Articles | Volume 24, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-2527-2020
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-2527-2020
Research article
 | 
14 May 2020
Research article |  | 14 May 2020

Evaluation of the ERA5 reanalysis as a potential reference dataset for hydrological modelling over North America

Mostafa Tarek, François P. Brissette, and Richard Arsenault

Data sets

A long-term hydrologically based dataset of land surface fluxes and states for the conterminous United States (http://hydro.engr.scu.edu/files/gridded_obs/daily/ncfiles_2010) E. P. Maurer, A. W. Wood, J. C. Adam, D. P. Lettenmaier, and B. Nijssen https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(2002)015<3237:ALTHBD>2.0.CO;2

CANOPEX: A Canadian hydrometeorological watershed database (http://canopex.etsmtl.net/) R. Arsenault, R. Bazile, C. Ouellet Dallaire, and F. Brissette https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.10880

USGS Water Data for the Nation U.S. Geological Survey https://doi.org/10.5066/F7P55KJN

The ERA-Interim reanalysis: Configuration and performance of the data assimilation system (https://apps.ecmwf.int/datasets/data/interim-full-daily/) D. P. Dee et al. https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.828

ERA5 reanalysis is in production, ECMWF Newsletter 147 (https://cds.climate.copernicus.eu/cdsapp#!/dataset/reanalysis-era5-single-levels?tab=form) H. Hersbach and D. Dee https://www.ecmwf.int/en/newsletter/147/news/era5-reanalysis-production

Model code and software

HMETS-A simple and efficient hydrology model for teaching hydrological modelling, flow forecasting and climate change impacts (https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/48069-hmets-hydrological-model) J. L. Martel, K. Demeester, F. Brissette, A. Poulin, and R. Arsenault https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=6897050

Improvement of a parsimonious model for streamflow simulation (https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/61720-gr4j-rainfall-runoff-model-deterministic-and-stochastic-methods-with-matlab) C. Perrin, C. Michel, and V. Andréassian, V. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-1694(03)00225-7

`As simple as possible but not simpler': What is useful in a temperature-based snow-accounting routine? Part 2 - Sensitivity analysis of the Cemaneige snow accounting routine on 380 catchments (https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/61720-g) A. Valéry, V. Andréassian, and C. Perrin https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2014.04.058

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Short summary
The ERA5 reanalysis dataset is characterized by its high spatial (0.25) and temporal (hourly) resolutions and has therefore a large potential to drive environmental models in regions where the network of stations is deficient. ERA5 performance is evaluated on 3138 North American catchments. Results indicate that for hydrological modelling, ERA5 precipitation and temperature are just as good as observation all over North America, with the exception of the eastern half of the US.