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Development of Regional Curves for Hydrologic Landscape Regions ( HLR ) in the Contiguous United States
Author(s) -
BlackburnLynch Whitney,
Agouridis Carmen T.,
Barton Christopher D.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
jawra journal of the american water resources association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.957
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1752-1688
pISSN - 1093-474X
DOI - 10.1111/1752-1688.12540
Subject(s) - landform , physiographic province , elevation (ballistics) , hydrology (agriculture) , geology , vegetation (pathology) , streams , physical geography , geography , geomorphology , mathematics , geometry , computer science , medicine , geotechnical engineering , pathology , computer network
Regional curves relate drainage area to the bankfull channel characteristics discharge, cross‐sectional area, width, and mean depth. These curves are used for a variety of purposes, including aiding in the field identification of bankfull elevation and in the natural channel design process. When developing regional curves, the degree to which landform, geology, climate, and vegetation influence stream systems within a single physiographic province may not be fully considered. This study examined the use of the U.S. Geological Survey's Hydrologic Landscape Regions ( HLR ), as well as data from 2,856 independent sites throughout the contiguous United States (U.S.), to develop a set of regional curves (bankfull discharge, cross‐sectional area, width, and mean depth) for (1) the contiguous U.S., (2) each of the 20 HLR s, (3) each of the eight physiographic divisions, (4) 22 of the 25 physiographic provinces, and (5) individual HLR s within the physiographic provinces. These regional curves were then compared to each other, as well as those from the literature. Regional curves developed for individual HLR s, physiographic divisions, and physiographic provinces tended to outperform the contiguous U.S. indicating increased stratification was beneficial. Further stratifying physiographic provinces by HLR markedly improved regional curve reliability. Use of HLR as a basis of regional curve development, rather than physiographic region alone, may allow for the development of more robust regional curves.