Precipitation Frequency Estimates Research Articles

History of hydrology: Developments in hydrometeorology

This 1986 AGU Fall Meeting session included six papers. The first three related to bridging the gap between hydrology and hydrometeorology, and the last three related to the concepts of probable maximum precipitation (PMP) and precipitation frequency estimates. The session was well attended and created considerable discussion concerning some historical aspects related to hydrometeorological development.The paper by V. Yevjevich (George Washington University, Washington, D.C.) discussed historical progress in three areas: understanding and description of geophysical processes, precipitation‐to‐runoff transfer processes, and understanding of modeling of space/time runoff processes. He cited examples taken from African studies that related to these areas. D. Dawdy (hydrologic consultant, San Francisco, Calif.), presented an overview of rainfall runoff modeling that began with the 1960 development of the Stanford Watershed Model by R. K. Linsley (then at Stanford). His discussion was of considerable interest, since he outlined developments in that field over the past 25–30 years, including some developments in which he was an active participant. D. A. Woolhiser (Agricultural Research Service, Tucson, Ariz.), presented an excellent summary of the history of watershed hydrology research by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service (ARS). Many experimental watersheds were developed by ARS after its creation in 1954. Excellent sets of hydrometeorological data are available for many of these watersheds.