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Geostatistical Interpolation Approach for Improving Flood Simulation Within a Data-Scarce Region in the Tibetan Plateau

Guédé, Kanon Guédet ; Yu, Zhongbo ; Hofmeister, Florentin ; Gu, Huanghe ; Mohammadi, Babak LU orcid ; Chen, Xuegao ; Lin, Hui ; Shen, Tongqing and Gouertoumbo, Willy Franz (2024) In Hydrological Processes 38(11).
Abstract

The complex orography of the Tibetan plateau (TP) and the scarcity and uneven spatial distribution of meteorological stations present significant challenges in accurately estimating meteorological variables for hydrological simulations. This study aims to enhance the accuracy of daily precipitation and temperature interpolation for hydrological simulations in the Lhasa River Basin (LRB), particularly during flood events. We evaluate and compare the performance of deterministic Inverse Distance Weighting—IDW and geostatistical (Ordinary Kriging—OK and Kriging with External Drift—KED) interpolation methods for estimating precipitation and temperature patterns. Subsequently, we investigate the influence of different interpolation methods... (More)

The complex orography of the Tibetan plateau (TP) and the scarcity and uneven spatial distribution of meteorological stations present significant challenges in accurately estimating meteorological variables for hydrological simulations. This study aims to enhance the accuracy of daily precipitation and temperature interpolation for hydrological simulations in the Lhasa River Basin (LRB), particularly during flood events. We evaluate and compare the performance of deterministic Inverse Distance Weighting—IDW and geostatistical (Ordinary Kriging—OK and Kriging with External Drift—KED) interpolation methods for estimating precipitation and temperature patterns. Subsequently, we investigate the influence of different interpolation methods on hydrological simulations by using the interpolated meteorological data as input for the Water Balance Simulation Model (WaSiM) to simulate daily discharge in the LRB. Our results revealed that geostatistical methods, specifically OK and KED, are more effective in capturing the spatial variability and anisotropy inherent in precipitation patterns influenced by the Indian summer monsoons. In addition, the KED method effectively captured the daily variation of the temperature lapse rate, indicating the inadequacy of using a constant lapse rate for hydrological modelling in high-elevation regions like the TP. The geostatistical technique outperformed the Deterministic method, with KED realising the best temperature and precipitation interpolation performance based on cross-validation results. However, although KED provides superior results based on cross-validation performance, applying its precipitation interpolation as input into WaSiM led to the poorest discharge simulation. The combination of OK for precipitation and KED for temperature produced the most accurate discharge simulations in the LRB, highlighting the importance of not solely relying on cross-validation results but also considering the practical implications of interpolation methods on hydrological model outputs. Our study offers a robust framework for improving flood simulations and water resource management in a data-scarce, high-elevation region like the TP.

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author
; ; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
data-scarce region, geostatistical interpolation, high mountain region, meteorological interpolation, Tibetan plateau, WaSiM model
in
Hydrological Processes
volume
38
issue
11
article number
e15336
publisher
John Wiley & Sons Inc.
external identifiers
  • scopus:85210102121
ISSN
0885-6087
DOI
10.1002/hyp.15336
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2024 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
id
b1a36881-2fbe-4a13-8370-451a9e35c904
date added to LUP
2025-01-31 13:41:16
date last changed
2025-04-04 14:31:25
@article{b1a36881-2fbe-4a13-8370-451a9e35c904,
  abstract     = {{<p>The complex orography of the Tibetan plateau (TP) and the scarcity and uneven spatial distribution of meteorological stations present significant challenges in accurately estimating meteorological variables for hydrological simulations. This study aims to enhance the accuracy of daily precipitation and temperature interpolation for hydrological simulations in the Lhasa River Basin (LRB), particularly during flood events. We evaluate and compare the performance of deterministic Inverse Distance Weighting—IDW and geostatistical (Ordinary Kriging—OK and Kriging with External Drift—KED) interpolation methods for estimating precipitation and temperature patterns. Subsequently, we investigate the influence of different interpolation methods on hydrological simulations by using the interpolated meteorological data as input for the Water Balance Simulation Model (WaSiM) to simulate daily discharge in the LRB. Our results revealed that geostatistical methods, specifically OK and KED, are more effective in capturing the spatial variability and anisotropy inherent in precipitation patterns influenced by the Indian summer monsoons. In addition, the KED method effectively captured the daily variation of the temperature lapse rate, indicating the inadequacy of using a constant lapse rate for hydrological modelling in high-elevation regions like the TP. The geostatistical technique outperformed the Deterministic method, with KED realising the best temperature and precipitation interpolation performance based on cross-validation results. However, although KED provides superior results based on cross-validation performance, applying its precipitation interpolation as input into WaSiM led to the poorest discharge simulation. The combination of OK for precipitation and KED for temperature produced the most accurate discharge simulations in the LRB, highlighting the importance of not solely relying on cross-validation results but also considering the practical implications of interpolation methods on hydrological model outputs. Our study offers a robust framework for improving flood simulations and water resource management in a data-scarce, high-elevation region like the TP.</p>}},
  author       = {{Guédé, Kanon Guédet and Yu, Zhongbo and Hofmeister, Florentin and Gu, Huanghe and Mohammadi, Babak and Chen, Xuegao and Lin, Hui and Shen, Tongqing and Gouertoumbo, Willy Franz}},
  issn         = {{0885-6087}},
  keywords     = {{data-scarce region; geostatistical interpolation; high mountain region; meteorological interpolation; Tibetan plateau; WaSiM model}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{11}},
  publisher    = {{John Wiley & Sons Inc.}},
  series       = {{Hydrological Processes}},
  title        = {{Geostatistical Interpolation Approach for Improving Flood Simulation Within a Data-Scarce Region in the Tibetan Plateau}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hyp.15336}},
  doi          = {{10.1002/hyp.15336}},
  volume       = {{38}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}