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Calibration, validation and evaluation of a lumped hydrologic model in a mountain area in Southern Ecuador

Abstract:

In South America the density of meteorological and hydrological stations is low with a minimum number of monitored variables; this limits the application of complex hydrological models for the study of water resources. An alternative may be to use simplified models that need a small number of variables. The study performance of simplified models in scarce information conditions is important in order to know water resources availability in areas with these conditions. The performance of the Temez lumped model and the SWAT model (semi-distributed model) were evaluated with data from six basins at the border region between Ecuador and Peru, with areas that vary between 200 and 2642 km2. Precipitation and temperature recorded in 43 climatological stations in the study area were considered. The model calibration and validation was performed with different portions of the observed data and these were chronologically selected (70 % for modeling 30 % for validation). The Temez model was able to reproduce flows with a Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency of 0.63. The limitations may be attributed to the low station density, to the poor quality of the information, and to the difficulty of representing with a single lumped parameter, characteristics that have a wide spatial variation. The SWAT model showed better simulation capabilities with a Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency of 0.87. The Temez model presemted simulation capabilities lower to those of SWAT; however, in small catchments the ability of both models could be comparable.