Streamflow scaling properties: investigating characteristic scales from different statistical approaches |
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| Authors: | Eric Sauquet Maria‐Helena Ramos Laetitia Chapel Pietro Bernardara |
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| Institution: | 1. Cemagref, Hydrology ‐ Hydraulics Research Unit, 3 bis quai Chauveau CP220, 69336 Lyon cedex 09, France;2. Cemagref, Laboratory of Engineering for Complex Systems, 24 avenue des Landais, BP 50085, 63172 Aubière cedex 1, France;3. Laboratoire National d'Hydraulique et Environnement d'EDF R&D, 6,quai Watier, 78401 CHATOU Cedex, France |
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| Abstract: | This paper studies the links between scaling properties of river flow time series by comparing the results of three techniques applied to an extended data set of 34 French discharge gauging stations. The three approaches used are based on different mathematical tools and hypotheses: (1) shape analysis of flood hydrographs; (2) a multifractal framework through spectral and moment analyses, and (3) flood frequency analysis through the fitting of flood duration frequency curves (QdF). The general aim is to test the hypothesis of scaling invariance of river flow and the shape invariance of the hydrographs, in order to investigate the link between scaling properties and flow dynamics. In particular, the coherence between different approaches widely used in the literature to describe these characteristics is evaluated through the estimation of parameters defining the range of time‐scales on which the scaling properties are valid. The results show that most of these timescale parameters are linked to the flow dynamics and suggest that the approaches applied are interrelated. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
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| Keywords: | time‐scale hydrograph shape invariance multifractal analysis flood‐frequency‐duration curve |
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