Infiltration, soil moisture, and land-use relationships with reference to surface runoff

1949 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonard Schiff ◽  
F. R. Dreibelbis
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irina Engelhardt ◽  
Sandra Banusch ◽  
Paul Hepach ◽  
Márk Somogyvári ◽  
Gerd Wessolek ◽  
...  

<p>Groundwater recharge is an important variable for sustainable groundwater resources management in regions affected by water scarcity. The specifics of the Mediterranean require adapted techniques to also account for climate change implying a higher frequency of extreme events. Appropriate techniques are highly relevant for recharge with low rates. We compare three methods for the Western Mountain Aquifer, a karst in Israel: soil moisture budget calculations at basin scale, empirical functions, and machine learning algorithms. Resulting recharge are compared with measured spring discharge.</p><p><strong>Neural networks</strong> have the advantage of not requiring much knowledge about physical processes or hydrogeological and hydrological conditions, nor about model parameters. This data-driven machine learning algorithms learn the non-linear relationship between precipitation events and spring water discharge given a sufficient amount of training data is available. After training, the neural network could be used as a nonlinear function to model recharge of any predicted precipitation time series. However, this approach does not allow for any quantitative analysis of external forcing, such as land use, or internal parameter, such as soil characteristics, nor does it account for any expected future change in precipitation pattern.</p><p><strong>Hydro-pedotransfer functions (HPTF)</strong> are based on empirical relationships between precipitation and recharge. HPTFs account for potential evapotranspiration, annual precipitation, land cover, and a critical water supply (a threshold when actual evapotranspiration depends only on atmospheric conditions). Resulting percolation rates consider i) vegetation types, ii) precipitation during the vegetation growth period, iii) runoff, iv) plant available soil water, and v) capillary rise. The application of HPTF to a karst aquifer has the advantage that only limited input data are required. However, our results indicate that HPTFs are not able to capture the rapid recharge component observed in karst systems and thus underestimate recharge.</p><p>The <strong>Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) </strong>employs a hydrological and soil moisture budget calculations. Objective functions are actual evapotranspiration and surface runoff. Evapotranspiration is obtained from MODIS remote sensing data. Calibration of actual evapotranspiration is especially challenging for summer periods due to the impact of vegetation and irrigation. However, the most relevant parameter determining daily recharge rates are water loss by surface-runoff and surface water storage in wadi beds generating episodic recharge.</p><p>Impact of shifts in climate is considered by climate projections obtained with the RCM COSMO-CLM at resolution of 3 km, under the IPCC RCP4.5 scenario, nested into the MENA-CORDEX domain. However, we believe that changes in land use from natural vegetation (trees, grass-, and shrublands) to rain-fed agricultural area could possibly shift the water budget from deficit to surplus conditions (recharge dominated). During the period 1992 to 2015 natural vegetation decreased by 8% and urban areas increased by up to 6%, while (rain-fed) agricultural areas remained almost constant. We investigate if land use changes might have (a much) larger impact on percolation rates than the predicted climate change effect. Thus, in future recharge may be controlled and enhanced in regions with water scarcity by better management of land use employing an optimized combination between precipitation, irrigation, and crop type.</p>


Author(s):  
Valery Yashin

Представлены материалы исследований формирования режима влажности и динамики грунтовых вод орошаемых солонцовых комплексных почв при различных способах полива, проведенные в Волгоградском Заволжье. Установлена значительная неравномерность распределения влажности почвы при поливах дождеванием. Отмечается поверхностный сток по микрорельефу до 30% от поливной нормы, что приводит к недостаточности увлажнения корневой зоны на солонцах и переувлажнению почв в понижениях микрорельефа и потере оросительной воды на инфильтрационное питание грунтовых вод.The article presents the materials of research on the formation of the humidity regime and dynamics of ground water of irrigated saline complex soils under various irrigation methods, conducted in the Volgograd Zavolzhye. A significant unevenness in the distribution of soil moisture during irrigation with sprinkling has been established. There is a surface runoff on the microrelief of up to 30% of the irrigation norm, which leads to insufficient moisture of the root zone on the salt flats and waterlogging of the soil in the microrelief depressions and loss of irrigation water for infiltration feed of ground water.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aman Srivastava ◽  
Pennan Chinnasamy

