Glossary

These terms distinguish observations, characteristic assessments, and final component classifications. They follow the project's domain terminology. See unknown outcomes for the full explanation of uncertainty and its effect on evaluation and reporting.

Observations and configuration

Scenario is one input-data column, evaluated independently against all configured components. A file can contain one scenario or many.

Timestep interval is the spacing between successive observations. Cadence describes its regularity, such as daily or monthly sampling. A timestep count is not automatically a calendar length: months have different numbers of days.

Component is a configured flow pattern assessed using one or more characteristics.

Characteristic is an aspect of the pattern: timing, magnitude, duration, frequency, or rate of change.

Characteristic parameters define a characteristic's condition, such as a magnitude threshold or duration bounds.

Condition is a criterion used to decide whether a characteristic is satisfied.

Water year is a year-long interval starting at a configured calendar boundary and labelled by its ending year. A partial water year contains only part of that interval in the observed record.

Calendar length expresses an interval in calendar units, such as days or months, rather than in a count of timesteps.

Outcomes

Characteristic outcome is a characteristic's verdict at one timestep, before its effect on the final component is assessed.

Component outcome is the final verdict at one timestep: success, failure, or unknown. These verdicts describe configured conditions, not guaranteed ecological benefit. A failure-pattern configuration describes conditions to avoid, so its final known success means non-failure.

Unknown outcome means available information cannot determine success or failure. It is neither one. Unavailable independent comparisons and duration run-boundary uncertainty preserve unknowns. Un-nested frequency preserves unknown counts and uncertain anchors. Nested frequency preserves possible annual fractions and unknown annual qualifying verdicts. Summary portions exclude unknowns from each outcome column's denominator; an all-unknown group has no defined summary.

Known-outcome coverage is the fraction of recorded timesteps whose outcome is known, for the column under discussion. Coverage differs from how many known outcomes are successful and from whether the water year is complete. Coverage is available in reporting details and companion plot-coverage data.

Summary metric summarizes the final component outcomes for one scenario. Characteristic summary summarizes a characteristic's diagnostic column instead. Each column has its own known-outcome denominator. Known-outcome coverage and success among known outcomes describe different quantities.

Duration and rate of change

Qualifying timestep is an observation interval satisfying the conditions being assessed. For duration or frequency, these are the combined conditions of the preceding characteristics.

Qualifying run is a maximal uninterrupted sequence of qualifying timesteps. Its qualifying run length counts those timesteps.

Duration threshold is a timestep count compared with the qualifying run length. Duration bounds define an inclusive acceptable range of such counts. The duration characteristic assesses the whole qualifying run.

Look-back interval separates the current timestep from the earlier timestep used in a rate-of-change comparison. It does not require intervening observations to qualify.

Frequency

Evaluation interval is the span considered when assessing a condition; a frequency window, qualifying run, or look-back interval is a specific kind.

Frequency window is a forward interval over which qualifying timesteps or qualifying water years are counted.

Frequency window anchor is the qualifying timestep or water year where a window starts. If the count condition accepts zero, any timestep or water year can start one. Frequency window length is its configured maximum number of timesteps or water years; the observed record can truncate it.

Frequency count counts qualifying timesteps or qualifying water years, not component events.

Exclusive windows is the optional frequency setting that suppresses later anchors inside a qualifying window. Without it, the results of qualifying overlapping windows are combined. Each part of nested frequency sets it independently. See the frequency reference for exact existing rules.

Un-nested frequency assesses a single frequency condition across the record's timesteps; its windows can cross water-year boundaries.

Intra-annual pattern is the part of nested frequency that assesses timesteps within complete water years and identifies qualifying water years. Interannual pattern assesses those qualifying water years across years.

Qualifying water year meets its intra-annual condition.

Trial generalizes over the units counted by frequency: timesteps or water years. It does not imply independence or random sampling. Guides name the concrete unit wherever possible.

Component events and scenario grids

Component event is a maximal uninterrupted occurrence of final component success. It is also called a component-success run when discussing consecutive successful timesteps. It is not necessarily a distinct physical hydrologic occurrence such as a flood.

Component success period is the time interval occupied by that component event. Component-success run length counts its timesteps. It can differ from the qualifying run length assessed by duration.

Scenario grid is a set of scenarios whose names encode two numeric axes, for example _0_1.5. It supports a response-surface plot.

Precipitation delta is the first number in a scenario-grid name, expressed in percent. Temperature delta is the second number, expressed in degrees Celsius. In _0_1.5, these are 0% and 1.5 degrees Celsius respectively.