This paper reviews the current status of flow duration curve (FDC) studies that attempt to relate climate and catchment attributes to reproduce or explain the process controls on its shape – toward improving global-scale applicability and transferability of FDC studies. A collection of FDC literature from the past two decades is presented (2000–2020). They are grouped as exemplifying either: (1) studies that develop accurate and reliable prediction tools targeting specific regions and hydro-climate and (2) studies that improve our process understanding across large spatio-temporal scales and domains. We show some of the general characteristics for each group, highlighting some major limitations and advantages. Then, we discuss potential future research directions in the context of improving the global-scale applicability/transferability of FDC studies. Group (1) dominates FDC literature since the inception of FDC. Although some studies have been successfully applied at large spatio-temporal scales, such approaches are often empirical. Thus, they are usually applicable only in the regions of model development, often in hydrologically resourceful countries with densely gaged networks that make it easier to transfer information between catchments. A major impediment to progress is the lack of process input in empirical models, resulting in an inability to generate flexible functions applicable across larger scales. It is from this perspective that process-based approaches are becoming popular among studies in Group (2). Process-based approaches explicitly attempt to identify and understand the process controls on FDC. Thus, they appear more advantageous, although they have yet to be tested at global scales. Furthermore, there are still some contrasting issues regarding the processes that govern FDC shapes. There is a need to develop a general framework for process-based modeling of FDC. Finally, even though much has already been achieved at regional scales through both approaches, the new challenge is to consistently replicate the successes on a global scale.

本文回顾了流动持续时间曲线 (FDC) 研究的现状，这些研究试图将气候和流域属性联系起来，以重现或解释对其形状的过程控制——以提高 FDC 研究的全球范围适用性和可转移性。展示了过去 20 年（2000-2020 年）的 FDC 文献集。它们被分组为举例说明：（1）开发针对特定区域和水文气候的准确可靠的预测工具的研究，以及（2）提高我们对大时空尺度和领域的过程理解的研究。我们展示了每个组的一些一般特征，突出了一些主要的局限性和优势。然后，我们在提高 FDC 研究的全球范围适用性/可转移性的背景下讨论潜在的未来研究方向。自 FDC 成立以来，第 (1) 组在 FDC 文献中占主导地位。尽管一些研究已成功应用于大的时空尺度，但这些方法通常是经验性的。因此，它们通常仅适用于模型开发区域，通常适用于水文资源丰富的国家，其网络密集，可以更容易地在流域之间传输信息。进展的一个主要障碍是经验模型中缺乏过程输入，导致无法生成适用于更大规模的灵活函数。正是从这个角度来看，基于过程的方法在第 (2) 组的研究中变得流行起来。基于流程的方法明确尝试识别和理解 FDC 上的流程控制。因此，它们似乎更有利，尽管它们尚未在全球范围内进行测试。此外，关于控制 FDC 形状的过程仍然存在一些对比问题。需要为 FDC 的基于过程的建模开发一个通用框架。最后，尽管通过这两种方法已经在区域范围内取得了很大的成就，但新的挑战是在全球范围内不断复制成功。需要为 FDC 的基于过程的建模开发一个通用框架。最后，尽管通过这两种方法已经在区域范围内取得了很大的成就，但新的挑战是在全球范围内不断复制成功。需要为 FDC 的基于过程的建模开发一个通用框架。最后，尽管通过这两种方法已经在区域范围内取得了很大的成就，但新的挑战是在全球范围内不断复制成功。