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‘A flash in the pan’ or a more enduring contribution? A retrospective on Micha Klein's (1976) ‘Hydrograph peakedness and basin area’, Earth Surface Processes, vol. 1: 27–30
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DOI：10.1002/esp.70355.png)
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Abstract
En 中文
Klein's 1976 article proposed the hydrograph ‘peakedness index’ (PI), calculated as mean flow as a percentage of highest flow in a drainage basin. In this retrospective, we (1) outline the key findings regarding PI, (2) assess the relevance of PI for fluvial studies today and (3) consider whether PI may provide a useful metric for fluvial studies in future. Using gauging data from three humid area basins (Scotland, Yorkshire, Ohio River basin), Klein's analysis indicated a ‘break point’ in PI at a basin area of ~300 km2. A division between smaller, ‘peaky’ basins and larger, ‘less peaky’ basins was attributed to the changing relative contributions to channel runoff from rapid overland flow in headwaters and slower subsurface flow farther downbasin. Re-examination using several decades of UK discharge data suggests a more complex picture, although for stations on the River Severn, peakedness is increasing in upstream reaches but decreasing downstream. Temporal trends in PI are likely driven by compounding or counteracting changes to climate (e.g. intense rainfall) and land use/land cover (e.g. urbanisation, damming). Analyses of PI for other basins worldwide could form part of wider efforts to assess the potential for rapid onset, highly peaked floods (flash floods), which are among the world's most destructive hazards.
Keywords:
basin area
climate change
flash flood
flood peak
hydrograph
land use change
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2.7
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324
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1.5W
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