How to create a river calibration dataset
    • 02 Nov 2022
    • 3 Minutes to read
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    How to create a river calibration dataset

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    Article Summary

    Calibration datasets are hugely important to reduce the uncertainty in model results. By comparing these known data values for specific events to results produced within Flood Modeller, a user can refine parameters to improve the accuracy of a model. 

    To create (or edit) a river calibration dataset:

    1. Load the river network for which you would like to create a calibration dataset. A river network must be loaded to open the editor tool.
      Note
      You may find this guide helpful: How to load a river network
    2. In the Toolbox panel, navigate to Calibration Tools > 1D River Models and double-click on Cal (time series) File Editor or Cus (long section) File Editor. This will open the selected editor in a new window.
    3. In the Calibration file (or Custom file) field, provide a name for your new calibration dataset, or click the button to the right of this field to open a standard file explorer window and browse to an existing dataset. The Title field is optional; use this to provide a title/comment as needed.
    4. The name and location of the active river network will be displayed in the third field. This will be used to pre-populate various drop-down menus in the tool with the node names.
    5. Within the Calibration File Editor tool, the Time units will be hours by default. Adjust this if needed using the drop-down provided. The Custom File Editor tool does not require the time units to be chosen.
    6. Add your calibration data:
      Calibration (time series) data requires the calibration node(s) to be defined in the table on the left. Click Add to provide data for a new node. You must select the node label and variable – these can be selected from the drop-down lists provided. You can also add a comment, although this is optional. For a selected node, the time(s), and values of your chosen variable at these times should be added to the table on the right.
      Note
      When using real dates/times within the Calibration File Editor tool, all dates are stored in ISO8601 format, but the interface can only show the date/time in the current locale format. When you paste directly into the edit box, the date/time must be in the current locale's format. If you paste date/time data when not editing an individual cell, ISO8601 or the current locale format will be accepted, but if using the latter, the value must also be provided in the second column of the clipboard.
      Custom (long section) data requires dataset(s) to be defined in the table on the left. Click Add to start a new dataset. Your dataset must be given a name, and the variable can be selected from the drop-down list provided. For a selected dataset, the values of your chosen variable for each node should be added to the table on the right. Please note the list of nodes available does not include Interpolate nodes.
    7. Metadata can also be added to this file. Click on the Calibration Metadata (or Custom Data Metadata) tab to add new or view any existing metadata. Commonly used metadata is pre-defined within the top table, and additional data can be provided in the lower table.
      Note
      Although optional, we always recommend users fill in the comments and metadata fields as much as possible as good metadata will enable the data to be understood easily and clearly if revisited at a later date.
    8. Click Save to open a standard file explorer window and select a save location for your data. The filename will be pre-populated with the value provided in step 3; this can be adjusted as required.

    Note
    You can now compare this data to results from your river simulations. See How to add calibration data to river results for further details.

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