Comparing spatial and temporal transferability of hydrological model parameters

Operational use of hydrological models requires the transfer of calibrated parameters either in time (for streamflow forecasting) or space (for prediction at ungauged catchments) or both. Although the effects of spatial and temporal parameter transfer on catchment streamflow predictions have been well studied individually, a direct comparison of these approaches is much less documented. Here, we compare three different schemes of parameter transfer, viz., temporal, spatial, and spatiotemporal, using a spatially lumped hydrological model called EXP-HYDRO at 294 catchments across the continental United States. Results show that the temporal parameter transfer scheme performs best, with lowest decline in prediction performance (median decline of 4.2%) as measured using the Kling�Gupta efficiency metric. More interestingly, negligible difference in prediction performance is observed between the spatial and spatiotemporal parameter transfer schemes (median decline of 12.4% and 13.9% respectively). We further demonstrate that the superiority of temporal parameter transfer scheme is preserved even when: (1) spatial distance between donor and receiver catchments is reduced, or (2) temporal lag between calibration and validation periods is increased. Nonetheless, increase in the temporal lag between calibration and validation periods reduces the overall performance gap between the three parameter transfer schemes. Results suggest that spatiotemporal transfer of hydrological model parameters has the potential to be a viable option for climate change related hydrological studies, as envisioned in the �trading space for time� framework. However, further research is still needed to explore the relationship between spatial and temporal aspects of catchment hydrological variability

Controls on hydrologic similarity: role of nearby gauged catchments for prediction at an ungauged catchment

Prediction of streamflow at ungauged catchments requires transfer of hydrologic information (e.g., model parameters, hydrologic indices, streamflow values) from gauged (donor) to ungauged (receiver) catchments. A common metric used for the selection of ideal donor catchments is the spatial proximity between donor and receiver catchments. However, it is not clear whether information transfer among nearby catchments is suitable across a wide range of climatic and geographic regions. We examine this issue using the data from 756 catchments within the continental United States. Each catchment is considered ungauged in turn and daily streamflow is simulated through distance-based interpolation of streamflows from neighboring catchments. Results show that distinct geographic regions exist in US where transfer of streamflow values from nearby catchments is useful for retrospective prediction of daily streamflow at ungauged catchments. Specifically, the high predictability catchments (Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency NS > 0.7) are confined to the Appalachian Mountains in eastern US, the Rocky Mountains, and the Cascade Mountains in the Pacific Northwest. Low predictability catchments (NS < 0.3) are located mostly in the drier regions west of Mississippi river, which demonstrates the limited utility of gauged catchments in those regions for predicting at ungauged basins. The results suggest that high streamflow similarity among nearby catchments (and therefore, good predictability at ungauged catchments) is more likely in humid runoff-dominated regions than in dry evapotranspiration-dominated regions. We further find that higher density and/or closer distance of gauged catchments near an ungauged catchment does not necessarily guarantee good predictability at an ungauged catchment

Hydrologic similarity among catchments under variable flow conditions

An assessment of regional similarity in catchment stream response is often needed for accurate predictions in ungauged catchments. However, it is not clear whether similarity among catchments is preserved at all flow conditions. We address this question through the analysis of flow duration curves for 25 gauged catchments located across four river basins in the northeast United States. The coefficient of variation of streamflow percentiles is used as a measure of variability among catchments across flow conditions. Results show that similarity in catchment stream response is dynamic and highly dependent on flow conditions. Specifically, within each of the four basins, the coefficient of variation is high at low flow percentiles and gradually reduces for higher flow percentiles. Analysis of the inter-annual variation in streamflow percentiles shows a similar reduction in variability from low flow to high flow percentiles. Greater similarity in streamflows is observed during the winter and spring (wet) seasons compared to the summer and fall (dry) seasons. Results suggest that the spatial variability in streamflow at low flows is primarily controlled by the dominance of high evaporative demand during the warm period. On the other hand, spatial variability at high flows during the cold period is controlled by the increased dominance of precipitation input over evapotranspiration. By evaluating variability over the entire range of streamflow percentiles, this work explores the nature of hydrologic similarity from a seasonal perspective

Research Paper On Artificial Intelligence And It’s Applications

In the future, intelligent machines will replace or enhance human capabilities in many areas. Artificial intelligence is the intelligence exhibited by machines or software. It is the subfield of computer science. Artificial intelligence is becoming a popular field in computer science as it has enhanced the human life in many areas. Artificial intelligence in the last two decades has greatly improved performance of the manufacturing, service sector and so in the field of education. Study in the field of artificial intelligence has given rise to the rapidly growing technology known as expert system. Application areas of artificial intelligence is heaving a huge impact on various fields of life as expert system is widely used in these days to solve the complex problems in various areas as education, engineering, business, medicine, weather forecasting etc. The areas employing the technology of artificial intelligence have seen an increase in the quality and efficiency. This paper gives an overview of this technology and the scope of artificial intelligence in different areas with special reference to the use of this technology in the field of education along with its meaning, searching techniques, inventions and future

Piecewise Linear and Nonlinear Window Functions for Modelling of Nanostructured Memristor Device

The present paper reports two new window functions viz. piecewise linear window function and nonlinear window function for modelling of the nanostructured memristor device. The piecewise linear window function can be used for modelling of symmetric pinched hysteresis loop in I-V plane (for digital memory applications) and the nonlinear window function can be used for modelling of nonlinear pinched hysteresis loop in I-V plane (for analog memory applications). Flexibility in the parameter selection is the main attractive feature of these window functions

Modelling the impact of agroforestry on hydrology of Mara River Basin in East Africa

Land�use change is one of the main drivers of change of watershed hydrology. The effect of forestry related land�use changes (e.g. afforestation, deforestation, agroforestry) on water fluxes depends on climate, watershed characteristics and spatial scale. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model was calibrated, validated and used to simulate the impact of agroforestry on the water balance in Mara River Basin (MRB) in East Africa. Model performance was assessed by Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE) and Kling-Gupta Efficiency (KGE). The NSE (and KGE) values for calibration and validation were: 0.77 (0.88) and 0.74 (0.85) for the Nyangores sub-watershed, and 0.78 (0.89) and 0.79 (0.63) for the entire MRB. It was found that agroforestry in the watershed would generally reduce surface runoff, mainly due to enhanced infiltration. However, it would also increase evapotranspiration and consequently reduce the baseflow and the overall water yield, which was attributed to increased water use by trees. Spatial scale was found to have a significant effect on water balance; the impact of agroforestry was higher at the smaller headwater catchment (Nyangores) than for the larger watershed (entire MRB). However, the rate of change in water yield with increase in area under agroforestry was different for the two and could be attributed to the spatial variability of climate within MRB. Our results suggest that direct extrapolation of the findings from a small sub-catchment to a larger watershed may not always be accurate. These findings could guide watershed managers on the level of trade-offs to make between reduced water yields and other benefits (e.g. soil erosion control, improved soil productivity) offered by agroforestry. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved