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Title: Hydrologic and water quality models: Key calibration and validation topics

Author
item Moriasi, Daniel
item ZECKOSKI, REBECCA - Zeckoski Engineering
item Arnold, Jeffrey
item Baffaut, Claire
item Malone, Robert - Rob
item DAGGUPATI, PRASAD - Texas A&M Agrilife
item GUZMAN, JORGE - Waterborne Environmental
item SARASWAT, DHARMENDRA - University Of Arkansas
item YUAN, YONGPING - Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
item WILSON, BRUCE - University Of Minnesota
item SHIRMOHAMMADI, ADEL - University Of Maryland
item DOUGLAS-MANKIN, KYLE - Us Fish And Wildlife Service

Submitted to: Transactions of the ASABE
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/1/2015
Publication Date: 12/1/2015
Citation: Moriasi, D.N., Zeckoski, R.W., Arnold, J.G., Baffaut, C., Malone, R.W., Daggupati, P., Guzman, J., Saraswat, D., Yuan, Y., Wilson, B.N., Shirmohammadi, A., Douglas-Mankin, K.R. 2015. Hydrologic and water quality models: Key calibration and validation topics. Transactions of the ASABE. 58(6):1609-1618.

Interpretive Summary: Hydrologic and water quality models are increasingly used to evaluate the impacts of climate, land use, and land management practices on quantity and quality of land and water resources. This paper introduces nine critical calibration and validation topic papers that need to be considered to ensure reliable model outputs. These papers provide topic-specific recommendations, which will contribute to the development of topic-specific American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) model calibration and validation engineering practices. Once developed, these ASABE engineering practices will provide simple but very important recommendations to users to 1) ensure correct implementation of calibration and validation concepts to minimize uncertainty in model scenario results and 2) provide common documentation and reporting scheme for disseminating results from hydrologic and water quality modeling studies.

Technical Abstract: As a continuation of efforts to provide a common background and platform for accordant development of calibration and validation (C/V) engineering practices, ASABE members worked to determine critical topics related to model C/V, perform a synthesis of the Moriasi et al. (2012) special collection of papers and other relevant literature, and provide topic-specific recommendations based on the synthesis as well as personal modeling experience. This article introduces a special collection of nine research articles covering key topics related to the C/V of Hydrologic and Water Quality (H&WQ) models. The topics include: terminology, hydrological processes and model representation, spatial and temporal scales, model parameterization, C/V strategies, sensitivity, uncertainty, performance measures and criteria, and documentation and reporting. The main objective of this introductory article is to introduce and summarize key aspects of these topics including main recommendations. Individually, the articles provide model practitioners with detailed topic-specific recommendations related to model calibration, validation, and use. Collectively, the articles in this collection present a comprehensive collection of recommendations to guide the development of C/V engineering practices for H&WQ models.