TITLE:
Spatial-Temporal Dynamics of Runoff Generation Areas in a Small Agricultural Watershed in Southern Ontario
AUTHORS:
Kamran Chapi, Ramesh P. Rudra, Syed I. Ahmed, Alamgir A. Khan, Bahram Gharabaghi, William T. Dickinson, Pradeep K. Goel
KEYWORDS:
Variable Source Area, Runoff, Spatial-Temporal Variability, Seasonal Effect
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Water Resource and Protection,
Vol.7 No.1,
January
13,
2015
ABSTRACT: The
identification of runoff generating areas (RGAs) within a watershed is a
difficult task because of their temporal and spatial behavior. A watershed was
selected to investigate the RGAs to determine the factors affecting
spatio-temporally in southern Ontario. The watershed was divided into 8 fields
having a Wireless System Network (WSN) and a V-notch weir for flow and soil
moisture measurements. The results show that surface runoff is generated by the
infiltration excess mechanism in summer and fall, and the saturation excess
mechanism in spring. The statistical analysis suggested that the amount of
rainfall and rainfall intensity for summer (R2 = 0.63, 0.82) and
fall (R2 = 0.74, 0.80), respectively, affected the RGAs. The
analysis showed that 15% area generated 85% of surface runoff in summer, 100%
of runoff in fall, and 40% of runoff in spring. The methodology developed has
potential for identifying RGAs for protecting Ontario’s water resources.