Journal of Environmental Hydrology
ISSN 1058-3912


Electronic Journal of the International Association for Environmental Hydrology

JEH Volume 17 (2009), Paper 17    Posted July 28, 2009
MAXIMAL, MINIMAL AND MEAN SURFACE RUNOFF IN COLOMBIA: HOW IS IT DISTRIBUTED?

Efraín Domínguez1,2
Alexander Hassidoff1,2
Juan León3
Yulia Ivanova4
Hebert Rivera55

1Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, Colombia
2CeiBA-Complejidad, Bogotá, Colombia
3Universidad Nacional, Palmira, Colombia
4Universidad Central, Bogotá, Colombia
5Universidad Libre, Bogotá, Colombia

ABSTRACT
For 418 hydrological stations, the time series of maximal, minimal and mean annual runoff were built and analyzed to establish a more suitable theoretical probability density function (PDF) or cumulative density function (CDF) to describe the annual runoff in Colombia. For each time series the empirical CDF was compared to normal, lognormal, Gamma and Weibull theoretical CDFs. The Kolmogorov, Smirnov and Pearson criteria were used to test the goodness of fit at a significance level a=0.10. Our results show that the Gamma CDF is the best model to describe maximal, minimal and mean surface runoff. This work is preliminary research that establishes the baseline for building hydrological and climate change scenarios in a probabilistic manner. Further research will concentrate on how probabilistic runoff patterns will evolve under climate change conditions.

Reference: Domínguez, E., A. Hassidoff, J. León, Y. Ivanova, and H. Rivera. 2009. Maximal, minimal and mean surface runoff in Colombia: How is it distributed?. Journal of Environmental Hydrology, Vol. 17, Paper 17.
CONTACT:
Efraín Domínguez
Pontificia Universidad Javeriana
Bogotá
Colombia


E-mail: e.dominguez@javeriana.edu.co



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