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Title: IDENTIFYING OPPORTUNITIES FOR INVESTIGATING THE EFFECTS OF TEMPERATURE ON INFILTRATION AND IMPLICATIONS FOR MODELING THE HYDROLOGIC RESPONSE OF WATERSHEDS

Author
item Erskine, Robert - Rob
item RAMIREZ, JORGE - COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY
item Green, Timothy

Submitted to: Annual Hydrology Days Conference Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/3/2000
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: This paper identifies opportunities to incorporate and model the effects of temperature on infiltration and, consequently, surface runoff at the watershed scale. A comprehensive literature review provides an overview of the state of the science and identifies some knowledge gaps. Previous research reveals that: 1) Watersheds respond to rainfall differently under different temperature regimes, even in the absence of phase-change effects 2) Soil hydraulic properties are temperature dependent. 3) Ponded infiltration rates fluctuate in response to diurnal temperature patterns. While the dependence of soil and water interactions on temperature has been identified for certain conditions and scales, it is difficult to quantify these effects at the watershed scale. This may explain why many watershed models neglect temperature when describing infiltration processes. A method to introduce temperature-dependent infiltration parameters into the conceptual watershed model HSPF is presented. Future work may include calibration of selected models with new temperature-dependent parameters.

Technical Abstract: This paper identifies opportunities to incorporate and model the effects of temperature on infiltration and, consequently, surface runoff at the watershed scale. A comprehensive literature review provides an overview of the state of the science and identifies some knowledge gaps. Previous research reveals that: 1) Watersheds respond to rainfall differently under different temperature regimes, even in the absence of phase-change effects 2) Soil hydraulic properties are temperature dependent. 3) Ponded infiltration rates fluctuate in response to diurnal temperature patterns. While the dependence of soil and water interactions on temperature has been identified for certain conditions and scales, it is difficult to quantify these effects at the watershed scale. This may explain why many watershed models neglect temperature when describing infiltration processes. A method to introduce temperature-dependent infiltration parameters into the conceptual watershed model HSPF is presented. Future work may include calibration of selected models with new temperature-dependent parameters.