Runoff simulation of Mengjiang River Basin based on distributed hydrological model

Abstract

A distributed hydrological model is an essential tool for simulating hydrological processes and managing water resources. This study applied a distributed hydrological model—Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) model for the Mengjiang River Basin, using observation data from 50 stations from 2010 to 2022 to simulate runoff. The Shuffled Complex Evolution - University of Arizona (SCE-UA) algorithm was used to automatically calibrate six sensitive soil parameters of the VIC model. The runoff simulation results at Taiping Station shown that the model achieved a Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency coefficient above 0.8 for all years except 2018, which indicated a good simulation performance in the study area. The study verifies the applicability and reliability of the VIC model for the Mengjiang River Basin and lays a foundation for future runoff forecasting using distributed hydrological models.