Applying the variable infiltration capacity (VIC) model to reconstructing stream flow data in the Day River basin at Muong Te hydrological station

Abstract

Reconstruction of stream flow in trans national river basins is of great significance in water resource planning and management in Vietnam. Among the ten biggest river basins (each having a total basin area of greater than 10,000 km²) there are eight trans national river basins, and Vietnam is located down stream in the five basins of those eight. These include the Mekong River with 92% of the area belonging to foreign countries; the Red River with 51% located abroad, mainly China; the Đong Nai River with 17% belonging to Cambodia; thế Ma River with nearly 38% belongs to Laos and the Ca River with 35% belongs to Laos. This study uses numerical modeling methods to reconstruct the stream flow from China to Vietnam in the Day River basin ất Muong Te hydrological station. The VIC model was applied with daily climate data (rain, wind speed, maximum and minimum temperature) from 1981 to 2020 to reconstruct stream flow at Muong Te station in the Day River basin. Combining the VIC Model and the Shuffled Complex Evolution method to determine the most suitable set of parameters for the Day River basin creates a powerful tool for studying hydrological processes on river basins. Research results also show thất the stream flow reconstruction for the period before 2008 when the upstream reservoirs were not yet in operation is highly reliable.