Hydrologic responses of the Zwalm catchment using the REW model: incorporating uncertainty of soil properties

Abstract. The research presented in this paper focuses on an application of a newly developed physically-based watershed model approach, which is called Representative Elementary Watershed (REW) approach. The study stressed the effects of uncertainty of input parameters on the watershed responses (i.e. simulated discharges). The approach was applied to the Zwalm catchment, which is an agriculture dominated watershed with a drainage area of 114.3 km² located in East-Flanders, Belgium. Uncertainty analysis of the model parameters is limited to the saturated hydraulic conductivity because of its high influence on the watershed hydrologic behavior. The assessment of outputs uncertainty is performed using the Monte Carlo method. The ensemble statistical watershed responses and their uncertainties are calculated and compared with the measurements. The results show that the measured discharges are falling within the 95% confidence interval of the modeled discharge.