Journal article
Classical and generalized Horton laws for peak flows in rainfall-runoff events
Chaos (Woodbury, N.Y.), Vol.25(7), pp.075408-075408
07/2015
DOI: 10.1063/1.4922177
PMID: 26232981
Abstract
The discovery of the Horton laws for hydrologic variables has greatly lagged behind geomorphology, which began with Robert Horton in 1945. We define the classical and the generalized Horton laws for peak flows in rainfall-runoff events, which link self-similarity in network geomorphology with river basin hydrology. Both the Horton laws are tested in the Iowa River basin in eastern Iowa that drains an area of approximately 32 400 km(2) before it joins the Mississippi River. The US Geological Survey continuously monitors the basin through 34 stream gauging stations. We select 51 rainfall-runoff events for carrying out the tests. Our findings support the existence of the classical and the generalized Horton laws for peak flows, which may be considered as a new hydrologic discovery. Three different methods are illustrated for estimating the Horton peak-flow ratio due to small sample size issues in peak flow data. We illustrate an application of the Horton laws for diagnosing parameterizations in a physical rainfall-runoff model. The ideas and developments presented here offer exciting new directions for hydrologic research and education.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Classical and generalized Horton laws for peak flows in rainfall-runoff events
- Creators
- Vijay K Gupta - University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0216, USATibebu B Ayalew - IIHR-Hydroscience & Engineering, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USARicardo Mantilla - IIHR-Hydroscience & Engineering, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USAWitold F Krajewski - IIHR-Hydroscience & Engineering, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Chaos (Woodbury, N.Y.), Vol.25(7), pp.075408-075408
- DOI
- 10.1063/1.4922177
- PMID
- 26232981
- NLM abbreviation
- Chaos
- ISSN
- 1054-1500
- eISSN
- 1089-7682
- Publisher
- United States
- Grant note
- DOI: 10.13039/100000001, name: National Science Foundation, award: EAR-1005311
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 07/2015
- Academic Unit
- Civil and Environmental Engineering; IIHR--Hydroscience and Engineering
- Record Identifier
- 9983992058902771
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