Characterizing Storm Hydrograph Rise and Fall Dynamics With Stream Stage Data¹

Abstract

Storm‐flow transients (i.e., hydrograph rise and fall dynamics) may represent an important aspect of understanding streamflow dynamics. However, little is known about how temporal resolution of transient data and climate variability may color these potential indicators of hydrologic pattern or condition. Warm‐season stream stage and rainfall were monitored continuously (5 min) during the 2002 water year in eight tributaries of the Little Miami River (Ohio), which drain 17‐58 km2 catchments. Rise rates generated using 5‐min data were different than those generated with mean daily data [calculated with the Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration (IHA) software], though fall rates were similar for fine and coarse temporal data. This result suggests that data with low temporal resolution may not be adequate to fully represent the dynamics of storm rise rates. Conversely, fall rates based on daily stage data (via IHA) were similar to those based on the 5‐min data, and so daily mean data may be appropriate for characterizing fall rates. We next analyzed the possible correlations between rainfall variability and storm‐flow stage dynamics. We derived rise and recession rates from storm stage hydrographs by assuming exponential rise and decay of a runoff peak. We found that raw rise rates (Rraw) were correlated with both the maximum rainfall rate and the time to the centroid of a rain event. We subsequently removed the trend based on these rainfall characteristics, which yielded new representations of rise rates abbreviated as Rrate and Rtcent, respectively, and that had lower variability than the uncorrected (raw) data. Fall rates were found to be independent of rainfall characteristics. Due to the predominant influence of stream hydrology upon aquatic biota and nutrient fluxes, our work suggests that these stage data analysis protocols can refine or otherwise reduce variability in these indices by accounting for relevant factors such as rainfall forcing. These protocols for derivation of transient indices should be tested for their potential to improve correlations between stream hydrology and temporally aligned biotic data and dissolved nutrient fluxes in streams.

Characterizing Sub‐Daily Flow Regimes: Implications of Hydrologic Resolution on Ecohydrology Studies

“…Naturally occurring sub-daily flow variation results from the interaction of climatic processes such as precipitation, snowmelt and evapotranspiration with watershed characteristics such as drainage area, slope and land use. Diel variations in flow by natural processes can often be on the order of 10% of the mean daily flow (Lundquist and Cayan, 2002;Schuster et al, 2008). Seasonal patterns of natural daily variability are often common among rivers of similar geographic and hydro-climatic conditions (Lundquist and Cayan, 2002).…”

Multivariate analysis as a tool to infer hydrologic response types and controlling variables in a humid temperate catchment

“…Ocampo et al (2006) provided experimental evidence of a perfect match between the timing of the occurrence of connectivity between landscape units and event hydrographs parameters: riparian zones were said to control the catchment storm response, while upland zones were considered as storage units influencing the base flow component of streamflow. Shuster et al (2008) also found that the rate of streamflow recession was intimately linked to the extent of hydraulic connectivity between landscape units.…”

Cover or Velocity: What Triggers Iberian Barbel (Luciobarbus Bocagei) Refuge Selection under Experimental Hydropeaking Conditions?

“…This operation mode-called 'hydropeaking' [1], leads to rapid increases or decreases of river discharges, altering the velocity and water depth at the tailrace. The unpredictability and intensity of these discharge variations are rather permanent and frequent than those occurring due to natural flows, such as rapid snowmelt and precipitation [2]. In rivers affected by hydropeaking, hydromorphological characteristics may be significantly altered, including, e.g., substrate composition, banks wetted width and habitat suitability [3][4][5], with negative consequences for fish species, such as, e.g., stranding, dewatering of spawning grounds, and downstream displacement [6][7][8][9].…”