Use of Cokriging and Map Correlation to Study Hydrological Response Patterns and Select Reference Stream Gauges for Ungauged Catchments
Publication: Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 19, Issue 2
Abstract
Insufficient unregulated streamflow observation is a practical challenge and limits the effective utilization and management of water resources. In this paper, the recently introduced univariate map-correlation method to select reference stream gauges and estimate daily streamflows at ungauged catchments was evaluated. The concept was further developed into a multivariate map-correlation using ordinary cokriging. The characteristics of the hydrological response correlations among 27 unregulated catchments were used as the primary sources of information for the analyses. In addition, the lack of information about the hydrological response correlations between catchments was supplemented by extracting correlation information from topographic and climatic covariables. The study was applied to investigate regional hydrological response patterns and select reference stream gauges for ungauged catchments. The analyses revealed that distinct regional hydrological response patterns exist in the case study area. Furthermore, the presence of the hydrological response patterns influenced the location of the best-correlated reference stream gauges to the ungauged catchments in the study area. The analyses results also showed that geographic proximity could not entirely explain the catchment hydrological response correlations, and the nearest stream gauge was not necessarily the best-correlated stream gauge. The multivariate map-correlation approach applied in this study added a physical understanding to the hydrological response correlations between the ungauged catchments and reference stream gauges.
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Norwegian research council (Project number: ISP10300637), under the “Sustainable Infrastructure” strategic program. The Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE) and Norwegian Meteorological Institute provided the data used in this study. We are grateful to Stein Beldring at NVE for providing the hydroclimatic data. The DEM for the study were obtained from the national digital database of Norway (http://www.statkart.no/Norge_digitalt/). All figures and illustration in this work are prepared by the authors. Special thanks to Venkatesh Govindarajan for proofreading the manuscript. The authors would also like to acknowledge the detailed and constructive comments made by the three anonymous reviewers on the earlier version of the manuscript, which helped to improve this research work.
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Published In
Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 19 • Issue 2 • February 2014
Pages: 388 - 406
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© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jun 5, 2012
Accepted: Feb 6, 2013
Published online: Feb 9, 2013
Discussion open until: Jul 9, 2013
Published in print: Feb 1, 2014
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