Streamflow Prediction in Ungauged Basins: Review of Regionalization Methods

Abstract

AbstractThis paper presents a comprehensive review of a fundamental and challenging issue in hydrology: the regionalization of streamflow and its advances over the last two decades, specifically 1990–2011. This includes a discussion of developments in continuous streamflow regionalization, model parameter optimization methods, the application of uncertainty analysis in regionalization procedures, limitations and challenges, and future research directions. Here, regionalization refers to a process of transferring hydrological information from gauged to ungauged or poorly gauged basins to estimate the streamflow. Huge efforts have been devoted to regionalization of flood peaks, low flow, and flow duration curves (FDCs) in the literature, while continuous streamflow regionalization is helpful in deriving each of these variables. Continuous streamflow regionalization can be conducted through rainfall-runoff models or hydrologic model–independent methods. In the former case, model parameters are used as instru...