Dynamic modeling of long-term sedimentation in the Yadkin River basin
Modeling of sediment transport in relation to changing land-surface conditions against a background of considerable natural variability is a challenging area in hydrology. Bayesian dynamic linear models (DLMs) however, offer opportunities to account for non-stationarity in relationships between hydrologic input and basin response variables. Hydrologic data are from a 40 years long record (1951-1990) from the 5905 km2 Yadkin River basin in North Carolina, USA. DLM regressions were estimated between log-transformed volume-weighted sediment concentration as a response and log-transformed rainfall erosivity and river flow, respectively, as input variables. A similar regression between log-transformed river flow and log-transformed basin averaged rainfall was also analyzed. The dynamic regression coefficient which reflects the erodibility of the basin decreased significantly between 1951 and 1970, followed by a slowly rising trend. These trends are consistent with observed land-use shifts in the basin. Bayesian DLMs represent a substantial improvement over traditional monotonic trend analysis. Extensions to incorporate multiple regression and seasonality are recommended for future applications in hydrology. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Related Subject Headings
- Environmental Engineering
- 4901 Applied mathematics
- 4005 Civil engineering
- 3707 Hydrology
- 0907 Environmental Engineering
- 0905 Civil Engineering
- 0102 Applied Mathematics
Citation
Published In
DOI
ISSN
Publication Date
Volume
Issue
Start / End Page
Related Subject Headings
- Environmental Engineering
- 4901 Applied mathematics
- 4005 Civil engineering
- 3707 Hydrology
- 0907 Environmental Engineering
- 0905 Civil Engineering
- 0102 Applied Mathematics