RETRACTED ARTICLE: Hydrologic evaluation on the ERA-Interim output using observed river discharge data

Abstract

The simulated output of ERA-Interim GCM model was evaluated from a hydrologic point of view, using a distributed hydrologic model and observed river discharges data. The ERA-Interim output for the present- day climate should be able to provide a current river flow pattern when it is converted into river discharge informa- tion using a reasonably well-prepared hydrologic model. For this evaluation, the Cetemps hydrological model (CHYM) was performed for various sub-basins in the Nyong river, Cameroon, and calibrated in advance, using observed discharge data of each sub-basin. All sub-basins in the study area provide 7 years of observed discharge data, and the evaluations were conducted by comparing seasonal and inter-annual patterns of simulated and observed discharges. The result shows that the GCM pro- vides excellent discharge output over the lower Nyong river, while its utilization into the upper Nyong river remains limited. The proposed hydrologic evaluation showed that the CHYM model can be used to study the extreme flow events, especially over Messam catchment, a lower Nyong river sub-basin.