Plot and small watershed scale modeling of infiltration and runoff on a semiarid grassland using distributed Green and Ampt infiltration parameters

Ginger Paige, Jeffrey Stone, D. Phillip Guertin

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

The relationship between hydrologic processes and scale is one of the more complex issues in surface water hydrology. Plot scale measurements of infiltration and runoff were made on 2 m by 6 m rainfall simulator plots on an instrumented sub-watershed within the USDA-ARS Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed (WGEW). Rainfall and runoff data have been collected for over 30 years on the 1.9 ha sub-watershed using a recording rain gage and instrumented weir. Detailed soils, vegetation, and topography data have been collected at both the plot and watershed scales and input into a GIS. Plot scale infiltration and runoff measurements were made using a variable intensity rainfall simulator at a range of intensities and two different soil moisture conditions within the watershed. A distributed, process-based hydrologic model coupled with a GIS is used along with measured plot characteristics to determine distributed Green and Ampt infiltration parameters using the plots as micro-watersheds. The same hydrologic model is used to determine distributed infiltration parameters using a range of spatial configurations at watershed scale. The level of discretization necessary to model the observed infiltration and runoff processes at both the plot and small watershed scales are compared.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationManaging Watersheds for Human and Natural Impacts
Subtitle of host publicationEngineering, Ecological, and Economic Challenges - Proceedings of the 2005 Watershed Management Conference
EditorsG.E. Moglen
Pages1753
Number of pages1
StatePublished - 2005
Event2005 Watershed Management Conference - Managing Watersheds for Human and Natural Impacts: Engineering, Ecological, and Economic Challenges - Williamsburg, VA, United States
Duration: Jul 19 2005Jul 22 2005

Publication series

NameProceedings of the 2005 Watershed Management Conference - Managing Watersheds for Human and Natural Impacts: Engineering, Ecological, and Economic Challenges

Other

Other2005 Watershed Management Conference - Managing Watersheds for Human and Natural Impacts: Engineering, Ecological, and Economic Challenges
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityWilliamsburg, VA
Period7/19/057/22/05

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Engineering

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