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RESERVOIR SEDIMENTATION AS A FUNCTION OF PRECIPITATION VARIABILITY 1
Author(s) -
Harlin John M.
Publication year - 1978
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/j.1752-1688.1978.tb02296.x
Subject(s) - precipitation , sedimentation , surface runoff , sediment , environmental science , hydrology (agriculture) , soil science , geology , meteorology , geomorphology , geography , ecology , geotechnical engineering , biology
This research examines what is hypothesized as a critical factor in reservoir sedimentation ‐ precipitation variability. The coefficient of variation for annual precipitation, computed for the period relating to sedimentation, is regressed against sediment yields for several reservoirs over a wide range of environmental settings. A significant linear relationship results, and when precipitation variability is combined with several additional variables available from reservoir summary sheets, almost 83% of the total variation in sediment yield is accounted for. It is suggested that the coefficient of variation for annual precipitation fulfills a direct process role when modeling reservoir sedimentation much more effectively than annual precipitation or runoff.