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Estimation of irrigation flow by hydrograph analysis in a complex agricultural catchment in subtropical China
Author(s) -
Tang JiaLiang,
Zhang Bin,
Zepp Harald
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
hydrological processes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.222
H-Index - 161
eISSN - 1099-1085
pISSN - 0885-6087
DOI - 10.1002/hyp.6267
Subject(s) - hydrograph , drainage basin , hydrology (agriculture) , environmental science , irrigation , base flow , catchment hydrology , subtropics , outflow , return flow , flow (mathematics) , geography , mathematics , geology , meteorology , ecology , cartography , geotechnical engineering , fishery , biology , geometry
Estimating the amount of irrigation water is challenging at the catchment scale because of the difficulties in direct measurement and interactions between the flow components. The objectives of the study were to characterize the catchment flows in an agricultural catchment with an irrigation system in subtropical China and to estimate catchment irrigation flow using hydrograph analysis methods. A weighting model and multiple regression models were established to estimate catchment irrigation outflow according to the hydrographs of the inflows and outflows of the catchment. The multiple regression models took into consideration the drainage time of base flow, resulting in better estimation on an event and annual basis. Using the MR‐6d method, the estimated irrigation outflows amounted to 3700 mm, 2600 mm and 2760 mm during 2001, 2002 and 2003 respectively, which covered 70%, 60% and 64% respectively of the total catchment outflows in the corresponding years. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.