scholarly journals Climate and Landscape Controls of Regional Patterns of Flow Duration Curves Across the Continental United States: Statistical Approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 56 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Saba Ghotbi ◽  
Dingbao Wang ◽  
Arvind Singh ◽  
Talea Mayo ◽  
Murugesu Sivapalan
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Statistical Approach ◽  
Regional Patterns ◽  
Flow Duration ◽  
Flow Duration Curves

scholarly journals Exploring the physical controls of regional patterns of flow duration curves – Part 2: Role of seasonality and associated process controls

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 7035-7084 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Ye ◽  
M. A. Yaeger ◽  
E. Coopersmith ◽  
L. Cheng ◽  
M. Sivapalan
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Vegetation Cover ◽  
Model Complexity ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
Regional Patterns ◽  
Flow Duration ◽  
The North ◽  
Physical Controls ◽  
Flow Duration Curves ◽  
Process Controls

Abstract. The goal of this paper is to explore the process controls underpinning regional patterns of variations of runoff regime behavior, i.e., the mean seasonal variation of runoff within the year, across the continental United States. The ultimate motivation is to use the resulting process understanding to generate insights into the physical controls of Flow Duration Curves, in view of the close connection between these two alternative signatures of runoff variability. To achieve these aims a top-down modeling approach is adopted; we start with a simple two-stage bucket model, which is systematically enhanced through addition of new processes on the basis of model performance assessment in relation to observations, using rainfall-runoff data from 197 United States catchments belonging to the MOPEX dataset. Exploration of dominant processes and the determination of required model complexity are carried out through model-based sensitivity analyses, guided by a performance metric. Results indicated systematic regional trends in dominant processes: snowmelt was a key process control in cold mountainous catchments in the north and north-west, whereas snowmelt and vegetation cover dynamics were key controls in the north-east; seasonal vegetation cover dynamics (phenology and interception) were important along the Appalachian mountain range in the east. A simple two-bucket model (with no other additions) was found to be adequate in warm humid catchments along the west coast and in the south-east, with both regions exhibiting strong seasonality, whereas much more complex models are needed in the dry south and south-west. Agricultural catchments in the mid-west were found to be difficult to predict with the use of simple lumped models, due to the strong influence of human activities. Overall, these process controls arose from general east-west (seasonality) and north-south (aridity, temperature) trends in climate (with some exceptions), compounded by complex dynamics of vegetation cover and to a less extent by landscape factors (soils, geology and topography).

scholarly journals Exploring the physical controls of regional patterns of flow duration curves – Part 4: A synthesis of empirical analysis, process modeling and catchment classification

2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (11) ◽  
pp. 4483-4498 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Yaeger ◽  
E. Coopersmith ◽  
S. Ye ◽  
L. Cheng ◽  
A. Viglione ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Low Flow ◽  
Middle Portion ◽  
Qualitative Synthesis ◽  
Statistical Parameters ◽  
Regional Patterns ◽  
Flow Duration ◽  
Analysis Process ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Physical Controls ◽  
Flow Duration Curves

Abstract. The paper reports on a four-pronged study of the physical controls on regional patterns of the flow duration curve (FDC). This involved a comparative analysis of long-term continuous data from nearly 200 catchments around the US, encompassing a wide range of climates, geology, and ecology. The analysis was done from three different perspectives – statistical analysis, process-based modeling, and data-based classification – followed by a synthesis, which is the focus of this paper. Streamflow data were separated into fast and slow flow responses, and associated signatures, and both total flow and its components were analyzed to generate patterns. Regional patterns emerged in all aspects of the study. The mixed gamma distribution described well the shape of the FDC; regression analysis indicated that certain climate and catchment properties were first-order controls on the shape of the FDC. In order to understand the spatial patterns revealed by the statistical study, and guided by the hypothesis that the middle portion of the FDC is a function of the regime curve (RC, mean within-year variation of flow), we set out to classify these catchments, both empirically and through process-based modeling, in terms of their regime behavior. The classification analysis showed that climate seasonality and aridity, either directly (empirical classes) or through phenology (vegetation processes), were the dominant controls on the RC. Quantitative synthesis of these results determined that these classes were indeed related to the FDC through its slope and related statistical parameters. Qualitative synthesis revealed much diversity in the shapes of the FDCs even within each climate-based homogeneous class, especially in the low-flow tails, suggesting that catchment properties may have become the dominant controls. Thus, while the middle portion of the FDC contains the average response of the catchment, and is mainly controlled by climate, the tails of the FDC, notably the low-flow tails, are mainly controlled by catchment properties such as geology and soils. The regime behavior explains only part of the FDC; to gain a deeper understanding of the physical controls on the FDC, these extremes must be analyzed as well. Thus, to completely separate the climate controls from the catchment controls, the roles of catchment properties such as soils, geology, topography etc. must be explored in detail.

