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Redundancy and the choice of hydrologic indices for characterizing streamflow regimes

2003· article· en· 1,178 citations· W2026934896 on OpenAlex· 10.1002/rra.700

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Abstract

Abstract The utility of hydrologic indices for describing various aspects of streamflow regimes has resulted in their increased application in riverine research. Consequently, researchers are now confronted with the task of having to choose among a large number of competing hydrologic indices to reduce computational effort and variable redundancy prior to statistical analyses, while still adequately representing the major facets of the flow regime. The present study addresses this concern by providing a comprehensive review of 171 currently available hydrologic indices (including the commonly used Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration) using long‐term flow records from 420 sites from across the continental USA. We highlight patterns of redundancy among these hydrologic indices and provide a number of statistically and ecologically based recommendations for the selection of a reduced set of indices that can simultaneously (1) explain a dominant proportion of statistical variation in the complete set of hydrologic indices and (2) minimize multicollinearity while still adequately representing recognized, critical attributes of the flow regime. In addition, we examine the transferability of hydrologic indices across ‘stream types’ by identifying indices that consistently explain dominant patterns of variance across streams in varying climatic and geologic environments. Together, our results provide a framework from which researchers can identify hydrologic indices that adequately characterize flow regimes in a non‐redundant manner. In combination with ecological knowledge, this framework can guide researchers in the parsimonious selection of hydrologic indices for future hydroecological studies. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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The record

Venue
River Research and Applications
Topic
Hydrology and Watershed Management Studies
Field
Environmental Science
Canadian institutions
Funders
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of CanadaNational Science Foundation
Keywords
StreamflowMulticollinearityRedundancy (engineering)Computer scienceHydrological modellingTransferabilityEnvironmental scienceHydrology (agriculture)Variance (accounting)Stream flowRegression analysisClimatologyGeologyGeographyMachine learningCartographyAccountingDrainage basin
Has abstract in OpenAlex
yes