Effects of HRU Size on PRMS Performance in 30 Western U.S. Basins

Abstract

Semi-distributed hydrological models are often used for streamflow forecasting, hydrological climate change impact assessments, and other applications. In such models, basins are broken up into hydrologic response units (HRUs), which are assumed to have a relatively homogenous response to precipitation. HRUs are delineated in a variety of ways, and the procedure used may impact model performance. HRU delineation procedures have been researched, but it is still not clear how important these subdivision schemes are or which delineation methods are most effective. To start addressing this knowledge gap, this project investigated whether or not HRU size has a significant effect on streamflow simulation at the mouth of a watershed.To test this, 30 gaged, relatively unimpaired western U.S. basins were each modeled with 6 HRU sets of different sizes using the Precipitation Runoff Modeling System (PRMS). To isolate size as a variable, HRUs were delineated using stream catchments.For each basin, streams were defined with 6 different threshold levels, producing HRUs of differing sizes. Nineteen model parameters were derived for each HRU using nationally consistent GIS datasets, and all other model parameters were left at default values. Climate inputs were derived from a national 4-km 2 gridded daily climate dataset.After calibration, 4 goodness-of-fit metrics were calculated for daily streamflow for each HRU set. Uncalibrated model performance was generally poor for a variety of reasons, but comparison of the models was still informative. Results for the 30 basins across the 6 HRU size classes showed that HRU size did not significantly impact model performance across all basins. However, in basins that had less total precipitation and ii higher elevation, sensitivity of model performance to HRU subdivision levels was slightly greater, though not significantly so. Findings indicate that, in most basins, little subdivision may be required for good model performance, allowing for desirable simplicity and fewer degrees of freedom without sacrificing runoff simulation accuracy.iii

Hydrological Utility and Uncertainty of Multi-Satellite Precipitation Products in the Mountainous Region of South Korea

“…A recent study has indicated that the size and subdivision of HRU does not significantly impact PRMS model performance [45]. The geographic PRMS parameters at each HRU were estimated from Geographic Information System (GIS) datasets including digital elevation models (DEM), soil maps, and land cover maps obtained online [28].…”

Επίδραση Των Ανθρωπογενών Πιέσεων Και Του Ιζήματος Στην Τροφική Κατάσταση Υγροτόπου

“…Το συγκεκριμένο μοντέλο είναι ένα φυσικής βάσης, προσδιοριστικό, πλήρως κατανεμημένο μοντέλο συνεχούς χρόνου και αποτελεί ένα εργαλείο οικο-υδρολογικής προσομοίωσης, το οποίο έχει αναπτυχθεί για τις συνθήκες των ΗΠΑ, όπου και έχει εφαρμοστεί ευρέως ( Van Liew & Garbrecht, 2003;Chaubey et al, 2005;Jha, 2011;Steele, 2013) ( Kim & Kaluarachchi, 2009;Easton et al, 2010) έως μεσαίας και μικρής κλίμακας ( Feyereisen et al, 2007;Zhu et al, 2012;Bem Othman & Gueddari, 2014;Epelde et al, 2015). Επίσης, έχει εφαρμοστεί σε ποικίλες κατηγορίες κλίματος όπως σε λεκάνη απορροής αλπικού κλίματος στην Ελβετία , εύκρατου κλίματος στην Αγγλία (Whitehead, 2006;Glavan et al, 2011), στη Γαλλία (Pushpalatha, 2013), στις ΗΠΑ (Spruill et al, 2000), ημίξηρου κλίματος (Mosbahi et al, 2011), ξηρού (Al Mulla, 2005 και τροπικού (Alansi et al, 2009).…”