scholarly journals Exploring the physical controls of regional patterns of flow duration curves – Part 1: Insights from statistical analyses

2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (11) ◽  
pp. 4435-4446 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Cheng ◽  
M. Yaeger ◽  
A. Viglione ◽  
E. Coopersmith ◽  
S. Ye ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gamma Distribution ◽  
Classical Method ◽  
Regional Patterns ◽  
Flow Duration ◽  
Total Runoff ◽  
Time Symmetry ◽  
Physical Controls ◽  
Flow Duration Curves ◽  
Predictions In Ungauged Basins ◽  
Fast Flow

Abstract. The flow duration curve (FDC) is a classical method used to graphically represent the relationship between the frequency and magnitude of streamflow. In this sense it represents a compact signature of temporal runoff variability that can also be used to diagnose catchment rainfall-runoff responses, including similarity and differences between catchments. This paper is aimed at extracting regional patterns of the FDCs from observed daily flow data and elucidating the physical controls underlying these patterns, as a way to aid towards their regionalization and predictions in ungauged basins. The FDCs of total runoff (TFDC) using multi-decadal streamflow records for 197 catchments across the continental United States are separated into the FDCs of two runoff components, i.e., fast flow (FFDC) and slow flow (SFDC). In order to compactly display these regional patterns, the 3-parameter mixed gamma distribution is employed to characterize the shapes of the normalized FDCs (i.e., TFDC, FFDC and SFDC) over the entire data record. This is repeated to also characterize the between-year variability of "annual" FDCs for 8 representative catchments chosen across a climate gradient. Results show that the mixed gamma distribution can adequately capture the shapes of the FDCs and their variation between catchments and also between years. Comparison between the between-catchment and between-year variability of the FDCs revealed significant space-time symmetry. Possible relationships between the parameters of the fitted mixed gamma distribution and catchment climatic and physiographic characteristics are explored in order to decipher and point to the underlying physical controls. The baseflow index (a surrogate for the collective impact of geology, soils, topography and vegetation, as well as climate) is found to be the dominant control on the shapes of the normalized TFDC and SFDC, whereas the product of maximum daily precipitation and the fraction of non-rainy days was found to control the shape of the FFDC. These relationships, arising from the separation of total runoff into its two components, provide a potential physical basis for regionalization of FDCs, as well as providing a conceptual framework for developing deeper process-based understanding of the FDCs.

scholarly journals Exploring the physical controls of regional patterns of flow duration curves – Part 3: A catchment classification system based on regime curve indicators

2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (11) ◽  
pp. 4467-4482 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Coopersmith ◽  
M. A. Yaeger ◽  
S. Ye ◽  
L. Cheng ◽  
M. Sivapalan
Keyword(s):  
Classification System ◽  
Classification Tree ◽  
Aridity Index ◽  
Ungauged Catchments ◽  
Regional Patterns ◽  
Flow Duration ◽  
Id3 Algorithm ◽  
Physical Controls ◽  
Runoff Regime ◽  
Flow Duration Curves

Abstract. Predictions of hydrological responses in ungauged catchments can benefit from a classification scheme that can organize and pool together catchments that exhibit a level of hydrologic similarity, especially similarity in some key variable or signature of interest. Since catchments are complex systems with a level of self-organization arising from co-evolution of climate and landscape properties, including vegetation, there is much to be gained from developing a classification system based on a comparative study of a population of catchments across climatic and landscape gradients. The focus of this paper is on climate seasonality and seasonal runoff regime, as characterized by the ensemble mean of within-year variation of climate and runoff. The work on regime behavior is part of an overall study of the physical controls on regional patterns of flow duration curves (FDCs), motivated by the fact that regime behavior leaves a major imprint upon the shape of FDCs, especially the slope of the FDCs. As an exercise in comparative hydrology, the paper seeks to assess the regime behavior of 428 catchments from the MOPEX database simultaneously, classifying and regionalizing them into homogeneous or hydrologically similar groups. A decision tree is developed on the basis of a metric chosen to characterize similarity of regime behavior, using a variant of the Iterative Dichotomiser 3 (ID3) algorithm to form a classification tree and associated catchment classes. In this way, several classes of catchments are distinguished, in which the connection between the five catchments' regime behavior and climate and catchment properties becomes clearer. Only four similarity indices are entered into the algorithm, all of which are obtained from smoothed daily regime curves of climatic variables and runoff. Results demonstrate that climate seasonality plays the most significant role in the classification of US catchments, with rainfall timing and climatic aridity index playing somewhat secondary roles in the organization of the catchments. In spite of the tremendous heterogeneity of climate, topography, and runoff behavior across the continental United States, 331 of the 428 catchments studied are seen to fall into only six dominant classes.

