Estimates of the magnitude of peak-flows were updated for the 50-, 20-, 10-, 4-, 2-, 1-, 0.5-, and 0.2-percent chance exceedance levels for 91 rural, unregulated streamgaging stations on the main island of Puerto Rico. These stations required 10 or more years of annual peak-flow record, using data to 2017, for inclusion in the study. The magnitude and frequency of floods at selected streamgages in Puerto Rico were estimated using the U.S. Geological Survey PeakFQ program and updated methods outlined in Bulletin 17C (England and others, 2018). Regional regression equations were calculated to estimate flood frequency statistics at ungaged locations using selected basin characteristics as explanatory variables. These variables were determined from digital spatial datasets and geographic information systems using the most recent data available, as referenced in the U.S. Geological Survey web application, StreamStats, and published in Kolb and Ryan (2021). A generalized least squares procedure in the U.S. Geological Survey program, WREG, was used to account for cross-correlation of sites and develop the final regional regression equations using drainage area as the only explanatory variable. Two separate regions were defined for regression equation use in this study to minimize residuals. NOTE: All of the data in the previous version can be found in version 1.1. References Cited: England J.F., Jr., Cohn, T.A., Faber, B.A., Stedinger,J.R., Thomas,W.O.,Jr., Veilleux,A.G., Kiang,J.E., and Mason,R.R., Jr., 2018, Guidelines for determining flood flow frequency —Bulletin 17C: U.S. Geological Survey Techniques and Methods, book 4, chap. B5, 148p., https://doi.org/10.3133/tm4B5. Kolb, K.R., and Ryan, P.J., 2021, Basin Characteristic Rasters for Puerto Rico StreamStats, 2021: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9HK9SSQ.

The magnitude and frequency of floods at 91 rural, unregulated streamgages in Puerto Rico were updated using annual peak-flows through 2017. The USGS program PeakFQ version 7.3 (U.S. Geological Survey, 2019) was used to estimate the parameters of the Log-Pearson Type III distribution using updated methods outlined in Bulletin 17C (England and others, 2018) and regional skew of 0.28 and a mean-squared error of 0.20. This data release includes (1) a spreadsheet file showing streamgage information, perception thresholds, and intervals used in PeakFQ; (2) raw input files (.txt) and spec file (.psf) loaded into PeakFQ; and (3) output files (.PRT) from PeakFQ showing the magnitude and frequency peak-flow estimates, as well as paramters of the Log-Pearson Type III distribution and Kendall's tau trend test. References Cited: U.S. Geological Survey, 2019, PeakFQ version 7.3, accessed December 17, 2019, at https://water.usgs.gov/software/PeakFQ/. England J.F., Jr., Cohn, T.A., Faber, B.A., Stedinger,J.R., Thomas,W.O.,Jr., Veilleux,A.G., Kiang,J.E., and Mason,R.R., Jr., 2018, Guidelines for determining flood flow frequency —Bulletin 17C: U.S. Geological Survey Techniques and Methods, book 4, chap. B5, 148p., https://doi.org/10.3133/tm4B5.

The magnitude and frequency of floods at 91 rural, unregulated streamgages in Puerto Rico were updated using annual peak-flows through 2017. The USGS program PeakFQ version 7.3 (U.S. Geological Survey, 2019) was used to estimate the parameters of the Log-Pearson Type III distribution using updated methods outlined in Bulletin 17C (England and others, 2018) and regional skew of 0.28 and a mean-squared error of 0.20. This data release includes (1) a spreadsheet file showing streamgage information, perception thresholds, and intervals used in PeakFQ; (2) raw input files (.txt) and spec file (.psf) loaded into PeakFQ; and (3) output files (.PRT) from PeakFQ showing the magnitude and frequency peak-flow estimates, as well as paramters of the Log-Pearson Type III distribution and Kendall's tau trend test. References Cited: U.S. Geological Survey, 2019, PeakFQ version 7.3, accessed December 17, 2019, at https://water.usgs.gov/software/PeakFQ/. England J.F., Jr., Cohn, T.A., Faber, B.A., Stedinger,J.R., Thomas,W.O.,Jr., Veilleux,A.G., Kiang,J.E., and Mason,R.R., Jr., 2018, Guidelines for determining flood flow frequency —Bulletin 17C: U.S. Geological Survey Techniques and Methods, book 4, chap. B5, 148p., https://doi.org/10.3133/tm4B5.

