Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Surface runoff is defined as precipitation (rain, snow, sleet, or hail [5]) that reaches a surface stream without ever passing below the soil surface. [6] It is distinct from direct runoff, which is runoff that reaches surface streams immediately after rainfall or melting snowfall and excludes runoff generated by the melting of snowpack or ...
Runoff is the flow of water across the earth, and is a major component in the hydrological cycle. Runoff that flows over land before reaching a watercourse is referred to as surface runoff or overland flow. Once in a watercourse, runoff is referred to as streamflow, channel runoff, or river runoff. Urban runoff is surface runoff created by ...
If the precipitation rate exceeds the infiltration rate, runoff will usually occur unless there is some physical barrier. Infiltrometers, parameters and rainfall simulators are all devices that can be used to measure infiltration rates. [2] Infiltration is caused by multiple factors including; gravity, capillary forces, adsorption, and osmosis.
Streamflow, or channel runoff, is the flow of water in streams and other channels, and is a major element of the water cycle. It is one runoff component, the movement of water from the land to waterbodies , the other component being surface runoff .
The larger the relative contributing runoff area is, the more focused infiltration is. The recurring process of water that falls relatively uniformly over an area, flowing to groundwater selectively under surface depressions is depression focused recharge .
Human actions are greatly affecting the water cycle. Activities such as deforestation, urbanization, and the extraction of groundwater are altering natural landscapes (land use changes) all have an effect on the water cycle. [3]: 1153 On top of this, climate change is leading to an intensification of the water cycle.
Time of concentration is a concept used in hydrology to measure the response of a watershed to a rain event. It is defined as the time needed for water to flow from the most remote point in a watershed to the watershed outlet. [1] It is a function of the topography, geology, and land use within the watershed.
The runoff curve number (also called a curve number or simply CN) is an empirical parameter used in hydrology for predicting direct runoff or infiltration from rainfall excess. [1] The curve number method was developed by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service , which was formerly called the Soil Conservation Service or SCS — the ...