Classification of natural flow regimes in Iran to support environmental flow management

Tavassoli, Hamid Reza; Tahershamsi, Ahmad; Acreman, Mike. 2014 Classification of natural flow regimes in Iran to support environmental flow management [in special issue: Hydrological science for environmental flows] Hydrological Sciences Journal, 59 (3-4). 517-529. 10.1080/02626667.2014.890285

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Abstract/Summary

Development of environmental flow standards at the regional scale has been proposed as a means to manage the influence of hydrological alterations on riverine ecosystems in view of the rapid pace of global water resources management. Flow regime classification forms a critical part in such environmental flow assessments. We present a national-scale classification of hydrological regimes for Iran based on a set of hydrological metrics. It describes ecologically relevant characteristics of the natural hydrological regime derived from 15- to 47-year-long records of daily mean discharge data for 539 streamgauges within a 47-year period. The classification was undertaken using a fuzzy partitional method within Bayesian mixture modelling. The analysis resulted in 12 classes of distinctive flow regime types that differ in various hydrological aspects. This classification is being used for further research in regional-scale environmental flow studies in Iran.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1080/02626667.2014.890285
UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:	Acreman
ISSN:	0262-6667
Additional Keywords:	environmental flow, hydrological classification, indicators of hydrological alteration, Iranian rivers, natural flow regime
NORA Subject Terms:	Ecology and Environment Hydrology
Date made live:	10 Oct 2014 09:29 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/508569

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