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Experience from applications of the HBV hydrological model from the perspective of prediction in ungauged basins

Sten Bergström

The Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute, SE-601 76 Norrköping, Sweden

sten.bergstrom@smhi.se

Abstract Since its introduction in the 1970s the HBV hydrological model has been applied in more than 50 countries and it is now a standard tool for hydrologists in the Nordic area. It has appeared in many shapes and for a great number of applications. Many of these are in basins with poor data coverage or even ungauged basins. The latter is, for example, the case in the nationwide hydrological mappings carried out in Finland, Norway and Sweden. It has also been used in many river basins where uncalibrated output from a hydrological model is the only realistic option due to shortage of data. These results are produced in a rather pragmatic way, with generalized parameter values, but they are much better than nothing. Ungauged simulations have opened new possibilities in hydrological modelling. In Sweden the total transport of nutrient to the Baltic Sea could be simulated and the step from limited basin studies of impacts of climate change to nationwide assessment was made possible. The paper reviews the history of the HBV model with the focus on discussion of prediction in ungauged basins.

Key words hydrological modelling; prediction in ungauged basins

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