Regionalization of Flow-Duration Curves through Catchment Classification with Streamflow Signatures and Physiographic–Climate Indices
Publication: Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 21, Issue 3
Abstract
This study addresses the estimation of flow-duration curves (FDC) in ungauged sites through the catchment classification. Forty-six catchments in the Upper Po river basin (Italy) were analyzed and classified through two different frameworks: the first scheme consists of the application of two clustering methods in a series considering six streamflow signatures, and the second one treats indexes of climate, physiography, soil, and land-use with the same clustering procedure. Catchments have been classified into three homogeneous groups: the first one is characterized by the lowest runoff and flash-flood events, the second one includes maximum runoff, and the third one shows intermediate behaviour. The estimation of FDCs was done using a lognormal distribution, whereas the regionalization was constructed applying a stepwise multiple linear regression, followed by a leave-one-out cross-validation. The results show great performance improvement when the regionalization model is found by taking account of the three different hydrological classes, with a mean absolute percentage error that decreases from 11% for the single region case to 7% in the three homogeneous regions case.
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Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge ARPA Piemonte (Regional Environment Protection Agency) for meteorological and flow data, and digital cartography. Elena Toth is thankfully acknowledged for her helpful suggestions and comments on this work.
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Published In
Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 21 • Issue 3 • March 2016
Copyright
© 2015 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 20, 2014
Accepted: Aug 21, 2015
Published online: Nov 2, 2015
Published in print: Mar 1, 2016
Discussion open until: Apr 2, 2016
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