A Comparative Assessment of Hydrological Models in the Upper Cauvery Catchment

Horan, R and Gowri, R and Wable, P S and Baron, H and Keller, V D J and Garg, K K and Mujumdar, P P and Houghton-Carr, H and Rees, G (2021) A Comparative Assessment of Hydrological Models in the Upper Cauvery Catchment. Water (TSI), 13 (151). pp. 1-16. ISSN 2073-4441

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Abstract

This paper presents a comparison of the predictive capability of three hydrological models, and a mean ensemble of these models, in a heavily influenced catchment in Peninsular India: GWAVA (Global Water AVailability Assessment) model, SWAT (Soil Water Assessment Tool) and VIC (Variable Infiltration Capacity) model. The performance of the three models and their ensemble were investigated in five sub-catchments in the upstream reaches of the Cauvery river catchment. Model performances for monthly streamflow simulations from 1983–2005 were analysed using Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency, Kling-Gupta efficiency and percent bias. The predictive capability for each model was compared, and the ability to accurately represent key catchment hydrological processes is discussed. This highlighted the importance of an accurate spatial representation of precipitation for input into hydrological models, and that comprehensive reservoir functionality is paramount to obtaining good results in this region. The performance of the mean ensemble was analysed to determine whether the application of a multi-model ensemble approach can be useful in overcoming the uncertainties associated with individual models. It was demonstrated that the ensemble mean has a better predictive ability in catchments with reservoirs than the individual models, with Nash- Sutcliffe values between 0.49 and 0.92. Therefore, utilising multiple models could be a suitable methodology to offset uncertainty in input data and poor reservoir operation functionality within individual models.

Item Type:	Article
Divisions:	Research Program : Asia
CRP:	UNSPECIFIED
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Cauvery, Hydrological modelling, VIC, SWAT, GWAVA, Ensemble modelling, Water resources
Subjects:	Others > Water Resources Others > Water Conservation
Depositing User:	Mr Arun S
Date Deposited:	13 May 2021 09:47
Last Modified:	13 May 2021 09:47
URI:	http://oar.icrisat.org/id/eprint/11796
Official URL:	https://doi.org/10.3390/w13020151
Projects:	UNSPECIFIED
Funders:	UNSPECIFIED
Acknowledgement:	The research underlying this paper was carried out under the UPSCAPE project of the Newton-Bhabha programme “SustainingWater Resources for Food, Energy and Ecosystem Services”, funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC-UKRI) and the India Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), grant number: NE/N016491/1. UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UKCEH) publish with the permission of the Director of UKCEH. The views and opinions expressed in this paper are those of the authors alone.
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