Authors: Josh Sturtevant – Colorado School of Mines
Title: Building a Community Testbed for Hydrologic Prediction: Examples from CIROH Benchmarking Protocols
Presentation Type: Poster Presentation
Abstract: The CIROH Hydrologic Prediction Testbed (CHPT) is a community-oriented initiative to establish rigorous, quantitative intercomparison and benchmarking of US operational hydrologic forecasts, including the diverse models, methods, and datasets involved. The CHPT addresses a key barrier to progress in the field: the lack of coherence and standards across research and operational prediction systems, which impedes intercomparison, benchmarking, and learning across the field. To streamline the research-to-operations pathway, the CHPT is organized as a collection of standardized experimental protocols, each targeting different forecast capabilities and objectives. In its initial phase, the Testbed has focused on developing a varied set of protocols. Each protocol consists of standardized experimental design, study basins and periods, reference benchmarks, and shared evaluation metrics, promoting transparency and reproducibility. This presentation gives an overview of the CHPT and shares results from several protocols, including: (1) medium-range deterministic streamflow forecasting for flood prediction in the contiguous US, and (2) seasonal water supply forecasting across the western US. These early results demonstrate the practical value of shared protocols within the testbed framework for enabling clearer comparison and more coordinated progress across CIROH efforts.