Methods of estimating the elements of water balance in a forested catchment basin
The paper presents basic hydrological processes of rainfall-runoff transformation in experimental watershed of the Trzebuńka stream. Several field experiments were made to determine basic hydrological parameters, The influence of atmospheric circulation on spatial distribution of precipitation was investigated. Attempt was made to determine the influence of forest vegetation, undergrowth, forest litter retention and surface retention on water loss in the catchment. Water retention capacity of soil was also estimated. Developed mathematical model of rainfall-runoff transformation was used in several simulations. This allowed evaluating the effect of atmospheric circulation and spatial rainfall distribution on water balance, the influence of vegetation cover with forest litter on water runoff and the effect of forest litter alone in a hypothetical scenario of forest cutting.