Estimates of low flows using watershed and climatic parameters

Abstract

The lowest 7‐day streamflows (10‐yr return period, Q10) of 12 Monongahela tributaries in West Virginia were estimated from watershed and climatic parameters. Of the parameters studied, watershed perimeter alone accounted for about 88% of the spatial variability of 7‐day low flows in a multiple‐regression analysis. Main channel length and watershed form increased the predictability to about 95%. Precipitation and temperature parameters, which were highly correlated with watershed elevation and latitude, raised the R2 to 0.999. The standard error of estimate was 7.43 ft3/s, or about 30‐ of the observed mean; this result, an order of magnitude smaller than that obtained in an earlier study, suggests that meaningful low‐flow estimates can be obtained from watershed parameters alone in a mountainous humid region. Copyright 1977 by the American Geophysical Union.