Enhancing Streamflow Reanalysis Across the Conterminous US Leveraging Multiple Gridded Precipitation Data Sets
Abstract Streamflow observations, essential for various water resource applications, are often unavailable at critical locations in need. Although different models have been proposed to enhance streamflow predictability at ungauged locations, the challenge extends beyond model fidelity. Differences...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2025-03-01
|
| Series: | Water Resources Research |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2024WR038256 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849687922638323712 |
|---|---|
| author | Ganesh R. Ghimire Shih‐Chieh Kao Sudershan Gangrade |
| author_facet | Ganesh R. Ghimire Shih‐Chieh Kao Sudershan Gangrade |
| author_sort | Ganesh R. Ghimire |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Streamflow observations, essential for various water resource applications, are often unavailable at critical locations in need. Although different models have been proposed to enhance streamflow predictability at ungauged locations, the challenge extends beyond model fidelity. Differences in meteorologic forcing data sets, precipitation in particular, can significantly affect the accuracy of hydrologic predictions. This challenge intensifies across regions characterized by diverse hydro‐climatological and geographical conditions, such as in the conterminous US (CONUS) where a single precipitation product struggles to consistently replicate observed hydrographs, particularly peak flow dynamics. To enhance streamflow predictions, we utilize a VIC‐RAPID hydrologic modeling framework driven by multiple commonly used meteorological forcing data sets, such as Daymet, PRISM, ST4, AORC, and their hybrids and create multiple sets of 40‐year (1980–2019) hourly, daily, and monthly streamflow reanalysis, Dayflow Version 2, for 2.7 million river reaches across the CONUS. Most forcings lead to skillful streamflow performance, except for ST4 in the mountainous west, where severe radar blockage adversely affects the accuracy. The evaluation using over 6,000 hourly stream gauges shows that hourly AORC and ST4 lead to improved annual peak flow performance over Daymet—driven streamflow (Dayflow V1), particularly in smaller basins, highlighting the value of high temporal resolution forcings in hydrologic predictions. Compared with other benchmark data sets like National Water Model V3.0, AORC‐driven VIC‐RAPID exhibits improved regional streamflow performance, with comparable peak flow representation. We envision that multi‐forcing streamflow reanalysis data can inform regions in need of forcing data enhancement, diagnose hydrologic model performance, and benefit diverse water resource applications. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-0a7fc61fa1fa4d21aae91736dfbfc39c |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 0043-1397 1944-7973 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Water Resources Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-0a7fc61fa1fa4d21aae91736dfbfc39c2025-08-20T03:22:12ZengWileyWater Resources Research0043-13971944-79732025-03-01613n/an/a10.1029/2024WR038256Enhancing Streamflow Reanalysis Across the Conterminous US Leveraging Multiple Gridded Precipitation Data SetsGanesh R. Ghimire0Shih‐Chieh Kao1Sudershan Gangrade2Environmental Sciences Division Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge TN USAEnvironmental Sciences Division Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge TN USAEnvironmental Sciences Division Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge TN USAAbstract Streamflow observations, essential for various water resource applications, are often unavailable at critical locations in need. Although different models have been proposed to enhance streamflow predictability at ungauged locations, the challenge extends beyond model fidelity. Differences in meteorologic forcing data sets, precipitation in particular, can significantly affect the accuracy of hydrologic predictions. This challenge intensifies across regions characterized by diverse hydro‐climatological and geographical conditions, such as in the conterminous US (CONUS) where a single precipitation product struggles to consistently replicate observed hydrographs, particularly peak flow dynamics. To enhance streamflow predictions, we utilize a VIC‐RAPID hydrologic modeling framework driven by multiple commonly used meteorological forcing data sets, such as Daymet, PRISM, ST4, AORC, and their hybrids and create multiple sets of 40‐year (1980–2019) hourly, daily, and monthly streamflow reanalysis, Dayflow Version 2, for 2.7 million river reaches across the CONUS. Most forcings lead to skillful streamflow performance, except for ST4 in the mountainous west, where severe radar blockage adversely affects the accuracy. The evaluation using over 6,000 hourly stream gauges shows that hourly AORC and ST4 lead to improved annual peak flow performance over Daymet—driven streamflow (Dayflow V1), particularly in smaller basins, highlighting the value of high temporal resolution forcings in hydrologic predictions. Compared with other benchmark data sets like National Water Model V3.0, AORC‐driven VIC‐RAPID exhibits improved regional streamflow performance, with comparable peak flow representation. We envision that multi‐forcing streamflow reanalysis data can inform regions in need of forcing data enhancement, diagnose hydrologic model performance, and benefit diverse water resource applications.https://doi.org/10.1029/2024WR038256streamflow reanalysisVIC‐RAPID modeling frameworkAORCST4national water modelextremes |
| spellingShingle | Ganesh R. Ghimire Shih‐Chieh Kao Sudershan Gangrade Enhancing Streamflow Reanalysis Across the Conterminous US Leveraging Multiple Gridded Precipitation Data Sets Water Resources Research streamflow reanalysis VIC‐RAPID modeling framework AORC ST4 national water model extremes |
| title | Enhancing Streamflow Reanalysis Across the Conterminous US Leveraging Multiple Gridded Precipitation Data Sets |
| title_full | Enhancing Streamflow Reanalysis Across the Conterminous US Leveraging Multiple Gridded Precipitation Data Sets |
| title_fullStr | Enhancing Streamflow Reanalysis Across the Conterminous US Leveraging Multiple Gridded Precipitation Data Sets |
| title_full_unstemmed | Enhancing Streamflow Reanalysis Across the Conterminous US Leveraging Multiple Gridded Precipitation Data Sets |
| title_short | Enhancing Streamflow Reanalysis Across the Conterminous US Leveraging Multiple Gridded Precipitation Data Sets |
| title_sort | enhancing streamflow reanalysis across the conterminous us leveraging multiple gridded precipitation data sets |
| topic | streamflow reanalysis VIC‐RAPID modeling framework AORC ST4 national water model extremes |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2024WR038256 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ganeshrghimire enhancingstreamflowreanalysisacrosstheconterminoususleveragingmultiplegriddedprecipitationdatasets AT shihchiehkao enhancingstreamflowreanalysisacrosstheconterminoususleveragingmultiplegriddedprecipitationdatasets AT sudershangangrade enhancingstreamflowreanalysisacrosstheconterminoususleveragingmultiplegriddedprecipitationdatasets |