ANN Modeling of Monthly and Weekly Behaviour of the Runoff of Kali River Catchment

Abstract

Model is a system, by whose operation; the characteristics of other similar systems can be ascertained. Experimental observation made on a model bear a definite relationship with prototype. So, the model analysis or modeling is actually an experimental method of finding solution of complex flow problems like surface water modeling, sub-surface water modeling etc. Many flow situations are not amenable to theoretical analysis. Modeling is a valuable means of obtaining better understanding of particular situation. Inspired by the functioning of the brain and biological nervous system, Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) has been applied to various hydrological problems in last two decades. In this study, two ANN models using feed forward - back propagation network are developed to correlate a relationship between rainfall and runoff on monthly and weekly basis for Kali river catchment up to Supa dam in Uttara Kannada District of Karnataka State, India. The developed two models are compared and evaluated using standard statistical parameters to know strength and weaknesses. This performance can be further refined by incorporating more input parameters of catchment properties like soil moisture index; land use and land cover details etc.