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Hydrograph Separation

hydrograph separation graph
A hydrograph (discharge, or the volume of water flowing through the system per unit time) of old and new water flowing through a New Zealand stream (data from McGlynn & McDonnell (2003)).

Introduction

Problem

A hydrograph depicts the response of a stream to rainfall or snowmelt. What can hydrographs tell us about watershed processes?

Goal

The goal of this project is to partition a storm hydrograph into event flow and baseflow components, and old and new water components

Learning objectives

Upon completion of this exercise, students will be able to:

  • Separate a storm hydrograph into
    • baseflow and eventflow using graphical methods
    • old water and new water components using an end member mixing model
  • Describe the purposes of each hydrograph separation approach
  • Describe the impact that common end member mixing results has on hydrologic science and engineering

Project Files

EXCEL workbook

Requirements and Connections

  • Streamflow hourly time series
  • Basic knowledge of plotting hydrologic variables in time series
  • Skills learned from the Watershed Water Balance exercise (e.g., calculation of the effective depth of streamflow)
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