Moghairib et al. (2026) A Model‐Agnostic Representation of Prairie Pothole Hydrology: Enhancing Generality and Implementation Across Hydrological Models

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: Water Resources Research
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-03-31
• Authors: Mohamed Ismaiel Moghairib, Martyn P. Clark, Alain Pietroniro, Tricia Stadnyk
• DOI: 10.1029/2025wr043074

Research Groups

Not available in the provided abstract.

Short Summary

This paper introduces HDSv2, an open-source and model-agnostic module designed to improve streamflow modeling in pothole-dominated regions by representing dynamic contributing area and storage-discharge hysteresis. Integrating HDSv2 into various hydrological models significantly enhances numerical stability, process fidelity, and the reproduction of observed hydrographs and depressional storage relationships.

Objective

• To develop and present HDSv2, a second-generation Hysteretic Depressional Storage module, that is open-source, model-agnostic, numerically robust, and physically grounded, to accurately represent dynamic contributing area and storage–discharge hysteresis in low-lying, flat, and pothole-dominated regions.
• To demonstrate that HDSv2 improves numerical stability, process fidelity, and hydrograph simulation when coupled with diverse hydrological and land-surface models compared to their original configurations.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Smith Creek River Basin, Canada (basin scale)
• Temporal Scale: Not explicitly mentioned in the abstract.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: HDSv2 (Hysteretic Depressional Storage module), HYPE (Hydrological Predictions for the Environment), MESH (Modélisation Environnementale communautaire—Surface and Hydrology), SUMMA (Structure for Unifying Multiple Modeling Alternatives).
• Data sources: Observations (implied for hydrographs and relationships between depressional storage and contributing area).

Main Results

• HDSv2 significantly improves numerical stability and process fidelity compared to the original HDS model, particularly resolving instabilities in contributing-area simulation within HYPE.
• Integrating HDSv2 produces more robust hydrographs across all tested host models (HYPE, MESH, SUMMA) compared to their original configurations.
• The module better reproduces observed relationships between depressional storage and contributing area.
• Additional performance metrics consistently show gains in both high and low flow conditions across different host models.

Contributions

• Presents HDSv2, a novel, open-source, model-agnostic, and numerically robust module grounded in physical understanding for simulating dynamic contributing area and storage–discharge hysteresis in pothole-dominated regions.
• Addresses key limitations of previous modeling approaches, such as fixed capacity spill, heavy calibration reliance, unsuitability for large basins, and lack of model agnosticism.
• Demonstrates the transferability and scalability of HDSv2 by successfully coupling it with three diverse hydrological models (HYPE, MESH, SUMMA) and showing consistent performance improvements.

Funding

Not available in the provided abstract.

Citation

@article{Moghairib2026ModelAgnostic,
  author = {Moghairib, Mohamed Ismaiel and Clark, Martyn P. and Pietroniro, Alain and Stadnyk, Tricia},
  title = {A Model‐Agnostic Representation of Prairie Pothole Hydrology: Enhancing Generality and Implementation Across Hydrological Models},
  journal = {Water Resources Research},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1029/2025wr043074},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1029/2025wr043074}
}