Abstract
The article is devoted to the description and comparison of methods of spatial interpolation for hydrological data. Four spatial interpolation methods are considered: inverse distance weighted interpolation (IDW), triangulation (TIN), spline interpolation and Kriging. The data source is a permanent measuring hydrological network located on the territory of the Pripyat river basin and adjacent river basins, within the borders of Ukraine. Based on them, maps of the spatial distribution of the average annual specific discharge were created. Relief, physical and geographical conditions are changing smoothly, allowing spatial interpolation with sufficiently reliable results. The accuracy of the obtained results was assessed by mathematical and visual comparison. According to both of them was established, that IDW method gives better and results for the interpolation of hydrological data on the studied territory. The isolines are quite smooth, no artifacts were noticed, the errors of the obtained values are small. IDW is also easy to use, changing inner settings, such as distant coefficient, could significantly decrease negative effects. A certain extrapolation of the data can also be an advantage. The next most reliable method is the spline interpolation. The smoothest transitions between values and correspondingly extracted isolines, lack of artifacts make its results closer to the expected nature of changes in hydrological parameters. It can also be considered one of the most promising for implementation. Kriging is characterized by small errors, but rather significant unnatural distortion of the results and the number of artifacts. It is valid for both spherical and exponential versions. The TIN method was the least reliable among the studied methods. If it is necessary to clarify the data in the central parts of the territory over which the values are interpolated, it is better to use the linear version, which demonstrated slightly less distortion.
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