Articles | Volume 29, issue 18
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-4515-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-4515-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
22 Sep 2025
Research article |
| 22 Sep 2025
| 22 Sep 2025
Calibrating a large-domain land/hydrology process model in the age of AI: the SUMMA CAMELS emulator experiments
Climate and Global Dynamics, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, USA
Climate and Global Dynamics, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, USA
Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, USA
Guoqiang Tang
State Key Laboratory of Water Resources Engineering and Management, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
Naoki Mizukami
Research Applications Laboratory, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, USA
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Scott Peckham, Keith Jennings, Wanru Wu, Andy Wood, and Lauren Bolotin
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5786, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5786, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (HESS).
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Several US federal agencies (e.g., USGS, NOAA, USDA, and NSF) collect information for river basins to support their water-related missions. Data is published online in named collection that each have their own attributes and objectives. HARBOR harmonizes and brings together all these datasets, just as many large cargo ships can be moored in one harbor. It also classifies basins based on hydrologic similarity, helping researchers find the best model for predicting their hydrologic response.
David R. Casson, Guoqiang Tang, Nicolás Vásquez, Andrew W. Wood, and Martyn P. Clark
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-6066, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-6066, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for The Cryosphere (TC).
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This study generates meteorological ensembles tailored for mountain snow estimation, accounting for topography, wind-driven undercatch, and large-scale atmospheric patterns. Driving a physics-based snow model with these ensembles allowed uncertainty in weather inputs to carry through to estimates of snow accumulation and melt. Across three mountain basins, this led to realistic and reliable snow estimates useful for data assimilation, water supply and forecasting applications.
Lauren H. North, Adrienne M. Marshall, Glen A. Tootle, Lisa Davis, Andy W. Wood, and Eric J. Anderson
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5815, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5815, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (HESS).
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We assessed the U.S. National Hydrologic Model's ability to simulate several components of the water cycle using multiple datasets of environmental variables. We find that the model's accuracy in streamflow simulation is positively and negatively impacted by the additional constraints, and more model parameters are identified as important. Our results inform operational hydrologic modeling by illuminating the complexities of using the continually expanding suite of data products.
Ethan Ritchie, Andrew W. Wood, Ryan Johnson, Adrienne Marshall, Josh Sturtevant, Dane Liljestrand, and Emily Golitzin
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5514, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5514, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for The Cryosphere (TC).
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Snow water equivalent (SWE) is a critical water resource to many regions globally. Estimating SWE remains a challenge in hydrology highlighting the need for consistent evaluation frameworks. This study applied a standard approach for SWE evaluation across a range of datasets in the western US, using the Airborne Snow Observatory (ASO) SWE dataset as the reference observational dataset. We outline and demonstrate an example of a community evaluation protocol using datasets in this study.
Naoki Mizukami, Samar Minallah, Cenlin He, Chayan Roychoudhury, William Y.Y. Cheng, and Rajesh Kumar
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-4586, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-4586, 2025
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We examined how air pollution particles that darken snow affect water resources in High Mountain Asia, a region that supplies rivers vital to millions of populations. Using computer models, we found that these particles cause snow to melt two weeks to a month earlier, shifting when water becomes available. This leads to more runoff at first but less later in the year, slightly reducing annual river flow. The findings highlight the need to link air pollution control with water management.
Chayan Roychoudhury, Rajesh Kumar, Cenlin He, William Y. Y. Cheng, Kirpa Ram, Naoki Mizukami, and Avelino F. Arellano
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-275, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-275, 2025
Preprint under review for ESSD
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We present a 17-year, 12 km regional dataset for Asia that uniquely captures aerosol–weather–snow interactions. By assimilating satellite data into a chemistry–climate model, it provides hourly to three-hourly fields of meteorology, air quality, and snow-related variables. Evaluations show good agreement with observations, and source attribution of black carbon is also provided to quantify pollution pathways to Asia’s glaciers, major freshwater source for over a billion people.
