Laboratory Experimental Investigation of Infiltration by the Run-on Process
Publication: Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 13, Issue 12
Abstract
This paper describes laboratory experiments that provide evidence of infiltration of excess runoff water from upstream areas that moves downslope over unsaturated areas (run-on process). The experiments were carried out using a tilting tank that was packed with two different natural soils to a depth of and subjected to artificial rainfalls from a rainfall simulator. Different rainfall patterns were generated over the surface at different slope settings. Measurements of overland flow, deep flow, and soil water content, together with photographs of soil surface, were used to quantify the main features of the run-on process. The results indicate that the interaction between Hortonian overland flow and local infiltration over the permeable areas can be appropriately described by representing the flow depth per unit time as an “additional” rainfall rate. Thus, these experimental results support the representation of the run-on process that was adopted in previous numerical studies that evaluated the effects of the run-on process.
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Acknowledgments
This research was mainly financed by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research, and by the Cassa di Risparmio di Perugia Foundation.
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Published In
Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 13 • Issue 12 • December 2008
Pages: 1187 - 1192
Copyright
© 2008 ASCE.
History
Received: May 10, 2007
Accepted: Jan 29, 2008
Published online: Dec 1, 2008
Published in print: Dec 2008
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