| Title: | Evaluation of the climate forecast system reanalysis weather data for watershed modeling in upper Awash Basin, Ethiopia |
| Authors: | Tolera, M.B., I.M. Chung and S.W. Chang |
| Year: | 2018 |
| Journal: | Water |
| Volume: | 10(6) |
| Pages: | |
| Article ID: | 725 |
| DOI: | 10.3390/w10060725 |
| URL (non-DOI journals): | |
| Model: | SWAT |
| Broad Application Category: | hydrologic only |
| Primary Application Category: | climate data effects |
| Secondary Application Category: | calibration, sensitivity, and/or uncertainty analysis |
| Watershed Description: | 765.3 km^2 Keleta river and 4540.8 km^2 Melka Kunture, which are both tributories of the Awash River located in central Ethiopia. |
| Calibration Summary: | |
| Validation Summary: | |
| General Comments: | |
| Abstract: | Availability of reliable meteorological data for watershed modeling is one of the
considerable challenges in the Awash River Basin in Ethiopia. To overcome this challenge, the Climate
Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR) global weather data was evaluated and compared with the limited
conventional weather data available in the Upper Awash Basin. The main objective of this study
was to search for an optional data source for hydrological modeling, instead of using the limited
available data, and for data-scarce areas of the basin. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool model was
used to compare the performance of the two weather datasets at simulating monthly streamflow.
For calibration, validation, and uncertainty analysis, the sequential uncertainty fitting algorithm
was used. The model evaluation statistics showed that the CFSR global weather data performed
similarly to the conventional weather data for simulating the observed streamflow at Melka Kunture.
At Keleta, where the conventional data is scarce, the CFSR performed better. The CFSR performance
at the two sub-basins indicated that it performed better for the large sub-basin, Melka Kunture.
Generally, the CFSR weather data are a good addition to the dataset for areas where no reliable
weather data exists for hydrological modeling in the basin. The precipitation data of the CFSR are
slightly higher than that of the conventional data, which also resulted in a relatively higher water
balance components. |
| Language: | English |
| Keywords: | Climate Forecast System Reanalysis; conventional weather; hydrological modeling;
Soil andWater Assessment Tool (SWAT); water balancep |