Rainfall-runoff process models validation

The model validation of the rainfall-runoff process is based on the study of the characteristic parameters of a basin, establishing for them an specific range of values that allow to estimate periodic floods with a view to preventing hydrological risk to which may be subject a certain community members. This paper develops a methodology to validate models of rainfall-runoff process in the watershed of the Rio Cabriales, in order to simulate flows that are statistically comparable with the observed values. In hydraulic engineering, it is difficult to analyze natural phenomena with only a mathematical model, require instead cause and effect relationships, as with those referring to the rainfall-runoff process. In this paper, the synthetic unit hydrograph models of C.O. Clark, Soil Conservation Service (SCS) and Snyder are compared applying ArcGIS 10.0, HEC-GEOHMS 1.0 and 3.5 HEC-HMS software. In the calibration, phase Clark unit hydrograph and Snyder reproduce better the measured output hydrograph of the evaluated basin. In the calibration phase, the estimation error is less for the case of SCS unit hydrograph.