Heuristic Continuous Base Flow Separation
Publication: Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 9, Issue 4
Abstract
A digital filtering algorithm for continuous base flow separation is compared to physically based simulations of base flow. It is shown that the digital filter gives comparable results to model simulations in terms of the multiyear base flow index when a filter coefficient is used that replicates the watershed-specific time delay of model simulations. This way, the application of the heuristic digital filter for practical continuous base flow separation can be justified when auxiliary hydrometeorological data (such as precipitation and air temperature) typically required for physically based base flow separation techniques are not available or not representative of the watershed. The filter coefficient can then be optimized upon an empirical estimate of the watershed-specific time delay, requiring only the drainage area of the watershed.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Aksoy, H., Bayazit, M., and Wittenberg, H.(2001). “Probabilistic approach to modelling of recession curves.” Hydrol. Sci. J., 46(2), 269–285.
Arnold, J. G., and Allen, P. M.(1999). “Automated methods for estimating baseflow and ground water recharge from streamflow records.” J. Am. Water Resour. Assoc., 35(2), 411–424.
Arnold, J. G., Allen, P. M., Muttiah, R., and Bernhardt, G.(1995). “Automated base flow separation and recession analysis techniques.” Ground Water, 33(6), 1010–1018.
Barnes, B. S.(1939). “The structure of discharge recession curves.” Transact. AGU, 20, 721–725.
Besbes, M., and de Marsily, G.(1984). “From infiltration to recharge; use of a parametric transfer function.” J. Hydrol., 74, 271–293.
Birtles, A. B.(1978). “Identification and separation of major base flow components from a stream hydrograph.” Water Resour. Res., 14(5), 791–803.
Brutsaert, W., and Nieber, J. L.(1977). “Regionalized drought flow hydrographs from a mature glaciated plateau.” Water Resour. Res., 13(3), 637–643.
Brutsaert, W., and Lopez, J. P.(1998). “Basin-scale geohydrologic drought flow features of riparian aquifers in the southern Great Plains.” Water Resour. Res., 34(2), 233–240.
Dingman, S. L. (1994). Physical hydrology, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
Hewlett, J. D., and Hibbert, A. R.(1963). “Moisture and energy considerations within a sloping soil mass during drainage.” J. Geophys. Res., 64, 1081–1087.
Jakeman, A. J., and Hornberger, G. M.(1993). “How much complexity is warranted in a rainfall-runoff model.” Water Resour. Res., 29(8), 2637–2649.
Jakeman, A. J., Littlewood, I. G., and Whitehead, P. G.(1990). “Computation of the instantaneous unit hydrograph and identifiable component flows with application to two small upland catchments.” J. Hydrol., 117, 275–300.
Linsley, R. K., Kohler, M. A., and Paulhus, J. L. H. (1958). Hydrology for engineers, McGraw-Hill, New York.
Milly, P. C. D.(1994). “Climate, soil water storage, and the average annual water balance.” Water Resour. Res., 30, 2143–2156.
Nathan, R. J., and McMahon, T. A.(1990). “Evaluation of automated techniques for base flow and recession analysis.” Water Resour. Res., 26(7), 1465–1473.
O’Connor, K. M.(1976). “A discrete linear cascade model for hydrology.” J. Hydrol., 29, 203–242.
Perrin, C., Michel, C., and Andreassian, V.(2001). “Does a large number of parameters enhance model performance? Comparative assessment of common catchment model structures on 429 catchments.” J. Hydrol., 242, 275–301.
Pilgrim, D. H., and Cordery, I. (1993). “Flood runoff.” Handbook of hydrology, D. R. Maidment, ed., McGraw-Hill, New York.
Rice, K. C., and Hornberger, G. M.(1998). “Comparison of hydrochemical tracers to estimate source contributions to peak flow in a small, forested, headwater catchment.” Water Resour. Res., 34, 1755–1766.
Singh, V. P. (1988). Hydrologic systems: Rainfall-runoff modeling, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
Sophocleous, M.(2000). “From safe yield to sustainable development of water resources—The Kansas experience.” J. Hydrol., 235, 27–43.
Szilagyi, J.(1999). “On the use of semi-logarithmic plots for baseflow separation.” Ground Water, 37(5), 660–662.
Szilagyi, J.(2001). “Identifying cause of declining flows in the Republican River.” J. Water Resour. Plan. Manage., 127(4), 244–253.
Szilagyi, J., and Parlange, M. B.(1998). “Baseflow separation based on analytical solutions of the Boussinesq equation.” J. Hydrol., 204, 251–260.
Szilagyi, J., and Parlange, M. B.(1999). “A geomorphology-based semi-distributed watershed model.” Adv. Water Resour., 23, 177–187.
Szilagyi, J., Harvey, F. E., and Ayers, J. F.(2003). “Regional estimation of base recharge to ground water using water balance and a base-flow index.” Ground Water, 41(4), 504–513.
Szilagyi, J., Parlange, M. B., and Albertson, J. D.(1998). “Recession flow analysis for aquifer parameter determination.” Water Resour. Res., 34(7), 1851–1857.
Tallaksen, L. M.(1995). “A review of baseflow recession analysis.” J. Hydrol., 165, 349–370.
Troch, P. A., De Troch, F. P., and Brutsaert, W.(1993). “Effective water table depth to describe initial conditions prior to storm rainfall in humid regions.” Water Resour. Res., 29(2), 427–434.
Vogel, R. M., and Kroll, C. N.(1992). “Regional geohydrologic-geomorphic relationships for the estimation of low-flow statistics.” Water Resour. Res., 28(9), 2451–2458.
Wittenberg, H., and Sivapalan, M.(1999). “Watershed groundwater balance estimation using streamflow recession analysis and baseflow separation.” J. Hydrol., 219, 20–33.
Wu, J., Zhang, R., and Yang, J.(1997). “Estimating infiltration recharge using a response function model.” J. Hydrol., 198, 124–139.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
Copyright © 2004 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Dec 16, 2002
Accepted: Oct 28, 2003
Published online: Jun 15, 2004
Published in print: Jul 2004
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.