Catchment Classification: An empirical analysis to hydrologic similarity
Open Access
- Author:
- Sawicz, Keith Alexander
- Graduate Program:
- Civil Engineering
- Degree:
- Master of Science
- Document Type:
- Master Thesis
- Date of Defense:
- July 13, 2009
- Committee Members:
- Thorsten Wagener, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
Thorsten Wagener, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor - Keywords:
- catchment functions
signatures
catchment classification
hydrology
nonstationarity - Abstract:
- Classification is a fundamental process of understanding major attributes and interactions of those attributes in any field of science. Hydrology has lacked such a classification system due to a lack of understanding of the dominant hydrologic functions. This study offers a robust empirical method of classifying the basic units of hydrology (catchments) into groups based on hydrologic similarity. Approximately 300 catchments were chosen for this study located east of the Rocky Mountains extending out towards the Atlantic Ocean. Correlation and distribution tests for over 40 signatures was completed, and the six signatures showing the high amounts of information (RQP, SFDC, IBF, EQP,RSD and b) were analyzed and grouped using a hierarchical cluster analysis. Results were displayed through the use of dendrograms, recursive pattern plots, and spatial distribution plots to extract information from the individual signatures and groups at many levels. A classification system is suggested based on the signatures selected and an explanation of the possible hydrologic processes occurring in each cluster is offered. Applications of this study include but are not limited to improvements in hydrologic process understanding, a parameter independent method of confining hydrologic model outputs, and the ability to predict the impact of changes experienced at a particular catchment from human impacts or climate nonstationarity.