Continental Hydrologic Intercomparison Project, Phase 1: A large-scale hydrologic model comparison over the continental United States

High-resolution, coupled, process-based hydrology models, in which subsurface, land-surface, and energy budget processes are represented, have been applied at the basin-scale to ask a wide range of water science questions. Recently, these models have been developed at continental scales with applications in operational flood forecasting, hydrologic prediction, and process representation. As use of large-scale model configurations increases, it is exceedingly important to have a common method for performance evaluation and validation, particularly given challenges associated with accurately representing large domains. Here, we present phase 1 of a comparison project for continental-scale, high-resolution, processed-based hydrologic models entitled the Continental Hydrologic Intercomparison Project (CHIP). The first phase of CHIP is based on past Earth System Model intercomparisons and comprised of a two-model proof of concept comparing the ParFlow-CONUS hydrologic model, version 1.0 and a NOAA US National Water Model configuration of WRF-Hydro, version 1.2. The objectives of CHIP phase 1 are: (a) describe model physics and components, (b) design an experiment to ensure a fair comparison, and (b) assess simulated streamflow with observations to better understand model bias. To our knowledge, this is the first comparison of continental-scale, high-resolution, physics-based models which incorporate lateral subsurface flow. This model intercomparison is an initial step toward a continued effort to unravel process, parameter, and formulation differences in current large-scale hydrologic models and to engage the hydrology community in improving hydrology model configuration and process representation.

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Author Tijerina, Danielle
Condon, Laura
FitzGerald, Katelyn
Dugger, Aubrey
O’Neill, Mary Michael
Sampson, Kevin
Gochis, David
Maxwell, Reed
Publisher UCAR/NCAR - Library
Publication Date 2021-07-01T00:00:00
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) Not Assigned
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Topic Category geoscientificInformation
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Metadata Date 2023-08-18T18:15:04.672250
Metadata Record Identifier edu.ucar.opensky::articles:24605
Metadata Language eng; USA
Suggested Citation Tijerina, Danielle, Condon, Laura, FitzGerald, Katelyn, Dugger, Aubrey, O’Neill, Mary Michael, Sampson, Kevin, Gochis, David, Maxwell, Reed. (2021). Continental Hydrologic Intercomparison Project, Phase 1: A large-scale hydrologic model comparison over the continental United States. UCAR/NCAR - Library. http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7qz2fcc. Accessed 11 February 2025.

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