Objectivity verification experiment of the dynamic system response curve method for streamflow simulation.

• The objectivity verification experiment of the dynamic system response curve (DSRC) method was designed based on multiple hydrological models. • The experiment in Sunshui River and Shiquan catchments presented that the use of DSRC-corrected rainfall series of each hydrological model showed improved simulation accuracy for other hydrological models. • The hypothesis that the DSRC method is objective is not rejected based on the results of the experiment. Error correction methods are widely used to improve the performance of streamflow modeling. The Dynamic system response curve (DSRC) is a newly developed error correction method that utilizes error feedback correction to obtain updated variables and thus enhances model accuracy. While the DSRC method is simple and practical, its objectivity has not been systematically demonstrated. To address this issue, the paper proposes an experiment to verify its objectivity. First, three hydrological models (Xinanjiang (XAJ), Hydrologiska Byråns Vattenavdelning (HBV) and vertically hybrid yielding (VHY)) were calibrated and three corrected areal mean rainfall series were obtained by using the DSRC-based models (XAJ-DSRC, HBV-DSRC and VHY-DSRC). The corrected rainfall series from one hydrological model was then used as input to other hydrological models, and its performance was compared to those of using the original rainfall series by five performance measures (Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency coefficient (NSE), root mean squared error (RMSE), percent bias (PBIAS), mean absolute error (MAE) and correlation coefficient (R)). Finally, this objectivity verification experiment was applied to different model combinations for further demonstration. Case studies of the Sunshui River and Shiquan catchments in China showed that when the DSRC-corrected rainfall series from either hydrological model was applied to the original or other hydrological models, an increase in NSE and R values and a decrease in RMSE and MAE values were observed. The absolute values of PBIAS were within 10%. Accordingly, the hypothesis that the DSRC method is objective is not rejected based on the results of the experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]