Diferencias estacionales en la generación de escorrentía en una pequeña cuenca de campos abandonados en el Pirineo Central

Abstract

RESUMEN. Este trabajo muestra que las relaciones entre precipitación y escorrentía a escala de crecida en una pequeña cuenca de campos abandonados no

Multiple Temporal Scales Assessment in the Hydrological Response of Small Mediterranean-Climate Catchments

“…However, a variability throughout the seasons can be observed, especially in late autumn and early spring, as these are transition periods. Additionally, Lana-Renault [10] observed that the wetting-up period was steeper than the drying-down period, which was more progressive in a catchment located in the Pyrenees. Autumn was the season after the driest period, and it was when the evapotranspiration reached the maximum values.…”

“…Different seasonal rainfall-runoff relationships in relation to the influence of rainfall and evapotranspiration [56] are related to the alternation of rainfall and reference evapotranspiration throughout the year reproducing wet (winter), dry (summer) and transition periods (last autumn and early spring) [57]. Accordingly, winter is the season with the highest R c , from 17% to 56%, due to rainfall being accumulated during autumn-and maintained in winter-and low evapotranspiration demand [10,15,56]. The same pattern was also observed during the five hydrological years assessed in Es Fangar Creek.…”

“…The catchments have a null or limited response until a succession of rainfall events that fill the water reserves and generate favourable conditions for R generation [56]. The findings of Lana-Renault [10] in spring concluded that the accumulated rainfall during autumn and winter maintain high water reserves, allowing high runoff coefficients, even though spring was not the rainiest season.…”

“…The seasonal dynamics of rainfall and evapotranspiration during the year generate wet, dry and transition periods, which control the R response [10,53]. Therefore, seasonally, the highest correlation observed in spring could be related to the water reserves accumulated during the autumn and winter seasons, which is favourable for R generation [13].…”

“…Under these climatic conditions, catchments are mostly characterized by a high diversity in hydrological regimes [4,5] promoting significant temporal and spatial differences in the hydrological response [6][7][8]. The seasonality of the Mediterranean climate plays a key role in the runoff generation processes, increasing the non-linearity of the rainfall-runoff relationship at the event scale [9][10][11]. In winter and early spring, saturation processes are dominant, due to water reserves triggering the runoff generation [8,12].…”