The magnitude of variations in urban run off response and their implications for urban hydrological modelling
The magnitude of variations in urban run off response and their implications for urban hydrological modelling
The wide range of urban hydrological models in current use have been developed according to a general modelling process, an examination of which has revealed two areas of model imprecision that may benefit from a detailed investigation of the dynamic hydrologic behaviour of urban catchments - the quality of the rainfall data input to the model and the manner in which this rainfall is translated by the model into runoff. Field investigations of rainfall and runoff are conducted in three small (0.32 he, 0.68 ha and 3.21 ha) adjacent suburban catchments in Southampton. Results from a dense network of rain gauges demonstrate spatial variations in rainfall in excess of that attributable to random errors. Inadequate consideration of this spatial variability in rainfall is shown to introduce substantial errors into the results from urban runoff models, resulting in variations in predicted peak discharge in the order of 10%. The generation of runoff by these catchments is monitored using fluorometric tracing techniques developed to establish the existence and extent of spatial variations in runoff contributions, and by detailed hydrograph analyses aimed at assessing whether these variations in contributing are reflected in the catchment's runoff response. Changes in storm conditions (rainfall depth, intensity and duration) produce variations in the size of the runoff contributing area which lead to a substantial variability in the runoff production from these catchments, with percentage runoff values varying by at least one order of magnitude for each catchment over the monitoring period. This supports the use of a variable source area concept to explain the runoff dynamics of urban catchments of this type, which can be employed to improve the results of current urban hydrological models.
University of Southampton
1983
Buttle, James Mitchell
(1983)
The magnitude of variations in urban run off response and their implications for urban hydrological modelling.
University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.
Record type:
Thesis
(Doctoral)
Abstract
The wide range of urban hydrological models in current use have been developed according to a general modelling process, an examination of which has revealed two areas of model imprecision that may benefit from a detailed investigation of the dynamic hydrologic behaviour of urban catchments - the quality of the rainfall data input to the model and the manner in which this rainfall is translated by the model into runoff. Field investigations of rainfall and runoff are conducted in three small (0.32 he, 0.68 ha and 3.21 ha) adjacent suburban catchments in Southampton. Results from a dense network of rain gauges demonstrate spatial variations in rainfall in excess of that attributable to random errors. Inadequate consideration of this spatial variability in rainfall is shown to introduce substantial errors into the results from urban runoff models, resulting in variations in predicted peak discharge in the order of 10%. The generation of runoff by these catchments is monitored using fluorometric tracing techniques developed to establish the existence and extent of spatial variations in runoff contributions, and by detailed hydrograph analyses aimed at assessing whether these variations in contributing are reflected in the catchment's runoff response. Changes in storm conditions (rainfall depth, intensity and duration) produce variations in the size of the runoff contributing area which lead to a substantial variability in the runoff production from these catchments, with percentage runoff values varying by at least one order of magnitude for each catchment over the monitoring period. This supports the use of a variable source area concept to explain the runoff dynamics of urban catchments of this type, which can be employed to improve the results of current urban hydrological models.
This record has no associated files available for download.
More information
Published date: 1983
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 460656
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/460656
PURE UUID: 642c6234-4613-4891-b683-1a336427ab13
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 04 Jul 2022 18:26
Last modified: 04 Jul 2022 18:26
Export record
Contributors
Author:
James Mitchell Buttle
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics