Application of a distributed hydrologic model to flood forecasting in catchments of different conditions

This paper presents an application of the TOPKAPI model, a physically based, fully distributed hydrologic model, to flood simulation at three unique and flood prone sites in China. The TOPKAPI model was applied with a grid size of I kin X I kin and a time step varying from I to 24 h based on the basin conditions and data availability. Model calibration was chiefly based upon moderate variations of parameter values from the ones estimated on physical grounds. The three case studies demonstrated that the model performed well for flood simulation. The TOPKAPI model represents a comprehensive process-based model, which offers a wide range of capability for flood forecasting application, and has potential in prediction of ungauged basins.