Comparison of Conceptual and Distributed Hydrological Models for Runoff Estimation in a River Basin

Abstract

Hydrologic models are important tools for accurate water resource assessment. Distributed models are commonly used for this purpose as its output provides detailed information about catchment hydrology. High data requirements and complex structure limit the application of the distributed models at the majority of locations. In comparison, conceptual models are simple and require minimum inputs for runoff generation. In this study, the performance of a physically-based spatially distributed model SHETRAN is compared with two simple lumped conceptual rainfall-runoff models, namely Australian Water Balance Model (AWBM) and GR4J, at Vamanapuram river basin in India. The results showed comparable performance of SHETRAN and AWBM. The study concludes that conceptual models are best suited for data-scarce regions, and the choice of distributed and lumped models for hydrologic studies are dependent on data availability and output requirementsKeywordsRiver basinRunoffSHETRANAWBMGR4JDistributed modelsConceptual models