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Comparison of hydrologic calibration of HSPF using automatic and manual methods
Author(s) -
Kim Sang Min,
Benham Brian L.,
Brannan Kevin M.,
Zeckoski Rebecca W.,
Doherty John
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1029/2006wr004883
Subject(s) - calibration , mean squared error , computer science , base flow , remote sensing , statistics , mathematics , geography , drainage basin , cartography
The automatic calibration software Parameter Estimation (PEST) was used in the hydrologic calibration of Hydrological Simulation Program–Fortran (HSPF), and the results were compared with a manual calibration assisted by the Expert System for the Calibration of HSPF (HSPEXP). In this study, multiobjective functions based on the HSPEXP model performance criteria were developed for use in PEST, which allowed for the comparison of the calibration results of the two methods. The calibrated results of both methods were compared in terms of HSPEXP model performance criteria, goodness‐of‐fit measures ( R 2 , E , and RMSE ), and base flow index. The automatic calibration results satisfied most of the HSPEXP model performance criteria and performed better with respect to R 2 , E , RMSE , and base flow index than manual calibration results. The results of the comparison with the manual calibration suggest that the automatic method using PEST may be a suitable alternative to manual method assisted by HSPEXP for calibration of hydrologic parameters for HSPF. However, further research of the weights used in the objective functions is necessary to provide guidance when applying PEST to surface water modeling.