A paradigm shift in predicting stormflow responses in an active tectonic region through a similarity analysis of pressure propagation in a hydraulic continuum

Abstract

Soil layers on hillslopes acts as systems in quasi-steady states generating rainfall-stormflow responses that are controlled by pressure propagation in a hydraulic continuum established when the rainfall volume is sufficiently large. A similarity analysis for quantifying the sensitivity of the stormflow response and recession limb to topographic and soil properties in a sloping permeable domain showed that the deviation of stormflow responses in the hydraulic continuum decreases due to the macropore effect. The rapid responses seem to be naturally derived from the evolution of the soil layer with the assistance of the vegetation-root system and effective drainage systems in zero-order catchments in active tectonic regions with heavy storms. To predict stormflow responses using distributed runoff models, a paradigm shift to consider this evolution process is needed because the simple stormflow responses and complex and heterogeneous catchment properties are poorly related, but may be mainly determined by soil evolution processes