings of the two suites of tools addressing this technique are compared, and their application to a hypothetical model based on a local model inset into the Great Lakes Water Availability Pilot model are described. Results show that meaningful guidance for monitoring network design can be obtained by using the methods explored. The validity of this guidance depends substantially on the parameterization as well; hence, parameterization must be considered not only when designing the parameter-estimation paradigm but also-importantly-when designing the prediction-uncertainty paradigm.

Download or read book Confronting Climate Uncertainty in Water Resources Planning and Project Design written by Patrick A. Ray and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2015-08-20 with total page 149 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Confronting Climate Uncertainty in Water Resources Planning and Project Design describes an approach to facing two fundamental and unavoidable issues brought about by climate change uncertainty in water resources planning and project design. The first is a risk assessment problem. The second relates to risk management. This book provides background on the risks relevant in water systems planning, the different approaches to scenario definition in water system planning, and an introduction to the decision-scaling methodology upon which the decision tree is based. The decision tree is described as a scientifically defensible, repeatable, direct and clear method for demonstrating the robustness of a project to climate change. While applicable to all water resources projects, it allocates effort to projects in a way that is consistent with their potential sensitivity to climate risk. The process was designed to be hierarchical, with different stages or phases of analysis triggered based on the findings of the previous phase. An application example is provided followed by a descriptions of some of the tools available for decision making under uncertainty and methods available for climate risk management. The tool was designed for the World Bank but can be applicable in other scenarios where similar challenges arise.

Download or read book Improved Data Uncertainty Handling in Hydrologic Modeling and Forecasting Applications written by Hongli Liu and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In hydrologic modeling and forecasting applications, many steps are needed. The steps that are relevant to this thesis include watershed discretization, model calibration, and data assimilation. Watershed discretization separates a watershed into homogeneous computational units for depiction in a distributed hydrologic model. Objective identification of an appropriate discretization scheme remains challenging in part because of the lack of quantitative measures for assessing discretization quality, particularly prior to simulation. To solve this problem, this thesis contributes to develop an a priori discretization error metrics that can quantify the information loss induced by watershed discretization without running a hydrologic model. Informed by the error metrics, a two-step discretization decision-making approach is proposed with the advantages of reducing extreme errors and meeting user-specified discretization error targets. In hydrologic model calibration, several uncertainty-based calibration frameworks have been developed to explicitly consider different hydrologic modeling errors, such as parameter errors, forcing and response data errors, and model structure errors. This thesis focuses on climate and flow data errors. The common way of handling climate and flow data uncertainty in the existing calibration studies is perturbing observations with assumed statistical error models (e.g., addictive or multiplicative Gaussian error model) and incorporating them into parameter estimation by integration or repetition with multiple climate and (or) flow realizations. Given the existence of advanced climate and flow data uncertainty estimation methods, this thesis proposes replacing assumed statistical error models with physically-based (and more realistic and convenient) climate and flow ensembles. Accordingly, this thesis contributes developing a climate-flow ensemble based hydrologic model calibration framework. The framework is developed through two stages. The first stage only considers climate data uncertainty, leading to the climate ensemble based hydrologic calibration framework. The framework is parsimonious and can utilize any sources of historical climate ensembles. This thesis demonstrates the method of using the Gridded Ensemble Precipitation and Temperature Estimates dataset (Newman et al., 2015), referred to as N15 here, to derive precipitation and temperature ensembles. Assessment of this framework is conducted using 30 synthetic experiments and 20 real case studies. Results show that the framework generates more robust parameter estimates, reduces the inaccuracy of flow predictions caused by poor quality climate data, and improves the reliability of flow predictions. The second stage adds flow ensemble to the previously developed framework to explicitly consider flow data uncertainty and thus completes the climate-flow ensemble based calibration framework. The complete framework can work with likelihood-free calibration methods. This thesis demonstrates the method of using the hydraulics-based Bayesian rating curve uncertainty estimation method (BaRatin) (Le Coz et al., 2014) to generate flow ensemble. The continuous ranked probability score (CRPS) is taken as an objective function of the framework to compare the scalar model prediction with the measured flow ensemble. The framework performance is assessed based on 10 case studies. Results show that explicit consideration of flow data uncertainty maintains the accuracy and slightly improves the reliability of flow predictions, but compared with climate data uncertainty, flow data uncertainty plays a minor role of improving flow predictions. Regarding streamflow forecasting applications, this thesis contributes by improving the treatment of measured climate data uncertainty in the ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) data assimilation. Similar as in model calibration, past studies usually use assumed statistical error models to perturb climate data in the EnKF. In data assimilation, the hyper-parameters of the statistical error models are often estimated by a trial-and-error tuning process, requiring significant analyst and computational time. To improve the efficiency of climate data uncertainty estimation in the EnKF, this thesis proposes the direct use of existing climate ensemble products to derive climate ensembles. The N15 dataset is used here to generate 100-member precipitation and temperature ensembles. The N15 generated climate ensembles are compared with the carefully tuned hyper-parameter generated climate ensembles in ensemble flow forecasting over 20 catchments. Results show that the N15 generated climate ensemble yields improved or similar flow forecasts than hyper-parameter generated climate ensembles. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate the time-consuming climate relevant hyper-parameter tuning from the EnKF by using existing ensemble climate products without losing flow forecast performance. After finishing the above research, a robust hydrologic modeling approach is built by using the thesis developed model calibration and data assimilation methods. The last contribution of this thesis is validating such a robust hydrologic model in ensemble flow forecasting via comparison with the use of traditional multiple hydrologic models. The robust single-model forecasting system considers parameter and climate data uncertainty and uses the N15 dataset to perturb historical climate in the EnKF. In contrast, the traditional multi-model forecasting system does not consider parameter and climate data uncertainty and uses assumed statistical error models to perturb historical climate in the EnKF. The comparison study is conducted on 20 catchments and reveal that the robust single hydrologic model generates improved ensemble high flow forecasts. Therefore, robust single model is definitely an advantage for ensemble high flow forecasts. The robust single hydrologic model relieves modelers from developing multiple (and often distributed) hydrologic models for each watershed in their operational ensemble prediction system.