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Cooperative Institute for Research to Operations in Hydrology

CIROH Training and Developers Conference 2026 Abstract

Authors: Motasem Abualqumboz and David Tarboton– Utah State University; Keith Jennings- University of Vermont  

Title: Componentizing the HBV Hydrological Model Using the Basic Model Interface: Integration and Multi-Model Applications in the NextGen Framework 

Presentation Type: Poster Presentation

Abstract: This paper presents the refactoring and componentization of the Hydrologiska Byråns Vattenbalansavdelning (HBV) model and its major routines using the Basic Model Interface (BMI) to enhance modularity, interoperability, and integration within model-agnostic frameworks such as the Next Generation Water Resources Modeling Framework (NextGen).

An R implementation of HBV was refactored and reimplemented in Python to support standardization through BMI. Subsequently, BMI components were developed for both the full model as well as its individual routines enabling finer-grained componentization and yielding standardized importable and composable model components.

These components were integrated within a multi-model, component-based NextGen formulation that enables data exchange and side-by-side comparison with other NextGen components. This work demonstrates the benefits of using BMI to standardize hydrologic models, promoting reusability, community-driven development, and interoperability across hydrologic modeling applications, while providing a practical roadmap for converting hydrologic models into BMI model components and integration within BMI-complaint frameworks such as NextGen.