Simon Moulds, Louise Slater, Louise Arnal, and Andrew W. Wood
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 2393–2406, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-2393-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-2393-2025, 2025
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Seasonal streamflow forecasts are an important component of flood risk management. Here, we train and test a machine learning model to predict the monthly maximum daily streamflow up to 4 months ahead. We train the model on precipitation and temperature forecasts to produce probabilistic hindcasts for 579 stations across the UK for the period 2004–2016. We show skilful results up to 4 months ahead in many locations, although, in general, the skill declines with increasing lead time.
Wouter J. M. Knoben, Ashwin Raman, Gaby J. Gründemann, Mukesh Kumar, Alain Pietroniro, Chaopeng Shen, Yalan Song, Cyril Thébault, Katie van Werkhoven, Andrew W. Wood, and Martyn P. Clark
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 2361–2375, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-2361-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-2361-2025, 2025
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Hydrologic models are needed to provide simulations of water availability, floods, and droughts. The accuracy of these simulations is often quantified with so-called performance scores. A common thought is that different models are more or less applicable to different landscapes, depending on how the model works. We show that performance scores are not helpful in distinguishing between different models and thus cannot easily be used to select an appropriate model for a specific place.
Fabián Lema, Pablo A. Mendoza, Nicolás A. Vásquez, Naoki Mizukami, Mauricio Zambrano-Bigiarini, and Ximena Vargas
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 1981–2002, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1981-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1981-2025, 2025
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Hydrological droughts affect ecosystems and socioeconomic activities worldwide. Despite the fact that they are commonly described with the Standardized Streamflow Index (SSI), there is limited understanding of what they truly reflect in terms of water cycle processes. Here, we used state-of-the-art hydrological models in Andean basins to examine drivers of SSI fluctuations. The results highlight the importance of careful selection of indices and timescales for accurate drought characterization and monitoring.
Mari R. Tye, Ming Ge, Jadwiga H. Richter, Ethan D. Gutmann, Allyson Rugg, Cindy L. Bruyère, Sue Ellen Haupt, Flavio Lehner, Rachel McCrary, Andrew J. Newman, and Andy Wood
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 1117–1133, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1117-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1117-2025, 2025
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There is a perceived mismatch between the spatial scales on which global climate models can produce data and those needed for water management decisions. However, poor communication of specific metrics relevant to local decisions is also a problem. We assessed the credibility of a set of water management decision metrics in the Community Earth System Model v2 (CESM2). CESM2 shows potentially greater use of its output in long-range water management decisions.
Louise Arnal, Martyn P. Clark, Alain Pietroniro, Vincent Vionnet, David R. Casson, Paul H. Whitfield, Vincent Fortin, Andrew W. Wood, Wouter J. M. Knoben, Brandi W. Newton, and Colleen Walford
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 4127–4155, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4127-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-4127-2024, 2024
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Forecasting river flow months in advance is crucial for water sectors and society. In North America, snowmelt is a key driver of flow. This study presents a statistical workflow using snow data to forecast flow months ahead in North American snow-fed rivers. Variations in the river flow predictability across the continent are evident, raising concerns about future predictability in a changing (snow) climate. The reproducible workflow hosted on GitHub supports collaborative and open science.
Guoqiang Tang, Andrew W. Wood, Andrew J. Newman, Martyn P. Clark, and Simon Michael Papalexiou
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 1153–1173, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-1153-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-1153-2024, 2024
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Ensemble geophysical datasets are crucial for understanding uncertainties and supporting probabilistic estimation/prediction. However, open-access tools for creating these datasets are limited. We have developed the Python-based Geospatial Probabilistic Estimation Package (GPEP). Through several experiments, we demonstrate GPEP's ability to estimate precipitation, temperature, and snow water equivalent. GPEP will be a useful tool to support uncertainty analysis in Earth science applications.
Nicolás Cortés-Salazar, Nicolás Vásquez, Naoki Mizukami, Pablo A. Mendoza, and Ximena Vargas
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 27, 3505–3524, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-3505-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-3505-2023, 2023
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This paper shows how important river models can be for water resource applications that involve hydrological models and, in particular, parameter calibration. To this end, we conduct numerical experiments in a pilot basin using a combination of hydrologic model simulations obtained from a large sample of parameter sets and different routing methods. We find that routing can affect streamflow simulations, even at monthly time steps; the choice of parameters; and relevant streamflow metrics.