Flow-duration statistics at the 99th, 98th, 95th, 90th, 80th, 70th, 60th, and 50th percent exceedance probabilities and annual n-day low-flow statistics for the 1-, 7-, 14-, and 30-day mean low flows with 2-year (0.5 nonexceedance probability), 5-year (0.2 nonexceedance probability), and 10-year (0.1 nonexceedance probability) recurrence intervals were computed for 28 selected streamflow gaging stations in Puerto Rico. The 28 selected streamflow gaging stations were required to have 10 or more years of daily mean streamflow data through water year 2018. The flow-duration statistics and n-day low-flow frequencies were computed using the U.S. Geological Survey program, SWToolbox. Regional regression equations were developed to estimate flow-duration statistics and n-day low-flow frequencies at ungaged stream locations using selected basin characteristics as explanatory variables. These variables were determined from digital spatial datasets and geographic information systems using the most recent data available, as referenced in the U.S. Geological Survey web application, StreamStats, and published in Kolb and Ryan (2021). An ordinary least-squares procedure in R Studio was used to develop the final regional flow-duration regression equations using drainage area, mean total annual reference evapotranspiration, and minimum basin elevation as the explanatory variables. A generalized least squares procedure in the U.S. Geological Survey program, WREG, was used to account for cross-correlation of sites and develop the final regional n-day low-flow frequency regression equations using drainage area, mean total annual reference evapotranspiration, and minimum basin elevation as the explanatory variables. This data release includes two child pages: Puerto Rico Flow-Duration Regression Files and Puerto Rico N-day Low-Flow Regression Files, a BasinCharacteristics.csv file that contains 47 basin and climatic characteristics considered in the analyses, a BasinCharacteristics_corrrelation_charts folder that contains .pdf files showing correlation matrices, a R_regsubsets_output folder that contains .txt and .pdf files showing results of the "regsubsets" analyses, a Trend_statistics_nday_lowflow_timeseries.csv file that contains the SWToolbox Mann-Kendall tau statistics, and a NWIS_rdb_files folder that contains the .rdb files used in the analyses. References Cited: Kolb, K.R., and Ryan, P.J., 2021, Basin Characteristic Rasters for Puerto Rico StreamStats, 2021: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9HK9SSQ.

Flow-duration statistics at the 99th, 98th, 95th, 90th, 80th, 70th, 60th, and 50th percent exceedance probabilities and annual n-day low-flow statistics for the 1-, 7-, 14-, and 30-day mean low flows with 2-year (0.5 nonexceedance probability), 5-year (0.2 nonexceedance probability), and 10-year (0.1 nonexceedance probability) recurrence intervals were computed for 28 selected streamflow gaging stations in Puerto Rico. The 28 selected streamflow gaging stations were required to have 10 or more years of daily mean streamflow data through water year 2018. The flow-duration statistics and n-day low-flow frequencies were computed using the U.S. Geological Survey program, SWToolbox. Regional regression equations were developed to estimate flow-duration statistics and n-day low-flow frequencies at ungaged stream locations using selected basin characteristics as explanatory variables. These variables were determined from digital spatial datasets and geographic information systems using the most recent data available, as referenced in the U.S. Geological Survey web application, StreamStats, and published in Kolb and Ryan (2021). An ordinary least-squares procedure in R Studio was used to develop the final regional flow-duration regression equations using drainage area, mean total annual reference evapotranspiration, and minimum basin elevation as the explanatory variables. A generalized least squares procedure in the U.S. Geological Survey program, WREG, was used to account for cross-correlation of sites and develop the final regional n-day low-flow frequency regression equations using drainage area, mean total annual reference evapotranspiration, and minimum basin elevation as the explanatory variables. This data release includes two child pages: Puerto Rico Flow-Duration Regression Files and Puerto Rico N-day Low-Flow Regression Files, a BasinCharacteristics.csv file that contains 47 basin and climatic characteristics considered in the analyses, a BasinCharacteristics_corrrelation_charts folder that contains .pdf files showing correlation matrices, a R_regsubsets_output folder that contains .txt and .pdf files showing results of the "regsubsets" analyses, a Trend_statistics_nday_lowflow_timeseries.csv file that contains the SWToolbox Mann-Kendall tau statistics, and a NWIS_rdb_files folder that contains the .rdb files used in the analyses. References Cited: Kolb, K.R., and Ryan, P.J., 2021, Basin Characteristic Rasters for Puerto Rico StreamStats, 2021: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9HK9SSQ.

This data release provides topographic (horizontal and vertical) data for 78 sites, surveyed from November 2017 to July 2019 as part of documentation of flooding that occurred in Puerto Rico during and after Hurricane Maria (September to November 2017). Hurricane Maria made landfall the Island of Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017 and was one of the deadliest storms in U.S. history. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) personnel conducted topographic surveys at selected stream sites to facilitate hydraulic modeling of peak streamflows (or discharges) – termed indirect measurements – using published standard USGS methods and hydraulic modeling studies to establish new stage-discharge relations for sites at which flooding substantially changed the pre-existing relation. Indirect (post-flood) measurements are used to characterize flood peaks that could not be determined using direct methods (for example current-velocity meters, hydro-acoustic instruments or established stage-streamflow relations) because flood conditions exceeded the capabilities of those methods, streamgage sites could not be accessed during flooding, or safety issues precluded access by USGS personnel during flooding. The standard-step hydraulic method, often referred to as the step-backwater method, is a widely accepted one-dimensional hydraulic model to determine (theoretical) water-surface elevations at a location of interest for specified streamflows.

