Articles | Volume 20, issue 9
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-20-3745-2016
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-20-3745-2016
Research article
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12 Sep 2016
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 12 Sep 2016

Disentangling timing and amplitude errors in streamflow simulations

Simon Paul Seibert, Uwe Ehret, and Erwin Zehe

Data sets

The Series Distance matlab code, GitHub repository, U. Ehret and S. P. Seibert https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.60356

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Short summary
While the assessment of "vertical" (magnitude) errors of streamflow simulations is standard practice, "horizontal" (timing) errors are rarely considered. To assess their role, we propose a method to quantify both errors simultaneously which closely resembles visual hydrograph comparison. Our results reveal differences in time–magnitude error statistics for different flow conditions. The proposed method thus offers novel perspectives for model diagnostics and evaluation.