Case Studies
Sep 20, 2013

Parameter Uncertainty Analysis of Surface Flow and Sediment Yield in the Huolin Basin, China

Publication: Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 19, Issue 6

Abstract

Growing concerns have been given to parameter uncertainty in hydrological modeling because of the associated effects on water resource management. In this study two uncertainty analysis methods, the sequential uncertainty fitting algorithm (SUFI-2) and the generalized likelihood uncertainty estimation (GLUE), were employed to analyze the uncertainty of surface flow and sediment yield modeling results by the soil and water assessment tool (SWAT) model. The two methods were also compared in terms of the capability in quantifying parameter and prediction uncertainties and the computational efficiency. The results showed that the SUFI-2 method was capable of examining the uncertainty by using the Latin hypercube sampling scheme. It also demonstrated the advantages in analyzing the effects of uncertainties for distributed hydrological models with complex structure and high computational demands. The GLUE method is specialized in reflecting parameter correlations and uncertainties associated with parameters and predictants.

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Acknowledgments

The research work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51179070) and Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada. The authors deeply appreciate the editors and the anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and suggestions.

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Go to Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 19Issue 6June 2014
Pages: 1224 - 1236

History

Received: Nov 19, 2012
Accepted: Sep 18, 2013
Published online: Sep 20, 2013
Discussion open until: Feb 20, 2014
Published in print: Jun 1, 2014

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Authors

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Research Assistant, Key Laboratory of Regional Energy and Environmental Systems Optimization, Ministry of Education, Resources and Environmental Research Academy, North China Electric Power Univ., Beijing 102206, China. E-mail: [email protected]
Bing Chen, M.ASCE [email protected]
Associate Professor, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, Memorial Univ. of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL, Canada A1B 3X5; and Adjunct Professor, Key Laboratory of Regional Energy and Environmental Systems Optimization, Ministry of Education, Resources and Environmental Research Academy, North China Electric Power Univ., Beijing 102206, China (corresponding author). E-mail: [email protected]
Hongjing Wu [email protected]
Ph.D. Candidate, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, Memorial Univ. of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL, Canada A1B 3X5. E-mail: [email protected]

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