Exploring the effects of hillslope-channel link dynamics and excess rainfall properties on the scaling structure of peak-discharge

Ayalew, Tibebu B.; Krajewski, Witold F.; Mantilla, Ricardo; Small, Scott J.

doi:10.1016/j.advwatres.2013.11.010

Cited by 57 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…This particular result further confirms recent findings that showed h > b [Ayalew et al, 2014a[Ayalew et al, , 2014bMandapaka et al, 2009;Mantilla et al, 2006]. An additional insight that emerges from these results is that, contrary to findings from simulation-based studies that put the upper limit of the flood scaling exponent to one [e.g., Ayalew et al, 2014b;Gupta and Waymire, 1998;, the flood scaling exponent can be greater than one. The reason behind this discrepancy is the main simplifying The streamflow time series is normalized by the corresponding peak discharge of the event at each streamflow gauging site.…”

Section: Effects Of Excess Rainfall On the Flood Scaling Exponentcontrasting

confidence: 37%

“…Gupta et al [2010] define the width function as being equivalent to the streamflow response to an instantaneous rainfall that is instantaneously injected into channel-links and moves along the drainage network with constant velocity and without attenuation. Recent theoretical studies show that the scaling exponent of the width function maxima is the lower bound of the flood scaling exponent [Ayalew et al, 2014a[Ayalew et al, , 2014bMandapaka et al, 2009;Mantilla et al, 2006].…”

Section: Study Area and Data Sourcementioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, these studies were based on the instantaneous injection of overland flow from hillslopes to channel networks, which means that the role of hillslope residence time in determining the streamflow response across a range of spatial scales was neglected. Ayalew et al [2014b] built on these studies and introduced a linear hillslope where the rates of delivery of overland and subsurface flow from hillslopes to adjacent channels are determined by the respective constant surface and subsurface flow velocities. They considered three catchments in Iowa (USA) that have different shapes and drainage areas ranging from 254 to 1082 km 2 and showed how the event-to-event variability of the intercept and the flood scaling exponent is systematically controlled by the interplay among rainfall duration, rainfall intensity, channel flow velocity, and hillslope overland flow velocity.…”

Section: 1002/2014wr016258mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The availability of the radar-rainfall product limits our analysis to the 12 year period between 2002 and 2013. The radar-rainfall product has a spatial resolution of 4 3 4 km and a temporal resolution of 1 h. The product, which is provided nationally on the Hydrologic Rainfall Analysis Project (HRAP) grid, is extensively used with good success for hydrologic modeling purposes in the Iowa River basin and elsewhere [e.g., Ayalew et al, 2014aAyalew et al, , 2014bCunha et al, 2012;Kalin and Hantush, 2006].…”

Section: Study Area and Data Sourcementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a major departure from the peak discharge quantile based analysis used in the regional flood-frequency methodology, a number of rainfallrunoff event based studies were undertaken in an effort to describe the flood scaling parameters in terms of rainfall and catchment physical processes that transform rainfall to peak discharge [Ayalew et al, 2014a[Ayalew et al, , 2014bDi Lazzaro and Volpi, 2011;Furey and Gupta, 2005;Gupta, 2004;Gupta et al, 1996Gupta et al, , 2007Gupta et al, , 2010Mandapaka et al, 2009;Mantilla et al, 2006Mantilla et al, , 2011Morrison and Smith, 2001;Ogden and Dawdy, 2003]. These studies, which cover a range of theoretical and empirical studies, revealed that peak discharges from nested catchments exhibit scale-invariance with drainage area at the rainfall-runoff event scale and the relationship between the two exhibits the following power law relation:…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Analyzing the effects of excess rainfall properties on the scaling structure of peak discharges: Insights from a mesoscale river basin

Ayalew

Krajewski

Mantilla

2015

Water Resources Research

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Key theoretical and empirical results from the past two decades have established that peak discharges resulting from a single rainfall-runoff event in a nested watershed exhibit a power law, or scaling, relation to drainage area and that the parameters of the power law relation, henceforth referred to as the flood scaling exponent and intercept, change from event to event. To date, only two studies have been conducted using empirical data, both using data from the 21 km 2 Goodwin Creek Experimental Watershed that is located in Mississippi, in an effort to uncover the physical processes that control the event-to-event variability of the flood scaling parameters. Our study expands the analysis to the mesoscale Iowa River basin (A 5 32,400 km 2 ), which is located in eastern Iowa, and provides additional insights into the physical processes that control the flood scaling parameters. Using 51 rainfall-runoff events that we identified over the 12 year period since 2002, we show how the duration and depth of excess rainfall, which is the portion of rainfall that contributes to direct runoff, control the flood scaling exponent and intercept. Moreover, using a diagnostic simulation study that is guided by evidence found in empirical data, we show that the temporal structure of excess rainfall has a significant effect on the scaling structure of peak discharges. These insights will contribute toward ongoing efforts to provide a framework for flood prediction in ungauged basins.