AbstractThe present study, for the first time, examined land-use land cover (LULC), changes using GIS, between 2000 and 2018 for the IIT Bombay campus, India. Objective was to evaluate hydro-ecological balance inside campus by determining spatio-temporal disparity between hydrological parameters (rainfall-runoff processes), ecological components (forest, vegetation, lake, barren land), and anthropogenic stressors (urbanization and encroachments). High-resolution satellite imageries were generated for the campus using Google Earth Pro, by manual supervised classification method. Rainfall patterns were studied using secondary data sources, and surface runoff was estimated using SCS-CN method. Additionally, reconnaissance surveys, ground-truthing, and qualitative investigations were conducted to validate LULC changes and hydro-ecological stability. LULC of 2018 showed forest, having an area cover of 52%, as the most dominating land use followed by built-up (43%). Results indicated that the area under built-up increased by 40% and playground by 7%. Despite rapid construction activities, forest cover and Powai lake remained unaffected. This anomaly was attributed to the drastically declining barren land area (up to ~ 98%) encompassing additional construction activities. Sustainability of the campus was demonstrated with appropriate measures undertaken to mitigate negative consequences of unwarranted floods owing to the rise of 6% in the forest cover and a decline of 21% in water hyacinth cover over Powai lake. Due to this, surface runoff (~ 61% of the rainfall) was observed approximately consistent and being managed appropriately despite major alterations in the LULC. Study concluded that systematic campus design with effective implementation of green initiatives can maintain a hydro-ecological balance without distressing the environmental services.


2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (7) ◽  
pp. 2411-2428
Author(s):  
Robin K. Weatherl ◽  
Maria J. Henao Salgado ◽  
Maximilian Ramgraber ◽  
Christian Moeck ◽  
Mario Schirmer

AbstractLand-use changes often have significant impact on the water cycle, including changing groundwater/surface-water interactions, modifying groundwater recharge zones, and increasing risk of contamination. Surface runoff in particular is significantly impacted by land cover. As surface runoff can act as a carrier for contaminants found at the surface, it is important to characterize runoff dynamics in anthropogenic environments. In this study, the relationship between surface runoff and groundwater recharge in urban areas is explored using a top-down water balance approach. Two empirical models were used to estimate runoff: (1) an updated, advanced method based on curve number, followed by (2) bivariate hydrograph separation. Modifications were added to each method in an attempt to better capture continuous soil-moisture processes and explicitly account for runoff from impervious surfaces. Differences between the resulting runoff estimates shed light on the complexity of the rainfall–runoff relationship, and highlight the importance of understanding soil-moisture dynamics and their control on hydro(geo)logical responses. These results were then used as input in a water balance to calculate groundwater recharge. Two approaches were used to assess the accuracy of these groundwater balance estimates: (1) comparison to calculations of groundwater recharge using the calibrated conceptual HBV Light model, and (2) comparison to groundwater recharge estimates from physically similar catchments in Switzerland that are found in the literature. In all cases, recharge is estimated at approximately 40–45% of annual precipitation. These conditions were found to closely echo those results from Swiss catchments of similar characteristics.


2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 084596 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhongchang Sun ◽  
Xinwu Li ◽  
Wenxue Fu ◽  
Yingkui Li ◽  
Dongsheng Tang

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vipin Kumar ◽  
Léna Cauchie ◽  
Anne-Sophie Mreyen ◽  
Philippe Cerfontaine ◽  
Mihai Micu ◽  
...  

