Calibration of the HSPF model with a new coupled FTABLE generation method

The hydrological simulation program FORTRAN (HSPF) is a comprehensive watershed model designed to simulate water quantity and quality processes.It is used widely throughout the world.Calculating discharge from a stream reach by HSPF is based mainly on function tables (FTABLEs),which describe the relationship between surface area,stream stage,volume,and discharge.The traditional method of FTABLE generation (using general stream cross-sections and the Manning equation or other discharge relationships) can be time-consuming and inaccurate when there are limited calibration stations and survey data.Recent insights into generalized coupled stage/storage and stage/discharge relationships,however,offer the potential to improve both the speed and accuracy of compiling FTABLEs and thus HSPF models.This study tested the application of these insights in generating FTABLEs.The study domain included 18 gauging stations in a coastal plain environment on the Peace River watershed in West-Central Florida.In the calibration of this model,wetlands were treated as reaches in HSPF with storage-attenuation characteristics.Over the simulation period,the modeled daily flow and stage correlated well with observed data at all ganging stations along the Peace River.The Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency and correlation coefficient computed using observed and simulated daily flows were 0.90 and 0.91,respectively,at the Peace River outlet.Rigorous testing found that the new system for calibrating the FTABLEs improved the model predictive ability and efficiency.Uncertainty in un-calibrated station performance was also reduced.The model parameters obtained in this study could potentially serve as reference values for model application in similar climatic regions.They may also have particular relevance in disaster management,as the simulation period extended over the hurricane season of 2004,and the model domain was within a high hurricane impact zone.The possible effects of hurricanes on discharge are also briefly discussed.