Author(s): Lihua Xiong; Kieran M. O’Connor; Monomoy Goswami
Linked Author(s):
Keywords: Flood forecasting; Artificial neural network (ANN); Karsticcatchment
Abstract: In this paper, the artificial neural network (ANN) model is employed in the application of flood forecasting on a karstic catchment, namely the Fergus catchment. Normally the rainfall-runoff relationship on the karstic catchments appears to be highly non-linear and is very difficult to simulate. Since the ANN is mainly designed for the approximation of non-linear relationships, then its use is indicated for rainfall-runoff modeling on karstic catchments. The Fergus catchment is located at Ballycorey in County Clare, Ireland, with an area of 512 km`2. Daily data is used to test the ANN model, covering the period from June 01,1977 to December 31,1999. The calibration period is from June 01,1977 to May 31,1994, and the verification period is from June 01,1994 to December 31,1999. The Nash model efficiency index of the ANN is shown to be 98.37% in the calibration period and 97.44 in the verification period, which is very impressive and can be considered successful. The conclusion is drawn that the ANN model can be used for flood forecasting in karstic catchments that have a very strong non-linear rainfall-runoff relationship.
Year: 2001