Simplifying a hydrological ensemble prediction system with a backward greedy selection of members – Part 2: Generalization in time and space
Abstract. An uncertainty cascade model applied to stream flow forecasting seeks to evaluate the different sources of uncertainty of the complex rainfall-runoff process. The current trend focuses on the combination of Meteorological Ensemble Prediction Systems (MEPS) and hydrological model(s). However, the number of members of such a HEPS may rapidly increase to a level that may not be operationally sustainable. This article evaluates a 94% simplification of an initial 800-member HEPS, forcing 16 lumped rainfall-runoff models with the European Center for Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF MEPS). More specifically, it tests the time (local) and space (regional) generalization ability of the simplified 50-member HEPS obtained using a methodology that combines 4 main aspects: (i) optimizing information of the short-length series using k-folds cross-validation, (ii) implementing a backward greedy selection technique, (iii) guiding the selection with a linear combination of diversified scores, and (iv) formulating combination case studies at the cross-validation stage. At the local level, the transferability of the 9th day member selection was proven for the other 8 forecast horizons at an 82% success rate. At the regional level, a good performance was also achieved when the 50-member HEPS was applied to a neighbouring catchment within the same cluster. Diversity, defined as hydrological model complementarities addressing different aspects of a forecast, was identified as the critical factor for proper selection applications.