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Estimated monthly percentile discharges at ungaged sites in the upper Yellowstone River Basin in Montana

January 1, 1986

Once-monthly streamflow measurements were used to estimate selected percentile discharges on flow-duration curves of monthly mean discharge for 40 ungaged stream sites in the upper Yellowstone River basin in Montana. The estimation technique was a modification of the concurrent-discharge method previously described and used by H.C. Riggs to estimate annual mean discharge. The modified technique is based on the relationship of various mean seasonal discharges to the required discharges on the flow-duration curves. The mean seasonal discharges are estimated from the monthly streamflow measurements, and the percentile discharges are calculated from regression equations. The regression equations, developed from streamflow record at nine gaging stations, indicated a significant log-linear relationship between mean seasonal discharge and various percentile discharges. The technique was tested at two discontinued streamflow-gaging stations; the differences between estimated monthly discharges and those determined from the discharge record ranged from -31 to +27 percent at one site and from -14 to +85 percent at the other. The estimates at one site were unbiased, and the estimates at the other site were consistently larger than the recorded values. Based on the test results, the probable average error of the technique was + or - 30 percent for the 21 sites measured during the first year of the program and + or - 50 percent for the 19 sites measured during the second year. 

Publication Year 1986
Title Estimated monthly percentile discharges at ungaged sites in the upper Yellowstone River Basin in Montana
DOI 10.3133/wri864009
Authors Charles Parrett, J. A. Hull
Publication Type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Series Title Water-Resources Investigations Report
Series Number 86-4009
Index ID wri864009
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse