Continuous daily hydrograph simulation using duration curves of a precipitation index

Smakhtin, V.; Masse, B.

doi:10.1002/(sici)1099-1085(20000430)14:6<1083::aid-hyp998>3.3.co;2-u

Cited by 36 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Quantile mapping is a statistical calibration method that allows a set of maps to be improved based on fewer stations, by accounting for persistent spatial patterns in maps that are based on a larger number of stations. This procedure resulted in a homogenized data set that covers the period Number of days below specified runoff threshold (25 % quantile of runoff from May to October used) Sum of winter precipitation (November-April) Rate of snowfall vs. total winter precipitation (S/P ) Sum of positive SWE changes from November to April Sum of positive air temperatures from November to April Current precipitation index C PI (Smakhtin and Masse, 2000) Day of year (DOY) with maximum SWE 1971-2012. This same data set has already been adopted to update initial conditions of a hydrological model used for ensemble monthly predictions of SWE and runoff (Jörg-Hess et al, 2015).…”

Section: Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A current precipitation index C PI (Smakhtin and Masse, 2000) was used to describe the influence of preceding liquid precipitation on low flows. C PI was calculated for each month from June to September for the day when 7-day minimum discharge occurred:…”

Section: Statistical Analysis and Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…is the catchment precipitation for day t and K [-] is the daily recession coefficient, which usually varies from 0.85 to 0.98 (Smakhtin and Masse, 2000). We used a K value of 0.93 in this study.…”

Section: Statistical Analysis and Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Importance of maximum snow accumulation for summer low flows in humid catchments

Jeníček

Seibert

Zappa

et al. 2016

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Winter snow accumulation obviously has an effect on the following catchment runoff. The question is, however, how long this effect lasts and how important it is compared to rainfall inputs. Here we investigate the relative importance of snow accumulation on one critical aspect of runoff, namely the summer low flow. This is especially relevant as the expected increase of air temperature might result in decreased snow storage. A decrease of snow will affect soil and groundwater storages during spring and might cause low streamflow values in the subsequent warm season. To understand these potential climate change impacts, a better evaluation of the effects of inter-annual variations in snow accumulation on summer low flow under current conditions is central. The objective in this study was (1) to quantify how long snowmelt affects runoff after melt-out and (2) to estimate the sensitivity of catchments with different elevation ranges to changes in snowpack. To find suitable predictors of summer low flow we used long time series from 14 Alpine and pre-Alpine catchments in Switzerland and computed different variables quantifying winter and spring snow conditions. In general, the results indicated that maximum winter snow water equivalent (SWE) influenced summer low flow, but could expectedly only partly explain the observed inter-annual variations. On average, a decrease of maximum SWE by 10 % caused a decrease of minimum discharge in July by 6-9 % in catchments higher than 2000 m a.s.l. This effect was smaller in middle-and lower-elevation catchments with a decrease of minimum discharge by 2-5 % per 10 % decrease of maximum SWE. For higher-and middle-elevation catchments and years with below-average SWE maximum, the minimum discharge in July decreased to 70-90 % of its normal level. Additionally, a reduction in SWE resulted in earlier low-flow occurrence in some cases. One other important factor was the precipitation between maximum SWE and summer low flow. When only dry preceding conditions in this period were considered, the importance of maximum SWE as a predictor of low flows increased. We assessed the sensitivity of individual catchments to the change of maximum SWE using the non-parametric Theil-Sen approach as well as an elasticity index. Both sensitivity indicators increased with increasing mean catchment elevation, indicating a higher sensitivity of summer low flow to snow accumulation in Alpine catchments compared to lower-elevation pre-Alpine catchments.

show abstract

Section: Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Statistical Analysis and Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Importance of maximum snow accumulation for summer low flows in humid catchments

Jeníček

Seibert

Zappa

et al. 2016

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Hughes and Smakhtin (1996), for instance, suggested a FDC method with a nonlinear spatial interpolation method to extend observed flow data. Smakhtin and Masse (2000) developed a variation of the FDC method to generate streamflow using rainfall observations as the donor variable instead of streamflow data. Recently, the FDC was used not only for generating streamflow directly, but also for calibrating conceptual models (Westerberg et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many regional FDC methods have been proposed for generating streamflows in ungauged watersheds. Shu and Ouarda (2012) categorized the regional FDC methods as a statistical approach (e.g., Claps et al, 2005), a parametric approach (e.g., Yu et al, 2002;Mohamoud, 2008), and a graphical approach (e.g., Smakhtin et al, 1997).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicting streamflows in snowmelt-driven watersheds using the flow duration curve method

Kim

Kaluarachchi

2014

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Predicting streamflows in snow-fed watersheds in the Western United States is important for water allocation. Since many of these watersheds are heavily regulated through canal networks and reservoirs, predicting expected natural flows and therefore water availability under limited data is always a challenge. This study investigates the applicability of the flow duration curve (FDC) method for predicting natural flows in gauged and regulated snow-fed watersheds. Point snow observations, air temperature, precipitation, and snow water equivalent were used to simulate the snowmelt process with the SNOW-17 model, and extended to streamflow simulation using the FDC method with a modified current precipitation index. For regulated watersheds, a parametric regional FDC method was applied to reconstruct natural flow. For comparison, a simplified tank model was used considering both lumped and semi-distributed approaches. The proximity regionalization method was used to simulate streamflows in the regulated watersheds with the tank model. The results showed that the FDC method is capable of producing satisfactory natural flow estimates in gauged watersheds when high correlation exists between current precipitation index and streamflow. For regulated watersheds, the regional FDC method produced acceptable river diversion estimates, but it seemed to have more uncertainty due to less robustness of the FDC method. In spite of its simplicity, the FDC method is a practical approach with less computational burden for studies with minimal data availability.

show abstract

Flood type specific construction of synthetic design hydrographs

Brunner

Viviroli

Sikorska

et al. 2017

Water Resources Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Accurate estimates of flood peaks, corresponding volumes, and hydrographs are required to design safe and cost‐effective hydraulic structures. In this paper, we propose a statistical approach for the estimation of the design variables peak and volume by constructing synthetic design hydrographs for different flood types such as flash‐floods, short‐rain floods, long‐rain floods, and rain‐on‐snow floods. Our approach relies on the fitting of probability density functions to observed flood hydrographs of a certain flood type and accounts for the dependence between peak discharge and flood volume. It makes use of the statistical information contained in the data and retains the process information of the flood type. The method was tested based on data from 39 mesoscale catchments in Switzerland and provides catchment specific and flood type specific synthetic design hydrographs for all of these catchments. We demonstrate that flood type specific synthetic design hydrographs are meaningful in flood‐risk management when combined with knowledge on the seasonality and the frequency of different flood types.

show abstract

Continuous daily hydrograph simulation using duration curves of a precipitation index

Cited by 36 publications

References 0 publications

Importance of maximum snow accumulation for summer low flows in humid catchments

Importance of maximum snow accumulation for summer low flows in humid catchments

Predicting streamflows in snowmelt-driven watersheds using the flow duration curve method

Flood type specific construction of synthetic design hydrographs

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About