New method to calculate the dynamic factor–flow velocity in Geomorphologic instantaneous unit hydrograph

Abstract The determination of characteristic flow velocity is a hydrodynamic problem needs to be solved in the application of geomorphologic instantaneous unit hydrograph (GIUH) for runoff simulation in areas with no or limited data. In this study, 120 watersheds are collected to construct a regression model; 85 of these basins are used for regression analysis, and the 35 remaining basins are utilized to verify the feasibility of the constructed model. Random forest algorithm is applied to screen out important geomorphologic factors from the 16 extracted factors that may affect flow velocity. Multivariate regression is used to establish the numerical relationship between velocity and the selected factors. Sensitivity analysis of each adopted factor in the constructed model is conducted using the LH-OAT method. The rationality and feasibility of the regression model are validated by comparing the flow velocity calculation with a previous approach, which is also calculated based on geomorphological parameters. Subsequently, the runoff simulation based on the GIUH model is evaluated using the proposed technique. Results demonstrate that the proposed formula possesses high fitting accuracy and can be easily used to calculate flow velocity and generate GIUH.