<p>Seismic stability evaluation plays a crucial role in landslide disaster risk reduction. Related modeling also has to consider the potential influences of the rainfall on the hillslopes. This study aims at understanding the relative influence of the seismic loading and extreme cumulative rainfall on a massive active landslide in the seismically active Vrancea-Buzau region of the Romanian Carpathians (45° 30' 23" N, 26° 25' 05" E). This region has been subjected to more than 700 earthquakes (M>4) events with the highest magnitude of 7.2 (M<sub>w</sub>) during the year 1960-2019. Rainfall data of the year 2000-2019 revealed the occurrence of relatively intense rainfall events, especially during the last ten years. The landslide has an aerial dimension of ~9.1 million m². It hosts the small village of Varlaam at the toe along the Bisca River. The slope (with an average gradient of 15-20°) is covered by shrubs and scattered trees near its borders and is relatively barren in the central part. Shales with some intercalated sandstone layers belonging to the Miocene thrust belt constitute the rocks of the slope.   </p><p>A first survey involving the multi-station array and related Horizontal-to-Vertical noise Spectral Ratio (HVSR) measurements was completed in summer 2019. The findings of the HVSR were processed using the inversion process to infer the shear wave velocity distribution with depth and to detect the sliding surface of the landslide. These velocities were further used to estimate the geotechnical properties of the subsurface using the empirical equations. The HVSR based depth profiles and the Unmanned Air Vehicle based topographic information were used to take four 2D slope sections. These sections were considered for 2D discrete element modeling based stability evaluation under static and dynamic condition along with sensitivity analysis. Static simulation was used to determine the Factor of Safety (FS) using the shear strength reduction approach. Ricker wavelet was used as input seismic load in the dynamic simulation. Potential run-out and flow characteristics of the slope material were explored using the Voellmy rheology based RAMMS software. The relationship between rainfall, surface runoff, and soil moisture was also explored to understand the hydrogeological influence on slope stability.</p><p>Though the slope reveals meta-stability (1.0<FS<2.0) condition under static loading, displacement in the soil reaches up to 1.5 m that further increases to 2.8 m under dynamic loading. According to the topographic characteristics of the slope and to the presence of landslide material or intact bedrock near the surface, acceleration along the slope reaches a Peak Ground Acceleration in the range of 0.6 to 1.3g. Eight extreme rainfall events (>50mm/24 hours) during the year 2000-2019 are noted to temporally coincide with enhanced surface runoff and increased soil moisture in the region. Debris flow runout modeling indicated that the slope material may attain a maximum flow height and flow velocity of 13±0.8 m and 5±0.5 m/sec, respectively, along the river channel.</p><p><strong>Keywords: </strong>Landslide;<strong> </strong>Earthquake; Slope stability; Runout; SE Carpathian</p>


2004 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 903-922 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Bari ◽  
K. R. J. Smettem

Abstract. A conceptual water balance model is presented to represent changes in monthly water balance following land use changes. Monthly rainfall–runoff, groundwater and soil moisture data from four experimental catchments in Western Australia have been analysed. Two of these catchments, "Ernies" (control, fully forested) and "Lemon" (54% cleared) are in a zone of mean annual rainfall of 725 mm, while "Salmon" (control, fully forested) and "Wights" (100% cleared) are in a zone with mean annual rainfall of 1125 mm. At the Salmon forested control catchment, streamflow comprises surface runoff, base flow and interflow components. In the Wights catchment, cleared of native forest for pasture development, all three components increased, groundwater levels rose significantly and stream zone saturated area increased from 1% to 15% of the catchment area. It took seven years after clearing for the rainfall–runoff generation process to stabilise in 1984. At the Ernies forested control catchment, the permanent groundwater system is 20 m below the stream bed and so does not contribute to streamflow. Following partial clearing of forest in the Lemon catchment, groundwater rose steadily and reached the stream bed by 1987. The streamflow increased in two phases: (i) immediately after clearing due to reduced evapotranspiration, and (ii) through an increase in the groundwater-induced stream zone saturated area after 1987. After analysing all the data available, a conceptual monthly model was created, comprising four inter-connecting stores: (i) an upper zone unsaturated store, (ii) a transient stream zone store, (ii) a lower zone unsaturated store and (iv) a saturated groundwater store. Data such as rooting depth, Leaf Area Index, soil porosity, profile thickness, depth to groundwater, stream length and surface slope were incorporated into the model as a priori defined attributes. The catchment average values for different stores were determined through matching observed and predicted monthly hydrographs. The observed and predicted monthly runoff for all catchments matched well with coefficients of determination (R2) ranging from 0.68 to 0.87. Predictions were relatively poor for: (i) the Ernies catchment (lowest rainfall, forested), and (ii) months with very high flows. Overall, the predicted mean annual streamflow was within ±8% of the observed values. Keywords: monthly streamflow, land use change, conceptual model, data-based approach, groundwater


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