The UK Hydro-MIP: Lessons learned from a hydrological and land-surface model intercomparison project

The UK Hydro-MIP is a community-led model intercomparison project (MIP) for hydrological and land-surface modelling in the United Kingdom (UK). It was co-developed with the UK hydrological and land-surface modelling community to carry out coordinated modelling of historical streamflow for over 600 catchments across Great Britain. Participants followed a modelling protocol to ensure consistency while representing how models are used in practice. A variety of model types have been contributed, sampling the breadth of river flow modelling in the UK. The model ensemble has been evaluated and benchmarked using observed streamflow records and the participants and wider community were invited to contribute to initial analysis of the model ensemble through a community hackathon event. The resulting data set will be published later this year, providing a valuable resource to the wider hydrological community.

The UK Hydro-MIP provides an important insight into UK hydrological and land-surface modelling, allowing investigations of model uncertainty and highlighting potential research gaps. We present the development of the UK Hydro-MIP, from designing the protocol through to analysis of the results. We will discuss lessons learned from organising this MIP and demonstrate the value of model intercomparisons through our initial results.