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An approach to measure parameter sensitivity in watershed hydrologic modeling

Published by U.S. EPA Office of Research and Development (ORD) | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | Catalog Last Checked: April 21, 2026 at 07:56 PM | Dataset Last Updated: January 16, 2017
Abstract Hydrologic responses vary spatially and temporally according to watershed characteristics. In this study, the hydrologic models that we developed earlier for the Little Miami River (LMR) and Las Vegas Wash (LVW) watersheds were used for detail sensitivity analyses. To compare the relative sensitivities of the hydrologic parameters of these two models, we used Normalized Root Mean Square Error (NRMSE). By combining the NRMSE index with the flow duration curve analysis, we derived an approach to measure parameter sensitivities under different flow regimes. Results show that the parameters related to groundwater are highly sensitive in the LMR watershed, whereas the LVW watershed is primarily sensitive to near surface and impervious parameters. The high and medium flows are more impacted by most of the parameters. Low flow regime was highly sensitive to groundwater related parameters. Moreover, our approach is found to be useful in facilitating model development and calibration. This dataset is associated with the following publication: Ranatunga, T., S. Tong, and J. Yang. An approach to measure parameter sensitivity in watershed hydrologic modeling. Hydrological Sciences Journal. IAHS LIMITED, Oxford, UK, 62(1): 76-92, (2017).

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