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Journal of Arid Land  2018, Vol. 10 Issue (4): 493-506    DOI: 10.1007/s40333-018-0064-4
Orginal Article     
Homogeneity analysis of streamflow records in arid and semi-arid regions of northwestern Iran
KAZEMZADEH Majid, MALEKIAN Arash*()
University of Tehran, Karaj 31587-77871, Iran
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Abstract  

Homogeneity analysis of the streamflow time series is essential to hydrological modeling, water resources management and climate change studies. In this study, five absolute homogeneity tests and one clustering approach were used to determine the homogeneity status of the streamflow time series (over the period 1960-2010) in 14 hydrometric stations of three important basins (i.e., Aras River Basin, Urmia Lake Basin and Sefid-Roud Basin) in northwestern Iran. Results of the Buishand range test, von Neumann ratio test, cumulative deviation test, standard normal homogeneity test and Pettitt test for monthly streamflow time series detected that about 42.26%, 38.09%, 33.33%, 39.28% and 68.45% of the streamflow time series were inhomogeneous at the 0.01 significance level, respectively. Streamflow time series of the stations located in the eastern parts of the study area or within the Urmia Lake Basin were mostly homogeneous. In contrast, streamflow time series in the stations of the Aras River Basin and Sefied-Roud Basin showed inhomogeneity at annual scales. Based onthe overall classification for the monthly and annual streamflow series, we determined that about 45.60%, 11.53% and 42.85% of the time series were categorized into the 'useful', 'doubtful' and 'suspect' classes according to the five absolute homogeneity tests. We also found the homogeneity patterns of the streamflow time series by using the clustering approach. The results suggested the effectiveness of the clustering approach for homogeneity analysis of the streamflow time series in addition to the absolute homogeneity tests. Moreover, results of the absolute homogeneity tests and clustering approach indicated obvious decreasing change points of the streamflow time series in the 1990s over the three basins, which were mostly related to the hydrological droughts.



Key wordsstreamflow time series      homogeneity test      clustering analysis      inhomogeneity      Urmia Lake      northwestern Iran     
Received: 12 August 2017      Published: 10 August 2018
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Cite this article:

KAZEMZADEH Majid, MALEKIAN Arash. Homogeneity analysis of streamflow records in arid and semi-arid regions of northwestern Iran. Journal of Arid Land, 2018, 10(4): 493-506.

URL:

http://jal.xjegi.com/10.1007/s40333-018-0064-4     OR     http://jal.xjegi.com/Y2018/V10/I4/493

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