Elasticity curves describe streamflow sensitivity to  precipitation across the entire flow distribution

Anderson, Bailey J.; Brunner, Manuela I.; Slater, Louise J.; Dadson, Simon J.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-1567-2024

Articles | Volume 28, issue 7

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-1567-2024

© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-1567-2024

© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 28, issue 7

Research article

|

08 Apr 2024

Research article |

| 08 Apr 2024

Elasticity curves describe streamflow sensitivity to precipitation across the entire flow distribution

Bailey J. Anderson, Manuela I. Brunner, Louise J. Slater, and Simon J. Dadson

Data sets

GAGES-II: Geospatial Attributes of Gages for Evaluating Streamflow James A. Falcone https://doi.org/10.3133/70046617

U.S. Geological Survey GAGES-II time series data from consistent sources of land use, water use, agriculture, timber activities, dam removals, and other historical anthropogenic influences James A. Falcone https://doi.org/10.5066/F7HQ3XS4

Model code and software

Elasticity_curve_analysis: initial release of code for generating and analysing elasticity curve data Bailey J. Anderson https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7391227

Short summary

Elasticity refers to how much the amount of water in a river changes with precipitation. We usually calculate this using average streamflow values; however, the amount of water within rivers is also dependent on stored water sources. Here, we look at how elasticity varies across the streamflow distribution and show that not only do low and high streamflows respond differently to precipitation change, but also these differences vary with water storage availability.