Controls on event runoff coefficients in the eastern Italian Alps

Norbiato, Daniele; Borga, Marco; Merz, Ralf; Blöschl, G.; Carton, Alberto

doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2009.06.044

Cited by 163 publications

(181 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…This distribution likely reflects the variability of the storms analyzed, mostly in terms of total precipitation, storm duration, rainfall intensity and antecedent wetness conditions. The mean value (0.15) was noticeably lower than that found by Norbiato et al (2009) different calculation method, this was likely due to a different selection of runoff events. Investigations are on going to identify scale dependency in the different distributions of runoff coefficients.…”

Section: Event Runoff Coefficientscontrasting

confidence: 58%

The influence of soil moisture on threshold runoff generation processes in an alpine headwater catchment

Penna

Meerveld

Gobbi

et al. 2011

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

378

303

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Abstract. This study investigates the role of soil moisture on the threshold runoff response in a small headwater catchment in the Italian Alps that is characterised by steep hillslopes and a distinct riparian zone. This study focuses on: (i) the threshold soil moisture-runoff relationship and the influence of catchment topography on this relation; (ii) the temporal dynamics of soil moisture, streamflow and groundwater that characterize the catchment's response to rainfall during dry and wet periods; and (iii) the combined effect of antecedent wetness conditions and rainfall amount on hillslope and riparian runoff. Our results highlight the strong control exerted by soil moisture on runoff in this catchment: a sharp threshold exists in the relationship between soil water content and runoff coefficient, streamflow, and hillslope-averaged depth to water table. Low runoff ratios were likely related to the response of the riparian zone, which was almost always close to saturation. High runoff ratios occurred during wet antecedent conditions, when the soil moisture threshold was exceeded. In these cases, subsurface flow was activated on hillslopes, which became a major contributor to runoff. Antecedent wetness conditions also controlled the catchment's response time: during dry periods, streamflow reacted and peaked prior to hillslope soil moisture whereas during wet conditions the opposite occurred. This difference resulted in a hysteretic behaviour in the soil moisture-streamflow relationship. Finally, the influence of antecedent moisture conditions on runoff was also evident in the relation between cumulative rainfall and total stormflow. Small storms during dry conditions produced low stormflow amounts, likely mainly from overland flow from the near saturated riparian zone. Conversely, for rainfall events during wet conditions, higher stormflow values were observed and hillslopes must have contributed to streamflow.

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Section: Event Runoff Coefficientscontrasting

confidence: 58%

The influence of soil moisture on threshold runoff generation processes in an alpine headwater catchment

Penna

Meerveld

Gobbi

et al. 2011

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

378

303

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“…The results verified that the runoff coefficients were highly variable as expected, but none of them exceeded 0.75. Norbiato et al (2009) came to the same conclusions for several catchments at the southern edge of the Alps. In addition, Merz et al (2006) showed that runoff coefficients larger than 0.8 only apply when snowmelt processes are involved.…”

Section: Determination Of the Runoff Coefficients An Approach For Thesupporting

confidence: 71%

An approach for the determination of precipitation input for worst-case flood modelling

Felder

Weingartner

2016

Hydrological Sciences Journal

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There is a lack of suitable methods for creating precipitation scenarios that can be used to realistically estimate peak discharges with very low probabilities. On the one hand, existing methods are methodically questionable when it comes to physical system boundaries. On the other hand, the spatio-temporal representativeness of precipitation patterns as system input is limited. In response, this paper proposes a method of deriving spatio-temporal precipitation patterns and presents a step towards making methodically correct estimations of infrequent floods by using a worst-case approach. A Monte Carlo approach allows for the generation of a wide range of different spatio-temporal distributions of an extreme precipitation event that can be tested with a rainfall-runoff model that generates a hydrograph for each of these distributions. Out of these numerous hydrographs and their corresponding peak discharges, the physically plausible spatio-temporal distributions that lead to the highest peak discharges are identified and can eventually be used for further investigations.

