Abstract

Rivers in the Mediterranean region often exhibit an intermittent character. An understanding and classification of the flowregimes of these rivers is needed, as flow patterns control both physicochemical and biological processes. This paper reports anattempt to classify flow regimes in Mediterranean rivers based on hydrological variables extracted from discharge time series.Long-term discharge records from 60 rivers within the Mediterranean region were analysed in order to classify the streams intodifferent flow regime groups. Hydrological indices (HIs) were derived for each stream and principal component analysis (PCA)and then applied to these indices to identify subsets of HIs describing the major sources of variations, while simultaneouslyminimizing redundancy. PCA was performed for two groups of streams (perennial and temporary) and for all streams combined.The results show that whereas perennial streams are mainly described by high-flow indices, temporary streams are described byduration, variability and predictability indices. Agglomerative cluster analysis based on HIs identified six groups of riversclassified according to differences in intermittency and variability. A methodology allowing such a classification for ungaugedcatchments was also tested. Broad-scale catchment characteristics based on digital elevation, climate, soil and land use data werederived for each long-term station where these data were available. By using stepwise multiple regression analysis, statisticallysignificant relationships were fitted, linking the three selected hydrological variables (mean annual number of zero-flow days,predictability and flashiness) to the catchment characteristics. The method provides a means of simplifying the complexity ofriver systems and is thus useful for river basin management.

Autore Pugliese

• De Girolamo Anna Maria , Lo Porto Antonio

Tutti gli autori

• O. Oueslati; A.M. De Girolamo; A. Abouabdillah; T.R. Kjeldsen; A. Lo Porto

Titolo volume/Rivista

Hydrological processes

Anno di pubblicazione

2015

ISSN

0885-6087

ISBN

Non Disponibile

Numero di citazioni Wos

Nessuna citazione

Ultimo Aggiornamento Citazioni

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Numero di citazioni Scopus

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Ultimo Aggiornamento Citazioni

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Settori ERC

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Codici ASJC

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