Assumptions, limitations and appropriate use
Appropriate use
H2OSEG-Ter is particularly useful for:
- preliminary exploration;
- relative comparison of scenarios;
- communication among stakeholders;
- participatory workshops;
- educational activities;
- identifying potential conflicts between demands and environmental flows.
Uses for which it is not intended
It should not be used as the sole basis for:
- operational forecasting;
- infrastructure design;
- legal water allocations;
- emergency management;
- flood forecasting;
- detailed groundwater studies;
- high-resolution hydraulic simulation.
Monthly resolution
The model uses monthly values. It therefore does not represent:
- short-duration extreme events;
- flow peaks;
- daily variability;
- routing times within the month.
Multi-year simulations
If the user does not enter specific modifications, successive years repeat the same monthly pattern of climate and demands.
This makes it possible to study the cumulative effect of repeated seasonal conditions, but does not represent a historical or future series with interannual variability.
Simplified hydrological processes
The model does not explicitly simulate:
- soil moisture;
- distributed infiltration;
- detailed runoff generation;
- aquifers;
- delayed baseflow;
- channel hydraulics;
- complex reservoir operating rules.
Calibration
The hydrological and groundwater-interaction parameters were fitted using monthly data from six gauging stations on unregulated river reaches.
The results should be interpreted as the model’s response to assumptions defined by the user, not as a certain prediction of the basin’s future behaviour.