Advances in hydrological modelling with the Budyko framework

Abstract

Substantial climate change and intensive anthropogenic activities hamper efforts to explain and predict the variability of the terrestrial water balance. The Budyko framework has recently seen a renaissance in hydrological research due to the framework’s comprehensiveness and effectiveness for studying the effects of global change on water resources. In this paper, the development of the Budyko framework is analysed first. The temporal and spatial variability for the Budyko hypothesis are subsequently elaborated. On finer temporal scales, more processes need to be considered, and the degree of control exerted by individual factors on the water balance varies with the spatial scale considered. Finally, perspectives regarding better understanding and application of the Budyko framework at the catchment scale are provided. A representative and diverse catchment data set is required to estimate the parameter in the model. The co-evolution of landscape characteristics and climate properties would be beneficial to improve the Budyko framework with respect to model parsimony and the physical background. It is necessary to illuminate how the empirical Budyko curve would change under climate change. The general laws for selecting variables and statistical methods for improving Budyko models still need to be explored.