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Effects of Spatial Accumulation of Runoff on Watershed Response

USDA-ARS, Water Quality and Watershed Res. Lab., P.O. Box 1430, Durant, OK 74702.

^* Corresponding author.

ABSTRACT

The drainage network accumulates upstream subwatershed runoff into a single downstream response, with runoff accumulating at network junctions. The effects of this accumulation on the magnitude and spatial variability of the downstream response are reviewed for simplified boundary conditions. Runoff parameters are runoff depth and corresponding unit area peak runoff rate. At the subwatershed level these parameters are referred to as d and q, respectively, and they vary from one subwatershed to another. At a downstream location, after accumulation by the drainage network, corresponding parameters are referred to as D and Q. Equations expressing the effects of runoff accumulation are formulated and discussed for uniform rainfall conditions. The review shows that the effects of runoff accumulation gain in importance as the number of upstream subwatersheds and the size of the watershed increase in the downstream direction. The accumulation process cancels extreme values of d and q to yield a representative D and Q value for the entire upstream drainage area. The impact of individual d and q values on the downstream D and Q values in the channel diminishes as the number of upstream subwatersheds increases. This results in a decrease in the spatial variability of D and Q in the downstream direction. The review suggests that the role of spatial variability of upstream d and q in the determination of downstream D and Q diminishes as watershed size increases. However, nonuniform rainfall distributions and storm movement may overshadow the effects of runoff accumulation when watershed size increases beyond the size of the storm.