Evaluation of TOPLATS on three Mediterranean catchments

Physically based hydrological models are complex tools that provide a complete description of the different processes occurring on a catchment. The TOPMODEL-based Land-Atmosphere Transfer Scheme (TOPLATS) simulates water and energy balances at different time steps, in both lumped and distributed mod...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Loizu Maeztu, Javier, Álvarez-Mozos, Jesús, Casalí Sarasíbar, Javier, Goñi Garatea, Mikel
Tipo de documento: artigo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Data de publicação:2016
País:España
Recursos:Universidad Pública de Navarra
Repositório:Academica-e. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad Pública de Navarra
OAI Identifier:oai:academica-e.unavarra.es:2454/23318
Acesso em linha:https://hdl.handle.net/2454/23318
Access Level:Acceso aberto
Palavra-chave:TOPLATS
Sensitivity analysis
Morris and Sobol methods
Calibration and validation strategies
Optimization algorithm
Hydrological modeling time scale
Descrição
Resumo:Physically based hydrological models are complex tools that provide a complete description of the different processes occurring on a catchment. The TOPMODEL-based Land-Atmosphere Transfer Scheme (TOPLATS) simulates water and energy balances at different time steps, in both lumped and distributed modes. In order to gain insight on the behavior of TOPLATS and its applicability in different conditions a detailed evaluation needs to be carried out. This study aimed to develop a complete evaluation of TOPLATS including: 1) a detailed review of previous research works using this model; 2) a sensitivity analysis (SA) of the model with two contrasted methods (Morris and Sobol) of different complexity; 3) a 4-step calibration strategy based on a multi-start Powell optimization algorithm; and 4) an analysis of the influence of simulation time step (hourly vs. daily). The model was applied on three catchments of varying size (La Tejeria, Cidacos and Arga), located in Navarre (Northern Spain), and characterized by different levels of Mediterranean climate influence. Both Morris and Sobol methods showed very similar results that identified Brooks-Corey Pore Size distribution Index (B), Bubbling pressure (ψc) and Hydraulic conductivity decay (f) as the three overall most influential parameters in TOPLATS. After calibration and validation, adequate streamflow simulations were obtained in the two wettest catchments, but the driest (Cidacos) gave poor results in validation, due to the large climatic variability between calibration and validation periods. To overcome this issue, an alternative random and discontinuous method of cal/val period selection was implemented, improving model results.