An approach to measure parameter sensitivity in watershed hydrological modelling

Hydrological responses vary spatially and temporally according to watershed characteristics. In this study, the hydrological models that we developed earlier for the Little Miami River (LMR) and Las Vegas Wash (LVW) watersheds in the USA were used for detailed sensitivity analyses. To compare the relative sensitivities of the hydrological 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. The low flow regime was highly sensitive to groundwater-related parameters. Moreover, our approach is found to be useful in facilitating model development and calibration.