Abstract
Baseflow recession is an essential part of the hydrological cycle, as it transfers unconfined aquifer storage to runoff. This study derived the parameterization of the baseflow recession from recession curves extracted from 382 catchments in China. The recession parameters of recession curves in power-law form, which control the shape of the curves and reflect the net effects of hillslope on the runoff decline process, are estimated by the baseflow recession analysis. The results show that the ranges of recession coefficient alpha and recession exponent beta across China are 0-0.70 and 0.57-3, respectively. Most of the alpha values range between 0 and 0.20, and most of the alpha values range between 1 and 2. Generally, the alpha values of relatively dry catchments are higher than that of the wet catchments, and the distribution pattern of beta values is opposite to that of alpha values. Statistical analysis is used to construct parametric equations for the recession parameters, indicating that catchment area, field capacity, etc., are essential for predicting alpha and beta. In addition, the transplantation results of parametric equations show that equations can be applied to the estimation of alpha and beta in other catchments. The results provide data support for storage estimation of data-scarce catchments.