Most cited papers in Hydrology and Watershed Management Studies
What are the most cited papers in Hydrology and Watershed Management Studies?
The most cited paper in Hydrology and Watershed Management Studies is "River flow forecasting through conceptual models part I — A discussion of principles" (J.E. Nash, John V. Sutcliffe, 1970), with 24,392 citations. Next come "Model Evaluation Guidelines for Systematic Quantification of Accuracy in Watershed Simulations" (13,590) and "A Multiscalar Drought Index Sensitive to Global Warming: The Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index" (9,596).
Showing 50 of 99 papers. Every paper with more than 1,503 citations is listed.
| # | Paper | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | River flow forecasting through conceptual models part I — A discussion of principles J.E. Nash, John V. Sutcliffe · Journal of Hydrology | Apr 1970 | 24,392 |
| 2 | Model Evaluation Guidelines for Systematic Quantification of Accuracy in Watershed Simulations Daniel N. Moriasi, Jeffery G. Arnold, Mike W. Van Liew et al. · Transactions of the ASABE | 2007 | 13,590 |
| 3 | A Multiscalar Drought Index Sensitive to Global Warming: The Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index Sergio Martín Vicente-Serrano, Santiago Beguerı́a, Juan Ignacio López‐Moreno · Journal of Climate | 19 Nov 2009 | 9,596 |
| 4 | LARGE AREA HYDROLOGIC MODELING AND ASSESSMENT PART I: MODEL DEVELOPMENT 1 J. G. Arnold, Raghavan Srinivasan, R. S. Muttiah et al. · JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association | Feb 1998 | 8,054 |
| 5 | The use of the Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) in the delineation of open water features Stuart K. McFeeters · International Journal of Remote Sensing | May 1996 | 7,778 |
| 6 | Decomposition of the mean squared error and NSE performance criteria: Implications for improving hydrological modelling Hoshin V. Gupta, Harald Kling, Koray K. Yılmaz et al. · Journal of Hydrology | 9 Aug 2009 | 7,007 |
| 7 | A physically based, variable contributing area model of basin hydrology / Un modèle à base physique de zone d'appel variable de l'hydrologie du bassin versant Keith John Beven, Mike J. Kirkby · Hydrological Sciences Bulletin | Mar 1979 | 6,834 |
| 8 | The Natural Flow Regime N. LeRoy Poff, J. David Allan, Mark B. Bain et al. · BioScience | Dec 1997 | 6,478 |
| 9 | Quantitative analysis of watershed geomorphology Arthur N. Strahler · Transactions American Geophysical Union | Dec 1957 | 6,044 |
| 10 | High-resolution mapping of global surface water and its long-term changes Jean‐François Pekel, Andrew Cottam, Noel Gorelick et al. · Nature | 6 Dec 2016 | 5,407 |
| 11 | ERA5-Land: a state-of-the-art global reanalysis dataset for land applications Joaquín Muñoz‐Sabater, Emanuel Dutra, Anna Agustí‐Panareda et al. · Earth system science data | 7 Sep 2021 | 5,281 |
| 12 | Global Water Resources: Vulnerability from Climate Change and Population Growth Charles J Vörösmarty, Pamela Green, Joseph E. Salisbury et al. · Science | 14 Jul 2000 | 5,143 |
| 13 | Potential impacts of a warming climate on water availability in snow-dominated regions Tim P. Barnett, J. C. Adam, Dennis P. Lettenmaier · Nature | Nov 2005 | 4,994 |
| 14 | The future of distributed models: Model calibration and uncertainty prediction Keith Beven, Andrew M. Binley · Hydrological Processes | Jul 1992 | 4,690 |
| 15 | Global Hydrological Cycles and World Water Resources Taikan Oki, Shinjiro Kanae · Science | 24 Aug 2006 | 4,472 |
| 16 | Climate Change Will Affect the Asian Water Towers Walter Willem Immerzeel, Ludovicus P. H. van Beek, Marc F. P. Bierkens · Science | 10 Jun 2010 | 4,255 |
| 17 | Landscapes and Riverscapes: The Influence of Land Use on Stream Ecosystems J. David Allan · Annual Review of Ecology Evolution and Systematics | 2 Nov 2004 | 3,653 |
| 18 | Fragmentation and Flow Regulation of the World's Large River Systems Christer F. Nilsson, Catherine Ann Reidy, Mats Dynesius et al. · Science | 14 Apr 2005 | 3,529 |
| 19 | Digital terrain modelling: A review of hydrological, geomorphological, and biological applications Ian D. Moore, Rodger B. Grayson, Anthony Richard Ladson · Hydrological Processes | 1991 | 3,509 |
| 20 | SWAT: Model Use, Calibration, and Validation Jeffrey G. Arnold, Daniel N. Moriasi, Philip Walter Gassman et al. · Transactions of the ASABE | 2012 | 3,460 |
| 21 | Basic Principles and Ecological Consequences of Altered Flow Regimes for Aquatic Biodiversity Stuart Edward Bunn, Angela H. Arthington · Environmental Management | Oct 2002 | 3,392 |
| 22 | Understanding: the Drought Phenomenon: The Role of Definitions Donald A. Wilhite, Michael H. Glantz · Water International | 1985 | 3,202 |
| 23 | Physiographically sensitive mapping of climatological temperature and precipitation across the conterminous United States Christopher Daly, Michael D. Halbleib, Joseph I. Smith et al. · International Journal of Climatology | 12 Mar 2008 | 3,195 |
| 24 | The community Noah land surface model with multiparameterization options (Noah-MP): 1. Model description and evaluation with local-scale measurements Guo‐Yue Niu, Zong‐Liang Yang, Kenneth E. Mitchell et al. · Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres | 24 Jun 2011 | 3,137 |
