Informations et ressources scientifiques
sur le développement des zones arides et semi-arides

Titre : Soil Moisture Dependent Runoff in a Dryland Region : An Investigation of the Role of Antecedent Conditions, Monitoring, and Modeling Strategies

Auteur : Schoener, Gerhard.

Université de soutenance : University of New Mexico

Grade : Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Engineering 2021

Résumé partiel
Approximately 30% of the Earth’s land surface is characterized as arid or semiarid, including much of the western United States. Accurate runoff predictions are important for informed watershed management, particularly in rapidly urbanizing areas. Infiltration excess overland flow is the dominant mechanism for runoff generation in many dryland basins, and event-based infiltration or loss models are commonly used to estimate runoff. However, predictions are associated with considerable uncertainty due to the role antecedent soil moisture, an initial condition that must be set by the modeler. The objectives of my research were to (1) evaluate the impact of antecedent soil moisture on runoff, (2) investigate methods for monitoring soil moisture conditions at the catchment scale, and (3) quantify the connection between soil moisture and model parameters to improve model performance. Research was conducted in central New Mexico and based on data from the Walnut Gulch experimental watershed in Arizona.

Mots clés : Semiarid, Soil moisture, Runoff, Infiltration, Rainfall simulation, Antecedent conditions

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