OBJECTIVE CRITERION FOR THE SELECTION OF REPRESENTATIVE BASINS

The existence of a hydrologically uniform area is questionable. Therefore it is unlikely that a drainage basin can truly represent the diverse environmental and terrain conditions in any given area. The widely documented strong association between basin morphometry and hydrological responses indicates the possibility of identifying hydrologically similar basins on the basis of similarity of their gross morphology. By using a multidimensional morphological classification of drainage basins, a rational basis for the selection of representative basins is developed. The procedures for this classification and selection are outlined and illustrated with an example from southeastern Nigeria. Copyright 1979 by the American Geophysical Union.