Author(s)

Phan Thi Thanh Hang

Department of Surface Water Resources, Institute of Geography, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, Hanoi, Vietnam.

Due to the limitation of data sources, the application of Distributed Hydrological Models (DHMs) using earth observation data to research water resources is necessary. In this study, the BTOPMC (Block-wise use of TOPMODEL) model was applied for 2 basins in the tropical monsoon region. This is the first time that the land cover map of the CCI (Climate Change Initiative Land Cover Team) was prepared for input data instead of IGBP (International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme) land cover map as proposed in the demo version of the BTOPMC model. The calibration and validation results showed that the Nash-Sutcliffe coefficients for daily stream discharge were 77.5% and 68.7% at Cung Son station (Ba basin). The Nash-Sutcliffe coefficients for daily stream discharge were 79.4% and 69.0% at Binh Tuong station (Kone basin), respectively. Because of a stop in measuring the discharge at Binh Tuong station in 2007, this model was applied to simulate discharge during the period of 2008-2015. Furthermore, the effect of land cover on discharge at Cung Son station was considered. The annual discharge in 2010 at Cung Son decreased 8 m³/s in the comparison between two scenarios (land cover of 2000 and 2010). According to this result, it is possible to propose a wide application range of the DHMs model to the tropical monsoon river basins using earth observation data.

Distributed Hydrological Model, Tropical Monsoon, Discharge, Land Cover, Earth Observation Data

Thi Thanh Hang, P. (2019) Applying the Distributed Hydrological Model for Tropical Monsoon Basins by Using Earth Observation Data (Case Studies: Kone and Ba River Basins). Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection, 7, 23-37. doi: 10.4236/gep.2019.71003.