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A stochastic index flow model of flow duration curves
Author(s) -
Castellarin Attilio,
Vogel Richard M.,
Brath Armando
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1029/2003wr002524
Subject(s) - streamflow , duration (music) , flow (mathematics) , series (stratigraphy) , index (typography) , variance (accounting) , statistics , stochastic modelling , mathematics , econometrics , environmental science , hydrology (agriculture) , climatology , geography , drainage basin , computer science , economics , geology , cartography , geometry , world wide web , art , paleontology , literature , accounting , geotechnical engineering
Annual flow duration curves (AFDCs) are used increasingly because unlike traditional period of record flow duration curves (FDCs), they provide confidence intervals for the median AFDC, they enable one to assign return periods to individual AFDCs, and they offer opportunities for developing a generalized stochastic model of daily streamflow. Previous stochastic models of FDCs and AFDCs were unable to reproduce the variance of AFDCs. We introduce an index flow approach to modeling the relationship between an FDC and AFDCs of daily streamflow series, which is able to reproduce the FDC, as well as the mean, median, and variance of the AFDCs without resorting to assumptions regarding the seasonal or persistence structure of daily streamflow series. Our approach offers additional opportunities for the regionalization of flow duration curves and for the generation of time series of daily streamflows at ungauged sites. Our approach is tested on three river basins in eastern central Italy.