The principal aim of this research is to solve problems of water-budget estimation in particularly indeterminate conditions, of the kind that are frequently encountered in the field, in which absence or insufficiency of hydrographic instrumentation prevents the adequate evaluation of runoff.To do this we have developed techniques that are based on the method of Kennessey (1930), in which the runoff coefficient of a watershed in estimated using three physiographic variables (slope angle, permeability, and vegetation cover) and a parameter that defines the climatic conditions of the local area. Our comparison of the Kennessey method with instrumental records from a wide variety of instrumented drainage basins in central Italy shows that the method provides reliable estimates of runoff. Our analysis also indicates the best criteria for its application, as shown by the examples and results presented in this article.This research enables us to present a new application of the method, namely the runoff coefficient map, which, in addition to its specific usefulness for the evaluation of runoff, has three advantages. First, it supplies a more realistic vision of the local distribution of runoff/rainfall ratios; second, it allows one to overcome the spatial constraints imposed by the narrow frame of reference represented by the watershed; and third, it makes an important contribution to the solution of other hydrogeological problems, such as the evaluation of the amount of water required for adequate recharge of the intake areas of deep aquifers or the maintenance of geothermal processes.Hence we propose this mapping technique as a valuable practical aid to regional hydrogeologic planning.The calculation of water-budgets usually precedes any form of applied hydrogeological study, as it enables the researcher to obtain a good estimate of the water resources of a particular area. The spatial frame of reference that is normally used in such analyses is the drainage basin, but it is always necessary to ascertain whether the surface water catchment coincides with the underlying groundwater basin if reliable estimates are to be obtained.The various parameters of the water-budget are usually determined from data recorded by suitably located instruments, and, in particular, runoff is calculated by integrating the discharges measured at the basin outflow point. However, even in well-instrumented regions, the density of measuring stations is often very limited, especially that of water-level recorders, which makes it extremely difficult to assess the water resources of an individual catchment accurately and still more difficult to appraise the contribution derived from portions of it, especially regarding the estimation of surface runoff.To overcome these difficulties, various more or less empirical indirect methods have been proposed to calculate the values of runoff. However, such methods have so far yielded only modest results, above all owing to the difficulties of singling out and evaluating, quantitatively and in their just p...
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