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Section: Effects Of Excess Rainfall On the Flood Scaling Exponentcontrasting

confidence: 37%

Section: Study Area and Data Sourcementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: 1002/2014wr016258mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Study Area and Data Sourcementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Analyzing the effects of excess rainfall properties on the scaling structure of peak discharges: Insights from a mesoscale river basin

Ayalew

Krajewski

Mantilla

2015

Water Resources Research

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A geomorphic perspective on discharge–area relationships

Kadu,

Biswal

2024

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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It is well‐documented that the discharge‐area power‐law scaling exponent (θ) can be much lower than 1 during peak flow periods. A physical explanation for this phenomenon is generally given with the help of the channel network width function, which represents pure surface flow (PSF). When PSF ceases to dominate, θ is expected to increase due to the increasing contribution of mixed surface sub‐surface flow (MSSF) and approach 1. However, to our knowledge, no study thus far has conducted a systematic investigation of the variation of θ. In this study, we use a channel network morphology‐based routing model that considers both PSF and MSSF to investigate the variation of θ across the streamflow spectrum. The model captures the increasing trend of θ quite well during recession periods, attributable to the growing dominance of MSSF. We also demonstrate that the analysis of the discharge‐area scaling is further complicated by several factors, including spatio‐temporal variation of rainfall. The uniqueness of the model is that it suggests θ to assume values much greater than 1 because the flow in smaller basins decreases at a higher rate during late recession periods. Demonstrating this effect using observed data is difficult since obtaining sufficiently long recession curves is practically challenging. However, the predicted trend of θ is well supported by observed data when we perform percentile‐based discharge‐area scaling analysis. Our results thus indicate the possibility that a basin is not merely a sum of its hillslopes, with far‐reaching consequences for modelling hydrological and ecological phenomena.

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Hydrologic impacts of subsurface drainage from the field to watershed scale

Sloan

Mantilla

Fonley

et al. 2017

Hydrological Processes

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Subsurface drainage systems are common in agricultural landscapes around the world, and yet there is insufficient understanding on how they modify the hydrologic flow regime, from the field to the watershed scale. Here, we study the effect of agricultural subsurface drainage (tiling) on the hydrologic response as a function of the watershed scale by using the field-scale model DRAINMOD in conjunction with a linearized routing equation for two watersheds in eastern Iowa. Note that we primarily used the stream network, dominant soil types, and climate forcings in these watersheds and focused on a synthetic analysis to uncover the effect of tiling, while keeping other factors constant. Tile drainage was observed to increase low flows, decrease intermediate flows, and have minimal effect on the largest floods. The reduction in peak flows was observed to be dependent on the event size, antecedent conditions, and spatial scale, such that the greatest flow reductions were apparent at the intermediate scale (100 to 1,000 km 2 ), with lower reduction at the largest scale (>10,000 km 2 ). The scale dependence can be attributed to the fact that peak flows at larger scales are typically not caused by a single rainfall event but by the accumulation of flows over a longer temporal window. We further demonstrate that peak flows can vary for a basin with the same percentage of tiling but a different spatial organization of the tiled hillslopes. We connect our results to the width function, a well-known geomorphological descriptor of river network topology, and demonstrate how tile placement in relation to the width function controls watershed response. Although we focus primarily on peak flows, our results indicate that the impact of tiling on the flow distribution is also scale dependent, and alterations to this distribution will, in turn, control sediment and nutrient transport in a basin.

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Exploring the effects of hillslope-channel link dynamics and excess rainfall properties on the scaling structure of peak-discharge

Cited by 57 publications

References 34 publications

Analyzing the effects of excess rainfall properties on the scaling structure of peak discharges: Insights from a mesoscale river basin

Analyzing the effects of excess rainfall properties on the scaling structure of peak discharges: Insights from a mesoscale river basin

A geomorphic perspective on discharge–area relationships

Hydrologic impacts of subsurface drainage from the field to watershed scale

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