Spatial patterns of homogeneous pooling groups for flood frequency analysis

Several methods for the exploration and modelling of spatial point patterns are introduced to study the spatial patterns of homogeneous pooling groups for flood frequency analysis. The study is based on selected catchments in Great Britain, where a high density of gauging stations has been established. Initial pooling groups are formed using the K-means clustering algorithm with appropriately selected similarity measures. The pooling groups are subsequently revised to improve the homogeneity in the hydrological response. Spatial patterns of the initial and final pooling groups are explored in terms of intensity and dependence of the spatial distribution of the catchments. A test against a spatial point process is used to confirm or reject the initial impression of spatial clustering. Changes in the spatial patterns from the initial to the final pooling groups are examined using two comparison methods. The spatial pattern analysis described above can be used to answer the following questions: whether homogeneous catchments tend to exist in the vicinity of each other; whether the improvement in homogeneity tends to form more clustered pooling groups; and how the spatial patterns observed can be used to direct the selection of pooling variables.