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What can hydrological modelling gain from spatially explicit parameterization and multi-gauge calibration?

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Title: What can hydrological modelling gain from spatially explicit parameterization and multi-gauge calibration?
Authors: Zheng, Xudong1 (AUTHOR), Liu, Dengfeng1 (AUTHOR) liudf@xaut.edu.cn, Wang, Hao2 (AUTHOR), Ma, Chuanhui1 (AUTHOR), Liu, Hui2 (AUTHOR), Ming, Guanghui3 (AUTHOR), Li, Qiang4 (AUTHOR), Khan, Mohd Yawar Ali5 (AUTHOR), Hussain, Fiaz6 (AUTHOR)
Source: Hydrology & Earth System Sciences. 2026, Vol. 30 Issue 8, p2493-2521. 29p.
Subject Terms: *Calibration, *Distributed parameter systems, *Hydrologic models, *Streamflow, *Hydrological databases
Geographic Terms: Han River (Korea)
Abstract: Traditional hydrological modelling is facing transformative pressures from the rise of data-driven approaches and increasing demands for modelling realism. With improving data availability, spatially explicit parameterization and multi-gauge calibration offers a promising pathway to enhancing both the predictive capability and the realism of physically based distributed hydrological models. However, current understanding remains largely confined to their broad effects on aggregated simulated responses, while the underlying mechanisms and interactions through which these approaches benefit hydrological modelling remain poorly understood. To bridge this knowledge gap, this study develops an Experiment Framework to evaluate the effect of Spatially explicit Parameterization and Multi-gauge calibration, termed EF-SPM. Implemented through the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) model combined with the multiscale parameter regionalization technique, the framework is applied to the Upper Han River Basin, a representative nested catchment, via intensive comparative calibration experiments. Results indicate that, compared to simpler configurations, considering both spatially explicit parameterization with multi-gauge calibration leads to consistent improvements in streamflow simulations across all sub-basins. Controlled experiments isolating individual effects further show that spatially explicit parameterization is particularly effective in improving simulations under moderate-flow to high-flow conditions (with an 18 % improvement in %BiasFHV1), yet at the cost of degraded performance during low-flow periods. On the other hand, multi-gauge calibration markedly enhances parameter identifiability by imposing stronger constraints on spatially shared parameters. This effectively mitigates information-gap-induced uncertainties, thereby enabling robust parameter transfer to ungauged upstream sub-basins. Importantly, their combined application yields a clear cross-benefit in the multidimensional calibration objective space by substantially alleviating the trade-offs among gauge-specific objectives observed under uniform parameterization. This study integrates two promising directions in contemporary hydrological modelling, highlighting the importance of pursuing more expressive parameterization and stronger calibration constraints in parallel, rather than prioritizing one over the other. In doing so, it provides a steppingstone for advancing distributed hydrological modelling toward a modern Model–Data Infusion framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Database: Energy & Power Source
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Header DbId: enr
DbLabel: Energy & Power Source
An: 193632291
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PubType: Academic Journal
PubTypeId: academicJournal
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  Data: What can hydrological modelling gain from spatially explicit parameterization and multi-gauge calibration?
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Zheng%2C+Xudong%22">Zheng, Xudong</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Liu%2C+Dengfeng%22">Liu, Dengfeng</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> liudf@xaut.edu.cn</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Wang%2C+Hao%22">Wang, Hao</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Ma%2C+Chuanhui%22">Ma, Chuanhui</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Liu%2C+Hui%22">Liu, Hui</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Ming%2C+Guanghui%22">Ming, Guanghui</searchLink><relatesTo>3</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Li%2C+Qiang%22">Li, Qiang</searchLink><relatesTo>4</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Khan%2C+Mohd Yawar Ali%22">Khan, Mohd Yawar Ali</searchLink><relatesTo>5</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Hussain%2C+Fiaz%22">Hussain, Fiaz</searchLink><relatesTo>6</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Hydrology+%26+Earth+System+Sciences%22">Hydrology & Earth System Sciences</searchLink>. 2026, Vol. 30 Issue 8, p2493-2521. 29p.
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  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Calibration%22">Calibration</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Distributed+parameter+systems%22">Distributed parameter systems</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Hydrologic+models%22">Hydrologic models</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Streamflow%22">Streamflow</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Hydrological+databases%22">Hydrological databases</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Han+River+%28Korea%29%22">Han River (Korea)</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: Traditional hydrological modelling is facing transformative pressures from the rise of data-driven approaches and increasing demands for modelling realism. With improving data availability, spatially explicit parameterization and multi-gauge calibration offers a promising pathway to enhancing both the predictive capability and the realism of physically based distributed hydrological models. However, current understanding remains largely confined to their broad effects on aggregated simulated responses, while the underlying mechanisms and interactions through which these approaches benefit hydrological modelling remain poorly understood. To bridge this knowledge gap, this study develops an Experiment Framework to evaluate the effect of Spatially explicit Parameterization and Multi-gauge calibration, termed EF-SPM. Implemented through the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) model combined with the multiscale parameter regionalization technique, the framework is applied to the Upper Han River Basin, a representative nested catchment, via intensive comparative calibration experiments. Results indicate that, compared to simpler configurations, considering both spatially explicit parameterization with multi-gauge calibration leads to consistent improvements in streamflow simulations across all sub-basins. Controlled experiments isolating individual effects further show that spatially explicit parameterization is particularly effective in improving simulations under moderate-flow to high-flow conditions (with an 18 % improvement in %BiasFHV1), yet at the cost of degraded performance during low-flow periods. On the other hand, multi-gauge calibration markedly enhances parameter identifiability by imposing stronger constraints on spatially shared parameters. This effectively mitigates information-gap-induced uncertainties, thereby enabling robust parameter transfer to ungauged upstream sub-basins. Importantly, their combined application yields a clear cross-benefit in the multidimensional calibration objective space by substantially alleviating the trade-offs among gauge-specific objectives observed under uniform parameterization. This study integrates two promising directions in contemporary hydrological modelling, highlighting the importance of pursuing more expressive parameterization and stronger calibration constraints in parallel, rather than prioritizing one over the other. In doing so, it provides a steppingstone for advancing distributed hydrological modelling toward a modern Model–Data Infusion framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.5194/hess-30-2493-2026
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 29
        StartPage: 2493
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Calibration
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Distributed parameter systems
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Hydrologic models
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Streamflow
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Hydrological databases
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Han River (Korea)
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: What can hydrological modelling gain from spatially explicit parameterization and multi-gauge calibration?
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            NameFull: Zheng, Xudong
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            NameFull: Khan, Mohd Yawar Ali
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            – D: 15
              M: 04
              Text: 2026
              Type: published
              Y: 2026
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