Abstract
This study analyzed the result of parameter optimization using the digital elevation model (DEM) resolution in the TOPography-based hydrological MODEL (TOPMODEL). Also, this study investigated the sensitivity of the TOPMODEL efficiency by applying the varying resolution of the DEM grid cell size. This work applied TOPMODEL to two mountainous watersheds in South Korea: the Dongkok watershed in the Wicheon river basin and the Ieemokjung watershed in the Pyeongchang river basin. The DEM grid cell sizes were 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, 160, and 300 m. The effect of DEM grid cell size on the runoff was investigated by using the DEM grid cell size resolution to optimize the parameter sets. As the DEM grid cell size increased, the estimated peak discharge was found to increase based on different parameter sets. In addition, this study investigated the DEM grid cell size that was most reliable for use in runoff simulations with various parameter sets in the experimental watersheds. The results demonstrated that the TOPMODEL efficiencies in both the Dongkok and Ieemokjung watersheds rarely changed up to a DEM grid-size resolution of about 40 m, but the TOPMODEL efficiencies changed with the coarse resolution as the parameter sets were changed. This study is important for understanding and quantifying the modeling behaviors of TOPMODEL under the influence of DEM resolution based on different parameter sets.
Highlights
Rainfall–runoff relationships are generally simulated using a simplified conceptual model based on physical processes
This study investigated the results of the topographic characteristics of the experimental studysize investigated the results of the topographic of the experimental watersheds, effects based on fixed parameter sets,characteristics and digital elevation model (DEM) size sensitivity based on watersheds, DEM
Frequencies of the Topographic Indexes Based on the DEM Grid Cell Size
Summary
Rainfall–runoff relationships are generally simulated using a simplified conceptual model based on physical processes. This process involves the use of a lumped model, which considers the watershed as a homogenous element. Sci. 2019, 9, 3690 dynamic model for analyzing the runoff phenomena and has allowed the development of a distributed parameter model that considers the spatial variability of parameters related to the runoff process. It focuses on the spatial variability of the process and explains the physical relationship between the topographic and runoff model parameters by analyzing the runoff
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