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A Method for Characterizing the Runoff Potential Rainfall in Water Harvesting Schemes
Author(s) -
Rawitz E.,
Hillel D.
Publication year - 1971
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1029/wr007i002p00401
Subject(s) - surface runoff , environmental science , runoff curve number , hydrology (agriculture) , runoff model , arid , infiltration (hvac) , storm , intensity (physics) , meteorology , geology , geography , ecology , paleontology , physics , geotechnical engineering , quantum mechanics , biology
The ever increasing world demand for water has renewed interest in the development of efficient runoff inducement techniques. Often only scanty hydrologic data are available for planning purposes, and the amount of runoff obtainable can be predicted only on the basis of the prevailing rainfall pattern of a given location. The authors have developed a method for evaluating the runoff producing potential of rainfall patterns and for estimating the amount of water hypothetically obtainable from water harvesting areas of given average infiltration rates. Data obtained from the arid zone of Israel indicate that the distribution of rainfall amounts in relation to rainfall intensities is skewed toward the low intensities and that a few large storms generally account for most of the total rainfall and runoff producing potential. A scaling of rainfall intensity versus relative rainfall amount (fraction of each season's total) shows that seasons with widely different total rainfalls nevertheless have similar relative distribution patterns. This fact suggests the possibility of finding a function that can adequately characterize the relative intensity distribution pattern of a region and can be used to predict runoff potential in relation to seasonal rainfall probabilities.