Simulation effect evaluation of single-outlet and multi-outlet calibration of Soil and Water Assessment Tool model driven by Climate Forecast System Reanalysis data and ground-based meteorological station data – a case study in a Yellow River source

It is the research hotspot in the field of hydrology to apply the climate model and its downscaling data into hydrological simulations, and it is very important to evaluate the accuracy of its data. In this study, the accuracy of Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR) was evaluated from two perspectives: statistical evaluation and hydrological evaluation. In the hydrological evaluation, the applicability of CFSR in the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model of the Yellow River source area was studied. The results show that CFSR temperature data at the source of the Yellow River is consistent with the measured temperature data, and CFSR precipitation data overestimates precipitation. In the Yellow River source runoff simulation, the SWAT model driven by CFSR can obtain satisfactory simulation results. It does not reduce the simulation accuracy at the total outlet of the basin under the multi-outlet calibration method. It also considers the spatial differences of hydrological characteristics of each sub-basin and improve the simulation accuracy of the sub-basin simulation.