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Spatial patterns and temporal stability of soil moisture across a range of scales in a semi‐arid environment
Author(s) -
GómezPlaza A,
AlvarezRogel J,
Albaladejo J,
Castillo V. M
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
hydrological processes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.222
H-Index - 161
eISSN - 1099-1085
pISSN - 0885-6087
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-1085(200005)14:7<1261::aid-hyp40>3.0.co;2-d
Subject(s) - transect , arid , environmental science , water content , infiltration (hvac) , spatial variability , hydrology (agriculture) , vegetation (pathology) , spatial ecology , spatial heterogeneity , soil science , moisture , spatial distribution , geology , geography , ecology , remote sensing , medicine , paleontology , oceanography , statistics , geotechnical engineering , mathematics , pathology , meteorology , biology
The antecedent soil moisture status of a catchment is an important factor in hydrological modelling. Traditional Hortonian infiltration models assume that the initial moisture content is constant across the whole catchment, despite the fact that even in small catchments antecedent soil moisture exhibits tremendous spatial heterogeneity. Spatial patterns of soil water distribution across three transects (two in a burnt area and one in an unburnt area) in a semi‐arid area were studied. At the transect scale, when the factors affecting soil moisture were limited to topographical position or local topography, spatial patterns showed time stability, but when other factors, such as vegetation, were taken into account, the spatial patterns became time unstable. At the point scale, and in the same areas, topographical position was the main factor controlling time stability. Scale dependence of time stability was studied and local topography and vegetation presence were observed to play an important role for the correlation between consecutive measures depending on the scale. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.