A quasi-real-time hydrological simulation of the Chao Phraya River using meteorological data from the Thai Meteorological Department Automatic Weather Stations
Naota Hanasaki1, Yusuke Saito1, Chatchai Chaiyasaen2, Adisorn Champathong3,
Chaiwat Ekkawatpanit4, Somkid Saphaokham3, Thada Sukhapunnaphan3,
Santi Sumdin2 and Jaray Thongduang3
1National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan
2Thai Meteorological Department, Thailand
3Royal Irrigation Department, Thailand
4Civil Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, Thailand
Abstract:
A quasi-real-time hydrological simulation system was developed for the Chao Phraya River in Thailand. The system was largely based on ground meteorological observations from the Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) Automatic Weather Stations (AWSs), which are updated daily and available online. As radiation data were not measured by the TMD AWSs, they were obtained from the global meteorological data of the Japan Meteorological Agency Climate Data Assimilation System. A macro-scale water resources model termed H08 was used for hydrological simulations. The model’s hydrological parameters were set from a series of sensitivity simulations for 2012. The model effectively reproduced the monthly hydrograph at the Nakhon Sawan and other major river gauging stations. The performance at the Sirikit Dam was poor, which could be attributed to erroneous input rainfall data due to the low density of AWSs. The simulation was continued up to September 30, 2013, or the date for which the latest data
were available. The overall performance was fair and implied potential applicability of the system for quasi-real-time flood tracking and basic forecasting.
KEYWORDS hydrological model; real-time simulation; Southeast Asia
Hydrological Research Letters 8(1), 9–14 (2014)
Published online in J-STAGE (www.jstage.jst.go.jp/browse/hrl). doi: 10.3178/hrl.8.9
