Simulation of Stream Flow Hydrographs Using Flexible Distributed Hydrological Model (WetSpa) in Khorram Abad Basin

Subject Areas : Hydrology, hydraulics, and water transfer buildings

ehsan fatapour ¹ , Ali Afrous ² , babak aminnejad ³ , Ali Saremi ⁴ , amir khosrojerdi ⁵

1 - Ph.D. Candidate of water structures, Department of Water Science and Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Azad University, Faculty of Science and Research, Tehran, Iran.
2 - Assistance Professor, Department of Water Science and Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Islamic Azad University, Dezful Branch, Dezful, Iran.
3 - Assistance Professor, Department of Water Science and Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Islamic Azad University, Roudhan Branch, Tehran, Iran.
4 - Assistance Professor, Department of Water Sciences and Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Unit, Tehran, Iran.
5 - Assistance Professor, Department of Water Sciences and Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Unit, Tehran, Iran.

Received: 2022-12-01 Accepted : 2023-04-06 Published : 2023-04-21

Keywords: flexible hydrological modeling, Simulation, WetSpa model,

Abstract :

Background and Purpose: The use of hydrological models in watersheds has always been of interest to water resources researchers. Hydrological simulation models are valuable tools for investigating challenging issues related to watershed management, such as the effect of climate change on water resources and the effect of urbanization on floods and droughts. Spatial distribution hydrological model WetSpa is used to simulate river flow at basin scale. The model uses the observed topography, land use, soil map, and daily meteorological time series (rainfall, evaporation and temperature) to predict hydrographs and distributional-spatial hydrological parameters of the basin. In this article, the object-oriented, modular and process-oriented model of WetSpa, which is prepared based on the flexible modeling approach, is applied to simulate the daily hydrograph in Khorramabad basin.Method: The inputs of the model include digital elevation maps, soil type, land use, and time series of precipitation, temperature, and potential evaporation and transpiration, which are from the statistics of 6 meteorological stations in a ten-year period (water year 84-85 until 93-94) is used. After preparing the inputs of the model, at first the maps of the distribution parameters are automatically generated in the map format by the GIS pre-processing component of the model. After that, the model is calibrated using a 5-year statistical period (water year 84-85 to 89-88) of precipitation, temperature, and potential evaporation and transpiration data. The model uses Thiessen polygons to apply precipitation, temperature, and evaporation data. For this purpose, the daily discharges of Jam Anjir hydrometric station located at the outlet of the studied watershed are used. Model calibration is done manually by determining the values of 11 global (general) parameters of the model, so that the best match between simulation and observational hydrograph is obtained. And finally, the validation of the model is carried out based on a 5-year statistical period (water year 89-88 to 94-93) and the values of the global parameters obtained in the calibration stage.Findings: The maps of distributed parameters are produced, which after preparing the inputs of Mashdand's production model showed that the average potential runoff coefficient of the area is 63% and the concentration time of the area is 17 hours. In the following, according to the 11 global parameters, which symbol and range of changes are specified in table (3), the model global (general) parameters values  are obtained in the calibration stage. Comparing the simulated hydrograph by the model and the observed hydrograph in the calibration stage shows that the best match between the observed and simulated data is established with a correlation coefficient of 0.39. Validation of the model is also based on a 5-year statistical period (water year 89-88 to 94-93) and the values of global parameters. The output files of the model illustrate that 26.15% of the precipitation becomes runoff during the calibration period. During the validation period, the share of total runoff from precipitation is 26.42%. Moreover, the simulation results of the model demonstrate the ratio of evaporation to precipitation in the calibration and validation periods is 57.18 and 69.20%, respectively. Additionally, the results of the evaluation of the model based on the Kling-Gupta index (KGE) present the value of 0.68 for the calibration period and 0.74 for the validation period.Results: In this article, the effectiveness of WetSpa model is investigated in order to simulate the daily flow of Khorram Abad River at Cham Anjir hydrometric station. According to the results obtained from this research, it can be said that the Wetspa spatial distribution model has the ability to simulate the hydrological behavior of the basin with acceptable accuracy. The graphical comparison of the calculated and observed hydrographs for the calibration and evaluation period also shows a relatively good match between the two hydrographs. Examining the results of calculating of the water balance components by the model demonstrates that the outflow in the calibration and validation period accounted for 26.15 and 26.42% of the total precipitation respectively, seems logical considering the major land use of mountains and pastures in the irrigation basin.

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