Friday 14 January 2022

New paper published on baseflow recession analysis


Citation: Andrew C. Whitaker, Stanley N. Chapasa, Cristencio Sagras, Uwitonze Theogene, Ronald Veremu & Hironobu Sugiyama (2022)
Estimation of baseflow recession constant and regression of low flow indices in eastern Japan,
Hydrological Sciences Journal

DOI: 10.1080/02626667.2021.2003368

Free access (limited time) available here:

https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/M53RUZEPVEDISGCM6TAY/full?target=10.1080/02626667.2021.2003368

ABSTRACT

We propose a convenient procedure for the matching strip method in determining the recession constant of the master recession curve using the ratio of flow over successive days (Qn+1/Qn). The method is applied to 29 basins (6.1–740 km2) in eastern Japan to develop linear regression models that estimate low flow indices through the recession constant (λ), and either mean annual precipitation or mean annual runoff. Significant models were developed for Q710 (seven-day 10-year low flow), and Q9710 (10-year low flow exceeded 97% of the time) in the case of all basins, and in particular for basins classified into sedimentary or igneous geology (adjusted R2 up to 0.784). When basins were not classified by geology, models based on mean annual runoff as the second independent variable performed better than those based on mean annual precipitation, with adjusted R2 values of 0.705 and 0.717 for the Q710 and Q9710 models, respectively.

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The article includes data from Takiya River along with data from 28 other basins in eastern Japan to propose and test a new variation on the matching strip method of estimating the baseflow recession constant. The baseflow recession constant is then used in regression modelling to estimate low flow indices.

A simple spreadsheet procedure to determine the master recession curve and baseflow recession constant is included in an appendix.

The location figure from the article, which includes 29 basins.