Downscaling of the flood discharge in a probabilistic framework

Abstract

Many modeled and observed data are in coarse resolution, which are required to be downscaled. This study develops a probabilistic method to downscale 3-hourly runoff to hourly resolution. Hourly data recorded at the Poldokhtar Stream gauge (Karkheh River basin, Iran) during flood events (2009–2019) are divided into two groups including calibration and validation. Statistical tests including Chi-Square and Kolmogorov–Smirnov test indicate that the Burr distribution is proper distribution functions for rising and falling limbs of the floods’ hydrograph in calibration (2009–2013). A conditional ascending/descending random sampling from the constructed distributions on rising/falling limb is applied to produce hourly runoff. The hourly-downscaled runoff is rescaled based on observation to adjust mean three-hourly data. To evaluate the efficiency of the developed method, statistical measures including root mean square error, Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency, Kolmogorov-Smirnov, and correlation are used to assess the performance of the downscaling method not only in calibration but also in validation (2014–2019). Results show that the hourly downscaled runoff is in close agreement with observations in both calibration and validation periods. In addition, cumulative distribution functions of the downscaled runoff closely follow the observed ones in rising and falling limb in two periods. Although the performance of many statistical downscaling methods decreases in extreme values, the developed model performs well at different quantiles (less and more frequent values). This developed method that can properly downscale other hydroclimatological variables at any time and location is useful to provide high-resolution inputs to drive other models. Furthermore, high-resolution data are required for valid and reliable analysis, risk assessment, and management plans.