EFFECT OF STORM RAINFALL INTENSITY PATTERNS ON SURFACE RUNOFF

A simple model describing infiltration and unsteady flow over a plane and a single channels used to investigate the sensitivity of derived distributions of runoff volume and peak flow rates to input differences due to different rainfall disaggregation methods and parameters and to spatial variability of infiltration parameters. The Woolhiser and Osborn disaggregation scheme is superior to simpler forms of disaggregation for all but a highly damped system. For the elementary watershed considered, the channel has little effect on basis response in comparison to overland flow characteristics. A significant interaction between climate and spatially variable infiltration and its effects on response was also discovered and is discussed.