Multivariate hydrologic time series analysis

The objective of this study is to establish a multivariate watershed hydrologic system model involving meteorological data as the input and river flow as the output of the system. Monthly hydrological time series of runoff, temperature and precipitation were selected for analysis. A first-order autoregressive-moving average (ARMA) transfer function model was found adequate to describe the multivariate watershed hydrologic system for the monthly runoff and meteorological time series. The results also indicated that the coordinated use of the meteorological and hydrometric data would enhance the accuracy of estimation of runoff characteristics.