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“…5 it is clear that, as the catchment becomes wet, the hydrological response increases and, consequently, it represents a greater percentage of rainfall. Probably the antecedent soil moisture state plays an important role in the hydrological response of the catchment, as has been often suggested for temperate humid catchments (Dunne et al 1975, Pfister et al 2002, Norbiato et al 2009, Penna et al 2011. However, over the study period, the observed seasonality of the runoff coefficients was also possibly affected by rainfall characteristics, such as large and long rainfall events occurring in 2006.…”

Section: Hydrological Response At the Event Scalementioning

confidence: 67%

Rainfall–runoff response and event-based runoff coefficients in a humid area (northwest Spain)

Rodríguez‐Blanco

Taboada-Castro

2012

Hydrological Sciences Journal

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The hydrological response of a small agroforestry catchment in northwest Spain (Corbeira catchment, 16 km 2 ) is analysed, with particular focus on rainfall events. Fifty-four rainfall-runoff events, from December 2004 to September 2007, were used to analyse the principal hydrological patterns and show which factors best explain the hydrological response. The nonlinearity between rainfall and runoff showed that the variability in the hydrological response of the catchment was linked to the seasonal dynamics of the rainfall and, to a lesser extent, to evapotranspiration. The runoff coefficient, estimated as the ratio between direct runoff and rainfall volume, on an event basis, was analysed as a function of rainfall characteristics (amount and intensity) and the initial catchment state conditions prior to an event, such as pre-event baseflow and antecedent rainfall index. The results revealed that the hydrological response depends both on the soil humidity conditions at the start of the event and on rainfall amount, whereas rainfall intensity presented only a significant correlation with discharge increment. The antecedent conditions seem to be a key point in runoff production, and they explain much of the response. The hydrographs are characterized by a steep rising limb, a relatively narrow peak discharge and slow recession limb. These data and the observations suggest that the subsurface flow is the dominant runoff process.Key words rainfall-runoff events; temporal variability; runoff coefficient; subsurface flow; agroforestry catchment; northwest Spain Réponse pluie-débit et coefficients de ruissellement événementiels dans une région humide (nordouest de l'Espagne) Résumé La réponse hydrologique d'un petit bassin versant agroforestier du nord-ouest de l'Espagne (bassin versant de Corbeira, 16 km 2 ) est analysée, avec un accent particulier sur les événements pluvieux. Cinquante-quatre événements pluie-débit, de décembre 2004 à septembre 2007, ont été utilisés pour analyser les traits hydrologiques principaux et montrer quels facteurs expliquent le mieux la réponse hydrologique. La non-linéarité entre les pluies et le ruissellement montre que la variabilité de la réponse hydrologique du bassin versant est liée à la dynamique saisonnière de la pluie et, dans une moindre mesure, à l'évapotranspiration. Le coefficient de ruissellement, estimé comme le rapport entre le volume de ruissellement direct et celui des pluies, sur une base événementielle, a été analysé en fonction des caractéristiques des pluies (quantité et intensité) et les conditions initiales des états du bassin avant événement, telles que l'écoulement de base pré-événement et l'indice des pluies antérieures. Les résultats ont révélé que la réponse hydrologique dépend à la fois des conditions d'humidité du sol au début de l'événement (indirectement déduites de l'écoulement de base au début de chaque épisode de pluie) et de la quantité de pluie, tandis que l'intensité des précipitations n'a présenté une corrélation significative qu'avec les in...

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Controls on event runoff coefficients in the eastern Italian Alps

Cited by 163 publications

References 36 publications

The influence of soil moisture on threshold runoff generation processes in an alpine headwater catchment

The influence of soil moisture on threshold runoff generation processes in an alpine headwater catchment

An approach for the determination of precipitation input for worst-case flood modelling

Rainfall–runoff response and event-based runoff coefficients in a humid area (northwest Spain)

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