Article (Scientific journals)
Looking beyond general metrics for model comparison – lessons from an international model intercomparison study
de Boer-Euser, Tanja; Bouaziz, Laurène; De Niel, Jan et al.
2017In Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 21, p. 423-440
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
 

Files


Full Text
hess-2016-339.pdf
Author preprint (9.13 MB)
Download
Annexes
hess-21-423-2017-supplement.pdf
(32.12 MB)
Request a copy

Citation: de Boer-Euser, T., Bouaziz, L., De Niel, J., Brauer, C., Dewals, B., Drogue, G., Fenicia, F., Grelier, B., Nossent, J., Pereira, F., Savenije, H., Thirel, G., and Willems, P.: Looking beyond general metrics for model comparison – lessons from an international model intercomparison study, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., doi:10.5194/hess-2016-339, 2016.


All documents in ORBi are protected by a user license.

Send to



Details



Keywords :
Hydrological modelling; Flood; Meuse; Model comparison; Hydrology; Modélisation hydrologique; Hydrologie
Abstract :
[en] International collaboration between research institutes and universities is a promising way to reach consensus on hydrological model development. Although comparative studies are very valuable for international cooperation, they do often not lead to very clear new insights regarding the relevance of the modelled processes. We hypothesise that this is partly caused by model complexity and the comparison methods used, which focus too much on a good overall performance instead of focusing on specific events. In this study, we use an approach that focuses on the evaluation of specific events and characteristics. Eight international research groups calibrated their hourly model on the Ourthe catchment in Belgium and carried out a validation in time for the Ourthe catchment and a validation in space for nested and neighbouring catchments. The same protocol was followed for each model and an ensemble of best performing parameter sets was selected. Although the models showed similar performances based on general metrics (i.e. Nash–Sutcliffe Efficiency), clear differences could be observed for specific events. The results illustrate the relevance of including a very quick flow reservoir preceding the root zone storage to model peaks during low flows and including a slow reservoir in parallel with the fast reservoir to model the recession for the Ourthe catchment. This intercomparison enhanced the understanding of the hydrological functioning of the catchment and, above all, helped to evaluate each model against a set of alternative models.
Research center :
Aquapôle - ULiège
Disciplines :
Civil engineering
Author, co-author :
de Boer-Euser, Tanja;  Water Resources Section, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of Technology, P.O. Box 5048, NL-2600 GA Delft, The Netherlands
Bouaziz, Laurène;  Deltares, Hydrology, Delft, Netherlands
De Niel, Jan;  Hydraulics division, Department of Civil Engineering, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 40, BE-3001 Leuven, Belgium
Brauer, Claudia;  Hydrology and Quantitative Water Management Group, Wageningen University, The Netherlands
Dewals, Benjamin  ;  Université de Liège > Département ArGEnCo > Hydraulics in Environmental and Civil Engineering
Drogue, Gilles;  Laboratoire LOTERR, Université de Lorraine, Metz, France
Fenicia, Fabrizio;  Eawag, Dübendorf, Switzerland
Nossent, Jiri;  Flanders Hydraulics Research, Antwerp, Belgium
Pereira, Fernando;  Flanders Hydraulics Research, Antwerp, Belgium
Savenije, Hubert;  Water Resources Section, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of Technology, P.O. Box 5048, NL-2600 GA Delft, The Netherlands
Thirel, Guillaume;  Irstea, Hydrosystems and Bioprocesses Research Unit (HBAN), 1, rue Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, CS 10030, 92761 Antony Cedex, France
Willems, Patrick;  Hydraulics division, Department of Civil Engineering, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 40, BE-3001 Leuven, Belgium
Language :
English
Title :
Looking beyond general metrics for model comparison – lessons from an international model intercomparison study
Publication date :
2017
Journal title :
Hydrology and Earth System Sciences
ISSN :
1027-5606
eISSN :
1607-7938
Publisher :
European Geosciences Union, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany
Volume :
21
Pages :
423-440
Peer reviewed :
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Commentary :
Published in Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss.: http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci-discuss.net/hess-2016-339/
Available on ORBi :
since 19 December 2016

Statistics


Number of views
67 (4 by ULiège)
Number of downloads
4 (1 by ULiège)

Scopus citations®
 
31
Scopus citations®
without self-citations
22
OpenCitations
 
29

Bibliography


Similar publications



Contact ORBi