| 25 | Global flood risk under climate change Yukiko Hirabayashi, Mahendran Roobavannan, Sujan Koirala et al. · Nature Climate Change | 9 Jun 2013 | 3,120 |
| 26 | Constraints on future changes in climate and the hydrologic cycle Myles R. Allen, William J Ingram · Nature | 11 Sep 2002 | 3,097 |
| 27 | The Soil and Water Assessment Tool: Historical Development, Applications, and Future Research Directions Philip Walter Gassman, Manuel R. Reyes, C. H. Green et al. · Transactions of the ASABE | 2007 | 3,087 |
| 28 | Improvements to a MODIS global terrestrial evapotranspiration algorithm Qiaozhen Mu, Maosheng Zhao, Steven W. Running · Remote Sensing of Environment | 15 Apr 2011 | 2,914 |
| 29 | The urban stream syndrome: current knowledge and the search for a cure Christopher John Walsh, Allison H. Roy, Jack W. Feminella et al. · Journal of the North American Benthological Society | Sep 2005 | 2,904 |
| 30 | Comparison of different efficiency criteria for hydrological model assessment Peter Krause, D. P. Boyle, Frank Bäse · Advances in geosciences | 16 Dec 2005 | 2,877 |
| 31 | A Statistical-Topographic Model for Mapping Climatological Precipitation over Mountainous Terrain Christopher Daly, Ronald P. Neilson, Donald L. Phillips · Journal of applied meteorology | Feb 1994 | 2,831 |
| 32 | Streams in the Urban Landscape Michael J. Paul, Judy L. Meyer · Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics | Nov 2001 | 2,814 |
| 33 | The extraction of drainage networks from digital elevation data John F. O'Callaghan, David M Mark · Computer Vision Graphics and Image Processing | Dec 1984 | 2,804 |
| 34 | A manifesto for the equifinality thesis Keith John Beven · Journal of Hydrology | 3 Sep 2005 | 2,721 |
| 35 | Soil Water Characteristic Estimates by Texture and Organic Matter for Hydrologic Solutions K. E. Saxton, W. J. Rawls · Soil Science Society of America Journal | 3 Aug 2006 | 2,631 |
| 36 | A review of catchment experiments to determine the effect of vegetation changes on water yield and evapotranspiration Jan Bosch, John D. Hewlett · Journal of Hydrology | Feb 1982 | 2,621 |
| 37 | High‐resolution mapping of the world's reservoirs and dams for sustainable river‐flow management Bernhard Lehner, Catherine Reidy Liermann, Carmen Revenga et al. · Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment | 31 May 2011 | 2,601 |
| 38 | A new method for the determination of flow directions and upslope areas in grid digital elevation models David Gavin Tarboton · Water Resources Research | Feb 1997 | 2,535 |
| 39 | New Global Hydrography Derived From Spaceborne Elevation Data Bernhard Lehner, Kristine L. Verdin, Andy Jarvis · Eos | 4 Mar 2008 | 2,526 |
| 40 | A Method for Assessing Hydrologic Alteration within Ecosystems Brian D. Richter, Jeffrey V. Baumgartner, Jennifer R. Powell et al. · Conservation Biology | Aug 1996 | 2,520 |
| 41 | Development and validation of a global database of lakes, reservoirs and wetlands Bernhard Lehner, Petra Döll · Journal of Hydrology | 6 Jul 2004 | 2,516 |
| 42 | Mapping the world’s free-flowing rivers Günther Grill et al. · Nature | 8 May 2019 | 2,486 |
| 43 | Evidence for intensification of the global water cycle: Review and synthesis Thomas G. Huntington · Journal of Hydrology | 23 Aug 2005 | 2,433 |
| 44 | A method of sampling coarse river‐bed material M. Gordon Wolman · Transactions American Geophysical Union | Dec 1954 | 2,393 |
| 45 | Recent decline in the global land evapotranspiration trend due to limited moisture supply Martin Jung et al. · Nature | Oct 2010 | 2,356 |
| 46 | A hierarchical framework for stream habitat classification: Viewing streams in a watershed context Christopher A. Frissell, William J. Liss, Charles E. Warren et al. · Environmental Management | Mar 1986 | 2,354 |
| 47 | Global pattern of trends in streamflow and water availability in a changing climate Paul C. D. Milly, K. A. Dunne, Aldo V. Vecchia · Nature | Nov 2005 | 2,352 |
| 48 | Bias correction of regional climate model simulations for hydrological climate-change impact studies: Review and evaluation of different methods Claudia Teutschbein, Jan Seibert · Journal of Hydrology | 5 Jun 2012 | 2,305 |
| 49 | Equifinality, data assimilation, and uncertainty estimation in mechanistic modelling of complex environmental systems using the GLUE methodology Keith John Beven, Jim E. Freer · Journal of Hydrology | Aug 2001 | 2,272 |
| 50 | Status of Automatic Calibration for Hydrologic Models: Comparison with Multilevel Expert Calibration Hoshin V. Gupta, Soroosh Sorooshian, Patrice Ogou Yapo · Journal of Hydrologic Engineering | Apr 1999 | 2,258 |
Citations are OpenAlex's own counts, from its 2026-09-23 snapshot, so the ranking can differ from Google Scholar or Web of Science. A paper is listed for a field when OpenAlex files it under one of the field's topics; retracted papers and papers whose citation count cannot be traced to citing works are left out, and a preprint and the article it became are shown once. Release dates are OpenAlex's: where a source gave only a month or a year, that is what is shown. How the lists are chosen.