This data release provides topographic (horizontal and vertical) data for 78 sites, surveyed from November 2017 to July 2019 as part of documentation of flooding that occurred in Puerto Rico during and after Hurricane Maria (September to November 2017). Hurricane Maria made landfall the Island of Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017 and was one of the deadliest storms in U.S. history. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) personnel conducted topographic surveys at selected stream sites to facilitate hydraulic modeling of peak streamflows (or discharges) – termed indirect measurements – using published standard USGS methods and hydraulic modeling studies to establish new stage-discharge relations for sites at which flooding substantially changed the pre-existing relation. Indirect (post-flood) measurements are used to characterize flood peaks that could not be determined using direct methods (for example current-velocity meters, hydro-acoustic instruments or established stage-streamflow relations) because flood conditions exceeded the capabilities of those methods, streamgage sites could not be accessed during flooding, or safety issues precluded access by USGS personnel during flooding. The standard-step hydraulic method, often referred to as the step-backwater method, is a widely accepted one-dimensional hydraulic model to determine (theoretical) water-surface elevations at a location of interest for specified streamflows.

Generalized least squares (GLS) techniques were used with at-site statistics, from PeakFQ, and drainage area for streamgages in Puerto Rico to calculate regional regression equations for ungaged locations. The GLS approach assigns weights based on uncertainty of the observations (ie. record length and variance) and accounts for correlated streamflows and time-sampling errors (Farmer and others, 2019). Two separate regions were defined for the use of these equations to minimize residuals, and performance metrics from WREG were analyzed to determine drainage area as the only explanatory variable provided the best results. Values for the correlation smoothing function in region 1 were alpha equal to 0.006 and theta of 0.96 and for region 2 alpha equal to 0.004 and theta of 0.94. This data release includes (1) a PeakFQ folder that contains input files, both .EXP and .PRT (output from PeakFQ), for use in WREG; (2) a SiteInfo folder for use in WREG that contains information about each site used, separated by region; and (3) a Results folder showing the WREG output of each annual exceedance probability flow, separated by regression region where applicable. References Cited: Farmer, W.H., Kiang, J.E., Feaster, T.D., and Eng, K., 2019, Regionalization of surface-water statistics using multiple linear regression: U.S. Geological Survey Techniques and Methods, book 4, chap. A12, 40 p., Accessed August 4, 2020 at https://doi.org/10.3133/tm4A12.

Generalized least squares (GLS) techniques were used with at-site statistics, from PeakFQ, and drainage area for streamgages in Puerto Rico to calculate regional regression equations for ungaged locations. The GLS approach assigns weights based on uncertainty of the observations (ie. record length and variance) and accounts for correlated streamflows and time-sampling errors (Farmer and others, 2019). Two separate regions were defined for the use of these equations to minimize residuals, and performance metrics from WREG were analyzed to determine drainage area as the only explanatory variable provided the best results. Values for the correlation smoothing function in region 1 were alpha equal to 0.006 and theta of 0.96 and for region 2 alpha equal to 0.004 and theta of 0.94. This data release includes (1) a PeakFQ folder that contains input files, both .EXP and .PRT (output from PeakFQ), for use in WREG; (2) a SiteInfo folder for use in WREG that contains information about each site used, separated by region; and (3) a Results folder showing the WREG output of each annual exceedance probability flow, separated by regression region where applicable. References Cited: Farmer, W.H., Kiang, J.E., Feaster, T.D., and Eng, K., 2019, Regionalization of surface-water statistics using multiple linear regression: U.S. Geological Survey Techniques and Methods, book 4, chap. A12, 40 p., Accessed August 4, 2020 at https://doi.org/10.3133/tm4A12.

Regional regression equations were calculated in Puerto Rico with generalized least squares techniques to estimate flood frequency statistics at ungaged locations using drainage area as the only explanatory variable. The island was divided into 2 regions to minimize residuals. The region division that resulted in lower and more balanced residuals runs primarily north-south near the center of the island, mostly along an 8-digit hydrologic unit code (HUC8) boundary. The division line runs through a HUC8 polygon on the southern end of the island, but care was taken to include entire watersheds and consideration was given where hydrologic and physiographic properties differed. This data release includes geographic information system files that define the polygons for both regions.