TECHNIQUES FOR ASSESSING THE CLIMATIC SENSITIVITY OF RIVER FLOW REGIMES

Development of a regime classification method to identify spatial and temporal patterns in intraannual hydroclimatological response and tests of a novel sensitivity index (SI) to assess river flow regimes climatic sensitivity. The SI provides a means of assessing the often-complex linkages between climatic drivers and river flow. These techniques are evaluated by application to a test data set of river flow, air temperature and rainfall time-series for a sample of 35 UK river basins. Application where patterns and associations between climate and hydrology are poorly understood.