7. Base Flow Separation

Try these first

1. 1.

   What does base flow represent in hydrology?

   Hint

   Think about where water comes from during dry periods.

2. 2.

   Name one method of base flow separation.

   Hint

   Consider methods that draw lines on a graph.

3. 3.

   What is base flow?

   • Surface runoff
   • Groundwater contribution
   • Precipitation

   Hint

   Consider which source of water is continuous.

4. 4.

   True or False: The fixed percentage method is a graphical method.

   • True
   • False

   Hint

   Think about how the method is applied.

5. 5.

   A watershed received a significant rain event, causing a spike in the hydrograph. Using the straight-line method, sketch how you would approximate the base flow for this hydrograph.

   Hint

   Look for the points where the streamflow appears steady.

6. 6.

   You are given a hydrograph with both normal rainfall patterns and extreme runoff events. Describe how you would apply both the fixed percentage and digital filtering methods to analyze this data.

   Hint

   Think about how statistics and technology can complement each other.