Louise J. Slater, Louise Arnal, Marie-Amélie Boucher, Annie Y.-Y. Chang, Simon Moulds, Conor Murphy, Grey Nearing, Guy Shalev, Chaopeng Shen, Linda Speight, Gabriele Villarini, Robert L. Wilby, Andrew Wood, and Massimiliano Zappa
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 27, 1865–1889, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-1865-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-1865-2023, 2023
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Hybrid forecasting systems combine data-driven methods with physics-based weather and climate models to improve the accuracy of predictions for meteorological and hydroclimatic events such as rainfall, temperature, streamflow, floods, droughts, tropical cyclones, or atmospheric rivers. We review recent developments in hybrid forecasting and outline key challenges and opportunities in the field.
Zhi Li, Shang Gao, Mengye Chen, Jonathan Gourley, Naoki Mizukami, and Yang Hong
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 6181–6196, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-6181-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-6181-2022, 2022
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Operational streamflow prediction at a continental scale is critical for national water resources management. However, limited computational resources often impede such processes, with streamflow routing being one of the most time-consuming parts. This study presents a recent development of a hydrologic system that incorporates a vector-based routing scheme with a lake module that markedly speeds up streamflow prediction. Moreover, accuracy is improved and flood false alarms are mitigated.
Ulises M. Sepúlveda, Pablo A. Mendoza, Naoki Mizukami, and Andrew J. Newman
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 3419–3445, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-3419-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-3419-2022, 2022
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This paper characterizes parameter sensitivities across more than 5500 grid cells for a commonly used macroscale hydrological model, including a suite of eight performance metrics and 43 soil, vegetation and snow parameters. The results show that the model is highly overparameterized and, more importantly, help to provide guidance on the most relevant parameters for specific target processes across diverse climatic types.
Inne Vanderkelen, Shervan Gharari, Naoki Mizukami, Martyn P. Clark, David M. Lawrence, Sean Swenson, Yadu Pokhrel, Naota Hanasaki, Ann van Griensven, and Wim Thiery
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 4163–4192, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-4163-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-4163-2022, 2022
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Human-controlled reservoirs have a large influence on the global water cycle. However, dam operations are rarely represented in Earth system models. We implement and evaluate a widely used reservoir parametrization in a global river-routing model. Using observations of individual reservoirs, the reservoir scheme outperforms the natural lake scheme. However, both schemes show a similar performance due to biases in runoff timing and magnitude when using simulated runoff.
Guoqiang Tang, Martyn P. Clark, Simon Michael Papalexiou, Andrew J. Newman, Andrew W. Wood, Dominique Brunet, and Paul H. Whitfield
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 3337–3362, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-3337-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-3337-2021, 2021
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Probabilistic estimates are useful to quantify the uncertainties in meteorological datasets. This study develops the Ensemble Meteorological Dataset for North America (EMDNA). EMDNA has 100 members with daily precipitation amount, mean daily temperature, and daily temperature range at 0.1° spatial resolution from 1979 to 2018. It is expected to be useful for hydrological and meteorological applications in North America.
Manuela I. Brunner, Eric Gilleland, and Andrew W. Wood
Earth Syst. Dynam., 12, 621–634, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-12-621-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-12-621-2021, 2021
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Compound hot and dry events can lead to severe impacts whose severity may depend on their timescale and spatial extent. Here, we show that the spatial extent and timescale of compound hot–dry events are strongly related, spatial compound event extents are largest at
sub-seasonal timescales, and short events are driven more by high temperatures, while longer events are more driven by low precipitation. Future climate impact studies should therefore be performed at different timescales.
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Short summary
We present a new strategy to calibrate large-domain land/hydrology models over diverse regions. Using the Structure for Unifying Multiple Modeling Alternatives (SUMMA) and mizuRoute models, our approach integrates catchment attributes, parameters, and performance metrics to optimize streamflow simulations. Leveraging advances in machine learning for hydrology, we improve calibration and enable regionalization to ungauged basins, which is valuable for national-scale water security studies.
We present a new strategy to calibrate large-domain land/hydrology models over diverse regions....
