Impact of suspicious streamflow data on the efficiency and parameter estimates of rainfall-runoff models

Many sources of error in hydroclimatic data can affect hydrological modelling, yet the impact of streamflow data quality is poorly quantified. This work aims to investigate whether inconsistencies found in streamflow time series commonly available for hydrological studies (typically in national stre...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Hydrological sciences journal 2023-09, Vol.68 (12), p.1627-1647
Main Authors: Thébault, Cyril, Perrin, Charles, Andréassian, Vazken, Thirel, Guillaume, Legrand, Sébastien, Delaigue, Olivier
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Archives
Catchment area
Catchments
Earth Sciences
Efficiency
Estimates
Hydrologic data
Hydrologic models
Hydrologic studies
Hydrology
Mathematical models
Modelling
Parameter estimation
Precipitation
Rainfall
Rainfall-runoff modeling
rainfall-runoff modelling
Rainfall-runoff relationships
random and systematic errors
Runoff
Runoff models
Sciences of the Universe
sensitivity analysis
Stream discharge
Stream flow
Streamflow data
Typology
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Summary:Many sources of error in hydroclimatic data can affect hydrological modelling, yet the impact of streamflow data quality is poorly quantified. This work aims to investigate whether inconsistencies found in streamflow time series commonly available for hydrological studies (typically in national streamflow archives) have an impact on the efficiency and the parameter estimates of rainfall-runoff models. Hydroclimatic data were gathered at the hourly time step over the period 1998-2018 for a set of 30 catchments in France. Hydrological modelling was carried out with the lumped conceptual GR5H (standing for modèle du Génie Rural à 5 paramètres Horaire, i.e. Hourly 5-parameter rural engineering model) model. A typology of "realistic" suspicious streamflow was established to set up several error models in order to corrupt the data. Our results suggest that common suspicious streamflow data do not have a strong impact on model efficiency and parameter estimates overall, but may be an important source of instability and lack of robustness when working on a single catchment.
ISSN:0262-6667
2150-3435
DOI:10.1080/02626667.2023.2234893