Incorporating Ecoregions and Freeze–Thaw Effects Effectively Improves the Accuracy of Machine Learning Models for Baseflow Prediction in Seasonally Frozen Regions

Key Points

• Baseflow prediction accuracy significantly improves when incorporating ecoregions and freeze-thaw effects, enhancing model performance.
• Incorporating these environmental factors leads to increased accuracy by approximately 15% in seasonal observations.
• Evaluation using machine learning algorithms on historical climate data shows a robust correlation with observed baseflow metrics.
• The findings highlight the importance of considering local ecological variations in hydrological modeling.