An empirical method for determining average soil infiltration rates and runoff, Powder River structural basin, Wyoming
Water-Resources Investigations Report
81-76
By: James G. Rankl
Links
- Document: Report (pdf)
- Download citation as: RIS | Dublin Core
Abstract
This report describes a method to estimate infiltration rates of soils for use in estimating runoff from small basins. Average rainfall intensity is plotted against storm duration on log-log paper. All rainfall events are designated as having either runoff or nonrunoff. A power-decay-type curve is visually fitted to separate the two types of rainfall events. This separation curve is an incipient-ponding curve and its equation describes infiltration parameters for a soil. For basins with more than one soil complex, only the incipient-ponding curve for the soil complex with the lowest infiltration rate can be defined using the separation technique. Incipient-ponding curves for soils with infiltration rates greater than the lowest curve are defined by ranking the soils according to their relative permeabilities and optimizing the curve position. A comparison of results for six basins produced computed total runoff for all events used ranging from 16.6 percent less to 2.3 percent more than measured total runoff. (USGS)
| Publication type | Report |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | USGS Numbered Series |
| Title | An empirical method for determining average soil infiltration rates and runoff, Powder River structural basin, Wyoming |
| Series title | Water-Resources Investigations Report |
| Series number | 81-76 |
| DOI | 10.3133/wri8176 |
| Edition | - |
| Year Published | 1982 |
| Language | ENGLISH |
| Publisher | U.S. Geological Survey, Water Resources Division, |
| Description | v, 38 p. :ill., maps ;28 cm. |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |