REGIONALISATION OF RAINFALL-RUNOFF MODEL PARAMETERS BASED ON GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION OF GAUGED CATCHMENTS

In this paper a comparison of methods for estimating rainfall-runoff model parameters in ungauged basins based on geographical location are presented. As a pilot basin the Hron River basin in Slovakia with an available daily flow, precipitation and air temperature time series needed for calibration to obtain model parameter values in subcatchments was selected. The rainfall-runoff model was calibrated using a daily time step at 23 subcatchments. The Nearest Neighbour, Lumped Basin and Best Similarity Index methods were used to transfer the model parameters from the gauged to "ungauged" subcatchments. Finally, the effectiveness of the estimation method for ungauged basins was tested by comparing the model simulations to observed hydrographs and computing the Nash-Sutcliffe optimization criterion. The results were finally compared, and the best method was recommended for practical application by estimating of the rainfall-runoff model parameters in an ungauged catchment in this region.