Application of Hydrograph Shape and Channel Infiltration Models to an Arid Watershed
Publication: Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 9, Issue 5
Abstract
Ephemeral streamflows measured during January 1995 at upstream and downstream locations in Cold Creek, near the arid Hanford Site, in the state of Washington, were analyzed. Double triangle and composite hydrograph models fit these flow events relatively well, with mean efficiency≈0.7. The composite hydrograph model is slightly preferable to the double triangle model for having one less parameter and a built-in method for quantifying base flow. A strong linear relationship was found between upstream and downstream flow volumes and a linearized exponential decay model for channel infiltration was used to estimate flow loss to infiltration as 19% of volume per km. As compared to the humid and semiarid environments where most of these techniques have been previously applied, the colder and more arid setting of Hanford produces runoff much less frequently and has greater channel infiltration capacity.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 9 • Issue 5 • September 2004
Pages: 433 - 439
Copyright
Copyright © 2004 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 22, 2002
Accepted: Jan 7, 2004
Published online: Aug 16, 2004
Published in print: Sep 2004
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