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The effects of land surface heterogeneities on the hydrological cycle

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Summary

The effects of small-scale spatial heterogeneities of soil, land use and vegetation on area-averaged components of the water balance of a river basin are investigated. Different parameterizations of these effects are tested on the base of the distributed model of the hydrological cycle. The model includes a description of the vertical moisture transfer in the “soil-vegetation-atmosphere” system, the overland flow and the river channel system routing. The heterogeneities are divided into deterministic (mosaic) and stochastic components. To parameterize stochastic components the procedures based on probability distributions of basin constants and the theory of fractals were used.

The case study is carried out for the Seim River basin located in the central part of the forest-steppe zone of Russia (catchment area about 7500 km2).

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Water Problem Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

    L. S. Kuchment, E. L. Muzylev & Z. P. Startseva

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  1. L. S. Kuchment
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  2. E. L. Muzylev
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  3. Z. P. Startseva
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Kuchment, L.S., Muzylev, E.L. & Startseva, Z.P. The effects of land surface heterogeneities on the hydrological cycle. Theor Appl Climatol 55, 185–192 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00864714

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00864714

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