SMASH Spatially distributed Modeling and Assimilation for Hydrology denotes a computational code aiming at simulating discharge hydrographs and hydrological states at any spatial location within a basin and reproduce the hydrological response of contrasted catchments. It contains several hydrological operators and flexible model structures with data assimilation and sensitivity analysis algorithms. The code is designed both for operational forecasting of floods and low flows, and can take advantage of spatially distributed meteorological forcings, physiographic data and hydrometric observations.
The code is available on GitHub and its SPHINX documentation on the Documentation page.
The basic technologies of the code are described in the Shared technologies for all codes page.
SMASH is a modular platform that contains conceptual representations and numerical approximations of dominant hydrological processes while aiming to maintain a relative parsimony. It also contains several algorithms for pre and post-processing, signal analysis, model optimization and data assimilation over large datasets. It originally enables to use variational data assimilation and hybrid methods based on statistical/machine learning approaches. SMASH enables to work at multiple spatio-temporal resolutions, with heterogeneous data in nature and sampling.
Multiple flow operators can be combined to describe spatialized hydrological processes at pixel scale, including runoff production, and flow routing towards catchment outlet. These operators are based on effective and widely used conceptualizations and models used in the hydrology community.
Several optimization algorithms can be considered: see Shared technologies for all codes .
Different estimation methods have been investigated, for example: