A new approach to master recession curve analysis

Abstract

The analysis of drought discharge is of utmost relevance in the design of water intake structures, management of water resources, and in coping with environmental issues. In this context, the master recession curve represents a tool in hydrological analysis, giving integrated information on long period drought flow rates. In this paper, a technique is developed for deriving a master recession curve directly from daily discharge series that takes into account the high variability in the behaviour of individual recession segments. The statistical framework developed allows us to explicitly represent uncertainty, and hence a novel interpretation of the master recession curve is derived. The method is successfully applied to three important Italian basins draining the southern slopes of the eastern Alps.Key words master recession curve; recession; river droughts; water management Une nouvelle approche de l'analyse des courbes de récession moyennesRésumé L'analyse des débits d'étiage est d'une importance capitale pour la conception des ouvrages de prise d'eau, la gestion des ressources en eau, et pour faire face aux problèmes environnementaux. Dans ce contexte, la courbe de récession moyenne représente un instrument d'analyse hydrologique, fournissant une information sur les débits d'étiage intégrée sur une longue période. Dans ce papier, on présente une technique destinée à construire une courbe de décrue moyenne directement à partir de la série des débits journaliers, prenant en compte de la grande variabilité du comportement des segments de récession individuels. Le cadre statistique mis au point nous permet de représenter explicitement l'incertitude, d'où l'on tire une nouvelle interprétation de la courbe de récession moyenne. La méthode a été appliquée avec succès à trois importants bassins italiens du versant Sud des Alpes orientales.

Groundwater Circulation in Fractured and Karstic Aquifers of the Umbria-Marche Apennine

“…One main advantage of recession curve analysis is that a set of empirical, quantitative parameters attributed to drainage mechanisms can be calculated [15].Analysis of individual recession periods sometimes generates inconsistences related to the complexity of groundwater circulation and the processes acting on the system [16]. Therefore, a master recession curve (MRC) is commonly used for simultaneously analyzing a set of hydrograph recessions at a particular catchment [17][18][19][20][21][22].Malík and Vojtková [23] performed a recession curve analysis to evaluate the karstification degree and the hydrodynamic behavior of an aquifer. With given recession coefficients and initial discharge values, both runoff and partial runoff segments (sub-regimes) can be fully described.…”

Evaluation of storage–discharge relationships and recession analysis-based distributed hourly runoff simulation in large-scale, mountainous and snow-influenced catchment

“…Rainfall-runoff modelling based on storage-discharge relationships and streamflow recession analysis has been applied for a long time (e.g. Lambert 1969, Ambroise et al 1996, Lamb and Beven 1997, Wittenberg and Sivapalan 1999, Rees et al 2004, Aksoy and Wittenberg 2011, and Fiorotto and Caroni 2013.…”

Applicability Assessment of Estimation Methods for Baseflow Recession Constants in Small Forest Catchments

“…Several previous researchers have suggested the non-linearity of recession for a single linear reservoir [21,22]. However, considering its simplicity and practicality, Equation (1) is still often used [6,11,15]. In addition, / as an equivalent to K is often applied, as shown in Equation (2).…”

“…Also, during the dry periods, periods having at least eight consecutive days were selected as recession periods [6,7,14,15]. The point from two days after the time of peak flow occurrence was set as the point at which the direct runoff ends, given the findings of previous studies and the size of the catchment area.…”

“…Simultaneously, validation tests of each method are also being studied [15]. In addition, several studies have examined the applicability of these methods [9,11].…”