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Summary: This paper describes the application of a spatially distributed hydrologic model (WetSpa) Water and Energy Transfer between Soil, Plants and Atmosphere, for the second phase of the Distributed Model Intercomparison Project (DMIP2) study. The model implementation is based on 30-m spatial resolution and 1h time-step for all basins and interior watersheds involved in the DMIP study. Rainfall inputs are derived from Next Generation Radar (NEXRAD). The distributed model parameters are based on an extensive database of watershed characteristics available for the region, including digital maps of topography, soil type, and landuse. The model is calibrated and validated on part of the river flow records for each basin and applied to the smaller interior watersheds not used in calibration to assess the model performance in ungaged basins. The statistics improve significantly with calibration of the global model parameters but even for uncalibrated simulations, the WetSpa model reproduces flow rates of acceptable accuracy for most cases. To evaluate the model performance during calibration and validation periods, an Aggregated Measure (AM) is introduced that measures different aspects of the simulated hydrograph such as shape, size and volume. The statistics for the five calibration basins show that the model produces very good to excellent results for the calibration period. With the exception of Blue River basin, the overall model performance for the validation period remains good to very good, indicating that the model is able to simulate the relevant hydrologic processes in the basins accurately. The performance of the uncalibrated model for the subcatchments is more variable, but the hourly flow rates generally reproduced with reasonable accuracy indicating an encouraging performance of the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A multi-objective genetic algorithm, NSGAII, is applied to calibrate a distributed hydrological model (WetSpa) for prediction of river discharges. The goals of this study include (i) analysis of the applicability of multiobjective approach for WetSpa calibration instead of the traditional approach, i.e. the Parameter ESTimator software (PEST), and (ii) identifiability assessment of model parameters. The objective functions considered are model efficiency (Nash-Sutcliffe criterion) known to be biased for high flows, and model efficiency for logarithmic transformed discharges to emphasize low-flow values. For the multi-objective approach, Pareto-optimal parameter sets are derived, whereas for the single-objective formulation, PEST is applied to give optimal parameter sets. The two approaches are evaluated by applying the WetSpa model to predict daily discharges in the Hornad River (Slovakia) for a 10 year period (1991- 2000). The results reveal that NSGA-II performs favourably well to locate Pareto optimal solutions in the parameters search space. Furthermore, identifiability analysis of the WetSpa model parameters shows that most parameters are well-identifiable. However, in order to perform an appropriate model evaluation, more efforts should be focused on improving calibration concepts and to define robust methods to quantify different sources of uncertainties involved in the calibration procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spatially distributed hydrologic model WetSpa is applied to the Torysa river basin (1,297 km2) located in Slovakia. Daily hydrometeorological data from 1991 to 2000 are used as input to the model. The spatial characteristic of the basin are described by three base maps, i.e. DEM, landuse and soil type, in GIS form using 100 m cell size. Results of the simulations show a good agreement between calculated and measured hydrographs at the outlet of the basin. The model predicts the daily discharge values with a good accuracy, i.e. about 73% according to the Nash-Sutcliff criterion. Sensitivity analysis of the model parameters is performed using a model-independent parameter estimator, PEST. It is found that the correction factor for calculating the actual evapotranspiration from potential evaporation has the highest relative sensitivity. Parameter Kgm which controls the amount of evapotranspiration from the groundwater has the least relative sensitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spatially distributed hydrologic model WetSpa working on a daily or hourly time scale combines elevation, soil and landuse data within GIS, to predict flood hydrographs and spatial distribution of hydrologic characteristics in a watershed. The model is applied to the Margecany-Hornad river basin (1,131 km2) located in Slovakia. Daily hydrometeorological data from 1991 to 2000, including precipitation data from nine stations, temperature data from four stations and evaporation data measured at one station are used as input to the model. Three base maps, i.e., DEM, landuse and soil types are prepared in GIS form, using 100×100 m cell size. Results of the simulations show good agreement between calculated and measured hydrographs at the outlet of the basin. The model predicts the daily/hourly hydrographs with good accuracy, between 75-80% according to the Nash-Sutcliff criteria. For assessing the impact of forests on floods, the calibrated model is applied for a reforestation scenario using the hourly data of the summer of 2001. The scenario considers a 50% increase of forest areas. The model results show that the reforestation scenario decreases the peak discharge by 12%. Investigation of peak discharges from the whole simulation period, shows that the scenario results are reduced by 18% on average. Also, the time to peak of the simulated hydrograph of the reforestation scenario is 14 h longer than for the present landuse. The results show that the effect of land cover on flood is strongly related to storm characteristics and antecedent soil moisture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spatially distributed hydrologic model WetSpa combines elevation, soil and land use data within GIS, to predict flood hydrographs and spatial distribution of hydrologic characteristics in a watershed. The model is applied to the Margecany-Hornad river basin (1,131 km²) in Slovakia. Daily hydrometeorological data from 1991-2000, including precipitation data from nine stations, temperature data from four stations and evaporation data measured at one station are used as input to the model. Three base maps, i.e. DEM, land use and soil type are prepared in GIS form, using 100 × 100 m cell size. Results of the simulations show good agreement between calculated and measured hydrographs. The model predicts the daily/hourly hydrographs with 75-80% accuracy according to the Nash-Sutcliff criteria. For assessing the impact of land use changes on floods, the calibrated model is applied for a reforestation scenario, which considers a 50% increase of forest areas. The model results show that the reforestation scenario decreases the peak discharge by 12%. Investigation of peak discharges from the whole simulation period, shows that the scenario results are reduced by 18% on average, while for small discharges the reduction is even about 34%. The time to peak of the simulated hydrograph of the reforestation scenario is 20 hours longer than for the present land use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]