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A physically based model of heterogeneous hillslopes: 1. Runoff production
Author(s) -
Binley Andrew,
Elgy John,
Beven Keith
Publication year - 1989
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/wr025i006p01219
Subject(s) - surface runoff , hydraulic conductivity , soil science , soil water , environmental science , hydrology (agriculture) , spatial variability , subsurface flow , runoff curve number , geology , geotechnical engineering , mathematics , statistics , groundwater , ecology , biology
A fully three‐dimensional model of variably saturated flow on a hillslope has been used to explore the effects of different random patterns of saturated hydraulic conductivity on a 150 m by 100 m hillslope. Both surface and subsurface runoff production are simulated. The model's simulations suggest that peak discharges and runoff volumes are generally increased by the presence of heterogeneity, increasing with increasing variance and spatial dependence of the underlying random field. Simulations using different realizations with the same random field parameters show that for the case of soils showing no dependence, differences in runoff production between realizations are small at this scale of hillslope. The differences increase with increasing spatial dependence, particularly for the case of low‐conductivity soils producing surface runoff.