A Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering at the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand.

Thesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1975

The aim of this study was to investigate some systematic technique for the calibration of hydrodynamic model s. Mathematical modeling has become almost a major research technique due to availability of high speed computers. This technique is gaining ever increasing preference. Besides many other ones an advantage is the quickness with which problems can be handled as against physical modeling and other techniques. However, accuracy of prediction is based upon efficiency of the model. Model efficiency means the level of hydraulic resemblance between the model and its corresponding real system. A measure of model efficiency is determined by its ability to duplicate a real event as obtained from field records. A poorly calibrated model will not accurately represent actual field conditions whereas a well calibrated one will be able to perform similar to its prototype. Mostly models have been calibrated through a trial and error procedure. In this study a technique has been developed for systematically improving values of the calibration parameters. The procedure however required excessive computing time and hence was less efficient than trial and error methods. The river system existing in the Bicol River Basin of the Philippines was used as the physical system which was modeled mathematically. This model was calibrated using conventional trial and error technique. A formal or systematic procedure which was developed was used to a limited extent. Complete calibration using this method was not performed because of t he excessive computing time which was required.