资源环境科技发展态势分析平台

Base flow estimation is of overwhelming importance in hydrological modeling and water resource management. One of the widely used techniques to derive base flow from measured streamflow is the recursive digital filter (RDF). Yet its application still raises methodological issues related to the determination of its parameters. In this study, we propose a practical and automatic procedure to calibrate the RDF with respect to the measured streamflow. The method operationality and robustness are first demonstrated on three gauging stations in the Ourthe catchment (Belgium). The calibrated parameters compare well with those obtained by a standard graphical approach. Next, the proposed approach is compared to the technique of conductance mass balance for two gauging stations in the Hoyoux catchment (Belgium). A fair agreement between the results of the two techniques is obtained, suggesting that the proposed automatic calibration procedure of RDF takes the base flow separation process to a higher level of practicality and transparency.