How does slope influence runoff
Runoff is the
precipitation excess or the water leaving a drainage area regarded as rainfall
minus loss by evaporation or infiltration.Runoff volume is the total volume of
runoff water occuring over a period of time where Q(t) is the discharge at time
t and the expression is :-
Total runoff is the
sum of the overland flow,ground water flow and through flow.The reason why
water flow down hill over a sloping land surface is because of the following
of the Bernoulli's equation.However,other opinion says the reason is
decrease in potential energy rather than Bernoulli's equation .Steep
slope will provoke speedy movement of water towards the outlet while gentle
slope will result in slow movement allowing evapotranspiration.If the soil is
porous then there will be infiltration and downflow in the form of throughflow
or it may enter the ground water flow.Surface runoff or infiltration excess
overland flow can only occur on the catchment slope if :-
a)Rainfall rate is
greater than infiltration rate or capacity of that region;
b)The soil is
saturated so no infiltration can't occur.Runoff may take the form of return
flow which is caused by an impermeable barrier in the path of moving water like
for instance,a saturated soil layer, and emerges at the surface.If the water
passes through an unsaturated soil on the catchment slope in the form of
unsaturated throughflow then it's movement would be slow due to low hydraulic
conductivity of unsaturated soil.However,saturated thoroughflow is faster than
it's unsaturated counterpart.In cold climates where catchments are situated
,have their slopes covered with snow/ice
for a major part of the year there role of slope o runoff is negligible and
overlooked.
In conclusion,it can
be pointed out that runof generation in
a catchment area depends on the physical properties,time and climate.
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