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Precipitation & Runoff - What's The Connection?

Precipitation plays a key role in determining runoff. The amount of runoff consists of direct runoff and groundwater recharge. How much of the precipitation infiltrates into the ground and how much becomes surface runoff depends on the intensity and duration of the precipitation as well as the properties of the subsurface materials. When precipitation falls, some is intercepted by vegetation and may evaporate, while heavier storms allow more water to reach the ground by various paths such as infiltration, surface runoff, interflow, or groundwater recharge. The rate of groundwater recharge varies depending on vegetation growth and precipitation levels.

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44 views1 page

Precipitation & Runoff - What's The Connection?

Precipitation plays a key role in determining runoff. The amount of runoff consists of direct runoff and groundwater recharge. How much of the precipitation infiltrates into the ground and how much becomes surface runoff depends on the intensity and duration of the precipitation as well as the properties of the subsurface materials. When precipitation falls, some is intercepted by vegetation and may evaporate, while heavier storms allow more water to reach the ground by various paths such as infiltration, surface runoff, interflow, or groundwater recharge. The rate of groundwater recharge varies depending on vegetation growth and precipitation levels.

Uploaded by

Zani Zani
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Precipitation & Runoff--What's the Connection?

Precipitation plays a big role in runoff. Runoff is the total amount of water flowing into a stream. This
consists of direct runoff and groundwater recharge (or baseflow). The intensity and duration of a rain or snow
storm along with the properties of the subsurface materials determine the infiltration rates and the distribution
of surface runoff .
When precipitation falls to the Earth, some part of it may be intercepted by trees, vegetation, and buildings.
During brief or light storms, this intercepted water usually evaporates rapidly and is known as interception
loss. (cientists have not really been able to measure the amount of water lost to interception, but the actual
volume is small.!
During longer and heavier storms, water does reach the ground and can follow many different paths as the
tree diagram shows.
Water can pool on the surface and evaporate,
infiltrate the ground, or become surface
runoff. "f the water infiltrates the ground it
can become interflow, be taken up by plant
roots, or recharge the groundwater and
become baseflow. "nterflow is water moving
laterally or hori#ontally in the #one of
aeration during and immediately after
storms. This water discharges directly into a
stream or lake.
$egetation that is actively growing during
the summer absorbs the water as it infiltrates
the ground, so not much water reaches
the zone of saturation. %owever, when
vegetation is growing at a slower rate, more
water will recharge the groundwater. The
ma&or periods for recharge of the aquifer occur in the spring and fall when precipitation is usually greater and
plant growth is slower.
Precipitation that falls at a fast rate may not be absorbed by the soil, so it becomes surface runoff. urface
runoff can take many forms such as overland flow, or saturation excess overland flow.

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