Correlation Structure and Time Scale of Simple Hydrologic Systems

Abstract

Correlation structure of river runoff is a complicated set of different persistence phenomena in the watershed itself and in the meteorological input to the watershed. Correlation functions and time scale of isolated processes in a watershed (groundwater level and river runoff) are derived analytically from the linearized equations of motion for these processes. Nonlinear effects on the correlation functions are shown for river runoff and for the watershed as a whole.