Comparative Study of Low Flow Frequency Analysis Using Bivariate Copula Model at Soyanggang Dam and Chungju Dam

Abstract

A univariate analysis that relies solely on precipitation data in low flow frequency analysis is a technique to express meteorological drought, so it is limited to analyzing the characteristics of hydrological drought related to available water resources. In addition, if the data for the model calibration are insufficient, the uncertainty of a single variable limits the construction of a reliable model. To improve this problem, a frequency analysis was performed by constructing a bivariate copula model as a multivariate model with a high correlation between variables targeting reservoir inflows. The methodology utilizes the theory of runs to identify low flow events, establishing a threshold based on the mandatory regional water supply plan, and determining the low flow duration and cumulative water deficit. The Gumbel copula function, effective in capturing correlations between hydrological variables, was applied to derive a joint bivariate probability distribution, facilitating the calculation of combined low flow event return periods. This study compared low flow frequencies at Soyanggang dam (’74–’22) and Chungju dam (’86–‘22), which are in the same Han River basin but have different capacities and water demands, using a bivariate copula model. The top four extreme low flow events for the two adjacent dam basins did not occur in the same year and, in the years of the extreme low flow events at one of the two dam basins, there was an insignificant magnitude at the remaining dam basin. This result is noteworthy because it shows that the possibility of extreme low flow events appearing simultaneously in both watersheds is not as high as expected. The operational efficiency can be improved by setting the coordinated operation rules of the two reservoirs using the copula dependency structure.