Major steps in the calibration process
The recommendations given here are primarily intended for determining initial parameter values when no nearby headwater areas with similar characteristics have been previously calibrated.
When nearby basins have been previously calibrated, many of the initial parameter estimates for the snow and soil moisture accounting models can be obtained from the final parameter values for the nearby basins.
An initial estimate of the temporal distribution function, which indicates the response of the channel system to runoff, should be determined for each individual basin since each basin has a unique temporal distribution function.
If there are differences in physiographic conditions between the basin being calibrated and nearby basins that were previously calibrated, these differences should be taken into account before using the parameters from nearby basins as initial estimates.
The selection of initial parameter values is only one step in the overall calibration process.
However, it is a very important step because good initial estimates of the parameter values will reduce the number of adjustments that are needed to obtain an optimum parameter set, thus simplifying the entire calibration process.
