Evaluation of CFSR climate data for hydrologic prediction in data-scarce watersheds: an application in the Blue Nile River Basin

The study compared CFSR climate data against conventional weather data using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool to simulate streamflow in the Lake Tana basin. While conventional data performed better overall, CFSR data is identified as a valuable alternative for hydrological predictions in remote, data-scarce areas where gauges are unavailable.

• Conventional weather simulations outperformed CFSR weather simulations in predicting observed streamflow at four river gauging stations in the Lake Tana basin; conventional data performed satisfactorily (NSE ≥ 0.5) at three stations, whereas CFSR data did so at two.
• CFSR and conventional weather simulations produced similar results for annual crop yields across four administrative zones and showed minor differences in water balance components in most watersheds, except for one where CFSR data overestimated average annual rainfall and subsequent water balance components.
• Despite the superior performance of conventional data, CFSR weather data is considered a useful option for hydrological predictions in remote parts of the Upper Blue Nile basin where conventional gauges are missing.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2014). Evaluation of CFSR climate data for hydrologic prediction in data-scarce watersheds: an application in the Blue Nile River Basin. https://www.sei.org/publications/evaluation-of-cfsr-climate-data-for-hydrologic-prediction-in-data-scarce-watersheds-an-application-in-the-blue-nile-river-basin/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Evaluation of CFSR climate data for hydrologic prediction in data-scarce watersheds: an application in the Blue Nile River Basin. 2014. https://www.sei.org/publications/evaluation-of-cfsr-climate-data-for-hydrologic-prediction-in-data-scarce-watersheds-an-application-in-the-blue-nile-river-basin/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Evaluation of CFSR climate data for hydrologic prediction in data-scarce watersheds: an application in the Blue Nile River Basin |date=24 April 2014 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/evaluation-of-cfsr-climate-data-for-hydrologic-prediction-in-data-scarce-watersheds-an-application-in-the-blue-nile-river-basin/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2014evaluation, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Evaluation of CFSR climate data for hydrologic prediction in data-scarce watersheds: an application in the Blue Nile River Basin}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2014}, month = apr, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/evaluation-of-cfsr-climate-data-for-hydrologic-prediction-in-data-scarce-watersheds-an-application-in-the-blue-nile-river-basin/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }