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Series distance - an intuitive metric to quantify hydrograph similarity in terms of occurrence, amplitude and timing of hydrological events

Ehret, U. 1; Zehe, E. 1
1 Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT)

Abstract:

Applying metrics to quantify the similarity or dissimilarity of hydrographs is a central task in hydrological modelling, used both in model calibration and the evaluation of simulations or forecasts. Motivated by the shortcomings of standard objective metrics such as the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) or the Mean Absolute Peak Time Error (MAPTE) and the advantages of visual inspection as a powerful tool for simultaneous, case-specific and multi-criteria (yet subjective) evaluation, we propose a new objective metric termed Series Distance, which is in close accordance with visual evaluation. The Series Distance quantifies the similarity of two hydrographs neither in a time-aggregated nor in a point-by-point manner, but on the scale of hydrological events. It consists of three parts, namely a Threat Score which evaluates overall agreement of event occurrence, and the overall distance of matching observed and simulated events with respect to amplitude and timing. The novelty of the latter two is the way in which matching point pairs on the observed and simulated hydrographs are identified: not by equality in time (as is the case with the RMSE), but by the same relative position in matching segments (rise or recession) of the event, indicating the same underlying hydrological process. ... mehr


Verlagsausgabe §
DOI: 10.5445/IR/1000025159
Originalveröffentlichung
DOI: 10.5194/hess-15-877-2011
Scopus
Zitationen: 65
Web of Science
Zitationen: 59
Dimensions
Zitationen: 76
Cover der Publikation
Zugehörige Institution(en) am KIT Institut für Wasser und Gewässerentwicklung (IWG)
KIT-Zentrum Klima und Umwelt (ZKU)
Publikationstyp Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Publikationsjahr 2011
Sprache Englisch
Identifikator ISSN: 1027-5606, 1607-7938
urn:nbn:de:swb:90-251598
KITopen-ID: 1000025159
Erschienen in Hydrology and earth system sciences
Verlag Copernicus Publications
Band 15
Heft 3
Seiten 877-896
Nachgewiesen in Dimensions
Scopus
Web of Science
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