TITLE:
Analyzing the Mara River Basin Behaviour through Rainfall-Runoff Modeling
AUTHORS:
Anne M. Birundu, Benedict M. Mutua
KEYWORDS:
Hydrological Models, Satellite Data, HBV Light Model, Mara River Basin
JOURNAL NAME:
International Journal of Geosciences,
Vol.8 No.9,
September
22,
2017
ABSTRACT: Hydrological models are considered as necessary tools for water and environmental
resource management. However, modelling poorly gauged watersheds
has been a challenge to hydrologists and hydraulic engineers. Research
done recently has shown the potential to overcome this challenge through incorporating
satellite based hydrological and meteorological data in the measured
data. This paper presents results for a study that used the semi-distributed
conceptual HBV Light Model to model the rainfall-runoff in the Mara River
Basin, Kenya. The model simulates runoff as a function of rainfall. It is built
on the basis established between satellite observed and in-situ rainfall, evaporation,
temperature and the measured runoff. The model’s performance and
reliability were evaluated over two sub-catchments namely: Nyangores and
Amala in the Mara River Basin using the Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency which the
model referred to as Reff and the coefficient of determination (R2). The Reff for
Nyangores and Amala during the calibration and (validation) period were
0.65 (0.68) and 0.59 (0.62) respectively. The model showed good flow simulations
particularly during the recession flows, in the Nyangores sub-catchment
whereas it simulated poorly the short term fluctuations of the high-flow for
Amala sub-catchment. Results from this study can be used by water resources
managers to make informed decision on planning and management of water
resources.