On the use of multivariate statistical methods for combining in-stream monitoring data and spatial analysis to characterize water quality conditions in the White River Basin,Indiana, USA |
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Authors: | Andrew Gamble Meghna Babbar-Sebens |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, 33620-5350, USA;(2) Civil and Environmental Department, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, 84322-4110, USA;(3) Integrated Environmental Analysis Department, Idaho National Engineering & Environmental Laboratory, Idaho Falls, Idaho, 83415-2213, USA |
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Abstract: | Mechanistic hydrologic and water quality models provide useful alternatives for estimating water quality in unmonitored streams.
However, developing these elaborate models for large watersheds can be time-consuming and expensive, in addition to challenges
that arise during calibration when there is limited spatial and/or temporal monitored in-stream water quality data. The main
objective of this research was to investigate different approaches for developing multivariate analysis models as alternative
methods for rapidly assessing relationships between spatio-temporal physical attributes of the watershed and water quality
conditions in monitored streams, and then using the developed relationships for estimating water quality conditions in unmonitored
streams. The study compares the use of various statistical estimates (mean, geometric mean, trimmed mean, and median) of monitored
water quality variables to represent annual and seasonal water quality conditions. The relationship between these estimates
and the spatial data is then modeled via linear and non-linear multivariate methods. Overall, the non-linear techniques for
classification outperformed the linear techniques with an average cross-validation accuracy of 79.7%. Additionally, the geometric
mean based models outperformed models based on other statistical indicators with an average cross-validation accuracy of 80.2%.
Dividing the data into annual and quarterly datasets also offered important insights into the behavior of certain water quality
variables impacted by seasonal variations. The research provides useful guidance on the use and interpretation of the various
statistical estimates and statistical models for multivariate water quality analyses. |
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