scholarly journals Exploring the physical controls of regional patterns of flow duration curves – Part 1: Insights from statistical analyses

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 7001-7034 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Cheng ◽  
M. Yaeger ◽  
A. Viglione ◽  
E. Coopersmith ◽  
S. Ye ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gamma Distribution ◽  
Classical Method ◽  
Regional Patterns ◽  
Flow Duration ◽  
Total Runoff ◽  
Time Symmetry ◽  
Physical Controls ◽  
Flow Duration Curves ◽  
Predictions In Ungauged Basins ◽  
Fast Flow

Abstract. The Flow Duration Curve (FDC) is a classical method used to graphically represent the relationship between the frequency and magnitude of streamflow. In this sense it represents a compact signature of temporal runoff variability that can also be used to diagnose catchment rainfall-runoff responses, including similarity and differences between catchments. This paper is aimed at extracting regional patterns of the FDCs from observed daily flow data and elucidating the physical controls underlying these patterns, as a way to aid towards their regionalization and predictions in ungauged basins. The FDCs of total runoff (TFDC) using multi-decadal streamflow records for 197 catchments across the continental United States are separated into the FDCs of two runoff components, i.e., fast flow (FFDC) and slow flow (SFDC). In order to compactly display these regional patterns the 3-parameter mixed gamma distribution is employed to characterize the shapes of the normalized FDCs (i.e., TFDC, FFDC and SFDC) over the entire data record. This is repeated to also characterize the between-year variability of "annual" FDCs for 8 representative catchments chosen across a climate gradient. Results show that the mixed gamma distribution can adequately capture the shapes of the FDCs and their variation between catchments and also between years. Comparison between the between-catchment and between-year variability of the FDCs revealed significant space-time symmetry. Possible relationships between the parameters of the fitted mixed gamma distribution and catchment climatic and physiographic characteristics are explored in order to decipher and point to the underlying physical controls. The baseflow index (a surrogate for the collective impact of geology, soils, topology and vegetation, as well as climate) is found to be the dominant control on the shapes of the normalized TFDC and SFDC, whereas the product of maximum daily precipitation and the fraction of non-rainy days was found to control the shape of the FFDC. These relationships, arising from the separation of total runoff into its two components, provide a potential physical basis for regionalization of FDCs, as well as providing a conceptual framework for developing deeper process-based understanding of the FDCs.

scholarly journals The probability distribution of daily streamflow in the conterminous United States

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annalise G. Blum ◽  
Richard M. Vogel ◽  
Stacey A. Archfield
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Probability Distribution ◽  
Regression Models ◽  
Probability Distributions ◽  
Practical Method ◽  
Daily Streamflow ◽  
Flow Duration ◽  
Generalized Pareto ◽  
Flow Duration Curves

Abstract. One of the most commonly used tools in hydrology, empirical flow duration curves (FDCs) characterize the frequency with which streamflows are equaled or exceeded. Finding a suitable probability distribution to approximate a FDC enables regionalization and prediction of FDCs in basins that lack streamflow measurements. FDCs constructed from daily streamflow observations can be computed as the period-of-record FDC (POR-FDC) to represent long-term streamflow conditions or as the median annual FDC (MA-FDC) to represent streamflows in a typical year. The goal of this study is to identify suitable probability distributions for both POR-FDCs and MA-FDCs of daily streamflow for unregulated and perennial streams. Comparisons of modeled and empirical FDCs at over 400 unregulated stream gages across the conterminous United States reveal that both the four-parameter kappa (KAP) and three-parameter generalized Pareto (GPA3) distributions can provide reasonable approximations to MA-FDCs; however, even four and five-parameter distributions are unable to capture the complexity of the POR-FDC behavior for which flows often range over five or more orders of magnitude. Regional regression models developed for the mid-Atlantic and Missouri regions as case studies present a simple and practical method to predict MA-FDCs at ungaged sites, which can be accurately predicted more consistently compared to POR-FDCs.

scholarly journals Exploring the physical controls of regional patterns of flow duration curves – Part 4: A synthesis of empirical analysis, process modeling and catchment classification

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 7131-7180 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Yaeger ◽  
E. Coopersmith ◽  
S. Ye ◽  
L. Cheng ◽  
A. Viglione ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Low Flow ◽  
Middle Portion ◽  
Qualitative Synthesis ◽  
Statistical Parameters ◽  
Regional Patterns ◽  
Flow Duration ◽  
Analysis Process ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Physical Controls ◽  
Flow Duration Curves

Abstract. The paper reports on a four-pronged study of the physical controls on regional patterns of the Flow Duration Curve (FDC). This involved a comparative analysis of long-term continuous data from nearly 200 catchments around the US, encompassing a wide range of climates, geology and ecology. The analysis was done from three different perspectives – statistical analysis, process-based modeling, and data-based classification, followed by a synthesis, which is the focus of this paper. Streamflow data was separated into fast and slow flow responses, and associated signatures, and both total flow and its components were analyzed to generate patterns. Regional patterns emerged in all aspects of the study. The mixed gamma distribution described well the shape of the FDC; regression analysis indicated that certain climate and catchment properties were first order controls on the shape of the FDC. In order to understand the spatial patterns revealed by the statistical study, and guided by the hypothesis that the middle portion of the FDC is a function of the regime curve (RC, mean within year variation of flow), we set out to classify these catchments, both empirically and through process-based modeling, in terms of their regime behavior. The classification analysis showed that climate seasonality and aridity, either directly (empirical classes) or through phenology (vegetation processes), were the dominant controls on the RC. Quantitative synthesis of these results determined that these classes were indeed related to the FDC through its slope and related statistical parameters. Qualitative synthesis revealed much diversity in the shapes of the FDCs even within each climate-based homogeneous class, especially in the low-flow tails, suggesting that catchment properties may have become the dominant controls. Thus, while the middle portion of the FDC contains the average response of the catchment, and is mainly controlled by climate, the tails of the FDC, notably the low-flow tails, are mainly controlled by catchment properties such as geology and soils. The regime behavior explains only part of the FDC; to gain a deeper understanding of the physical controls on the FDC, these extremes must be analyzed as well. Thus, to completely separate the climate controls from the catchment controls, the roles of catchment properties such as soils, geology, topography etc., must be explored in detail.

scholarly journals Exploring the physical controls of regional patterns of flow duration curves – Part 3: A catchment classification system based on seasonality and runoff regime

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 7085-7129 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Coopersmith ◽  
M. Yaeger ◽  
S. Ye ◽  
L. Cheng ◽  
M. Sivapalan
Keyword(s):  
Classification System ◽  
Classification Tree ◽  
Aridity Index ◽  
Ungauged Catchments ◽  
Regional Patterns ◽  
Flow Duration ◽  
Id3 Algorithm ◽  
Physical Controls ◽  
Runoff Regime ◽  
Flow Duration Curves

Abstract. Predictions of hydrological responses in ungauged catchments can benefit from a classification scheme that can organize and pool together catchments that exhibit a level of hydrologic similarity, especially similarity in some key variable or signature of interest. Since catchments are complex systems with a level of self-organization arising from co-evolution of climate and landscape properties, including vegetation, there is much to be gained from developing a classification system based on a comparative study of a population of catchments across climatic and landscape gradients. The focus of this paper is on climate seasonality and seasonal runoff regime, as characterized by the ensemble mean of within-year variation of climate and runoff. The work on regime behavior is part of an overall study of the physical controls on regional patterns of Flow Duration Curves (FDCs), motivated by the fact that regime behavior leaves a major imprint upon the shape of FDCs, especially the slope of the FDCs. As an exercise in comparative hydrology, the paper seeks to assess the regime behavior of 428 catchments from the MOPEX database simultaneously, classifying and regionalizing them into homogeneous or hydrologically similar groups. A decision tree is developed on the basis of a metric chosen to characterize similarity of regime behavior, using a variant of the Iterative Dichotomiser (ID3) algorithm to form a classification tree and associated catchment classes. In this way, several classes of catchments are distinguished, in which the connection between the catchments' regime behavior and climate and catchment properties becomes self-evident. Only four similarity indices are entered into the algorithm, all of which are obtained from smoothed daily regime curves of climatic variables and runoff. Results demonstrate that climate seasonality plays the most significant role in the classification of US catchments, with rainfall timing and climatic aridity index playing somewhat secondary roles in the organization of the catchments. In spite of the tremendous heterogeneity of climate, topography, and runoff behavior across the continental US, 331 of the 428 catchments studied are seen to fall into only six dominant classes.

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