Physical and Statistical Simulations of Daily Streamflow (2000-2010) across the Continental United States for an Analysis of Blended Simulation Methods

This data set serves to archive the data, analysis and models of the associated publication entitled "Calibration of the USGS National Hydrologic Model in Ungauged Basins Using Statistical At-Site Streamflow Simulations" as published in the Journal of Hydrologic Engineering. The input data files included here as comma-separated values contain measured streamflow, streamflow simulated by the Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System calibrated to measured streamflow, streamflow simulated by the Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System calibrated to streamflow simulated by pooled ordinary kriging, and streamflow simulated by pooled ordinary kriging at 1,410 streamgage locations across the United States. These data sets, built on previously published models, are assessed in the included analysis script (R programming language) to reproduce the findings of the associated manuscript. The manuscript argues that statistically generated daily streamflow can be used to support the ability of physical models to represent hydrologic processes at ungauged locations. The objective of this study was to determine the feasibility of using simulations in place of measured streamflow to calibrate physical models in ungauged basins. Calibrating with statistically simulated streamflow produced performances within 23% of applications with knowledge of at-site measurements. Furthermore, statistically generated streamflows produced accurate timing information, which, when combined with alternative data sets (e.g., evapotranspiration, recharge, etc.), can be used to improve representation of hydrologic processes at ungauged locations.