Click on “Download PDF” for the PDF version or on the title for the HTML version.


If you are not an ASABE member or if your employer has not arranged for access to the full-text, Click here for options.

Improvement in Hydrograph Separation Estimation by Incorporating Hydrologic Characteristics of Watersheds

Published by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, St. Joseph, Michigan www.asabe.org

Citation:  Paper number  052095,  2005 ASAE Annual Meeting . (doi: 10.13031/2013.19803) @2005
Authors:   Amir P. Nejadhashemi, Joseph M. Sheridan, Adel Shirmohammadi, Hubert J. Montas
Keywords:   Streamflow Partitioning, Hydrograph Separation, Baseflow, Subsurface Flow

Evaluating the relative amounts of stored or moving water through the different components of the hydrological cycle is required for precise management and planning of water resources. An important aspect of this evaluation is the partitioning of streamflow into surface and baseflow components. A prior study evaluated forty different approaches for hydrograph-partitioning on a field scale watershed in the Coastal Plain of the Southeastern United States and concluded that the Boughton method produced the most consistent and accurate results. However, its accuracy depends upon the proper estimation of: 1) the inflection point on the recession limb of the hydrograph, and 2) the fraction factor () that is function of many physical and hydrologic characteristics of a watershed. Proper identification of the inflection point was accomplished by using a 2nd derivative approach, which was automated by writing a computer program in Visual BASIC. Applying this approach to twelve years of streamflow data proved to be accurate for 87% of the time. Estimation of the value was accomplished in this study using two steps; first, alpha was fitted to individual hydrographs, and, second, a regression equation that determines these alpha values based on watersheds hydrologic characteristics (e.g. rainfall, evaporation) was developed. Using these strategies for identifying values and inflection points improved the streamflow partitioning methods performance significantly. It is anticipated that these improvements will contribute to the accuracy of this method on streamflow partitioning for large-scale watersheds with diverse soils and cover conditions.

(Download PDF)    (Export to EndNotes)