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Simplified stochastic soil-moisture models: a look at infiltration
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Duke University, Durham NC, USA
Abstract. A simplified, vertically-averaged model of soil moisture interpreted at the daily time scale and forced by a stochastic process of instantaneous rainfall events is compared with a vertically-averaged model which uses a non-overlapping rectangular pulse rainfall model and a more physically based description of infiltration. The models are compared with respect to the importance of short time-scale (intra-storm) variable infiltration in determining the probabilistic structure of soil-moisture dynamics at the daily time-scale. Differences in approach to infiltration modelling show only minor effects on the probabilistic structure of soil-moisture dynamics as simulated in the two models. The partitioning of losses during a single rainfall event are examined closely and the conditions under which surface-controlled runoff is significant, as a proportion of total losses, are delineated.
Final Revised Paper (PDF, 1070 KB) Discussion Paper (HESSD)
Citation: Rigby, J. R. and Porporato, A.: Simplified stochastic soil-moisture models: a look at infiltration, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 10, 861-871, 2006. Bibtex EndNote Reference Manager
