Improved parameter estimation for hydrological models using weighted object functions

✍ Scribed by A. Stein; W. J. Zaadnoordijk

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 418 KB
• Volume: 13
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0885-6087
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1085(19990630)13:9<1315::aid-hyp817>3.0.co;2-c

✦ Synopsis

This paper discusses the sensitivity of calibration of hydrological model parameters to dierent objective functions. Several functions are de®ned with weights depending upon the hydrological background. These are compared with an objective function based upon kriging. Calibration is applied to piezometric readings from the Isle of Goeree in the Netherlands. For a study on the permeability of the ®rst aquifer, the kriging predictor yields weights that dier from using prior knowledge, and emphasizes more strongly spatially isolated points than commonly applied objective functions. It reduces the range of dierences between measurements and model simulations, but the mean absolute error increases. For a study on the resistance of the top layer and of the aquitard, use of prior information in the objective functions leads to a reduction in standard deviations of the dierences between measured and calculated values by 40±80%.