An analytical approach to ascertain saturation‐excess versus infiltration‐excess overland flow in urban and reference landscapes
[1];
[2];
[4];
[6];
- School of Plant and Environmental Sciences Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg VA USA
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Colorado State University Fort Collins CO USA
- Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering Marquette University Milwaukee WI USA
- Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education Research Participant Program with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Cincinnati OH USA
- School of Plant and Environmental Sciences Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg VA USA, Joint Global Change Research Institute Pacific Northwest National Laboratory College Park MD USA
- Department of Biology Boston University Boston MA USA
- United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, National Risk Management Research Laboratory Cincinnati OH USA
Abstract Uncontrolled overland flow drives flooding, erosion, and contaminant transport, with the severity of these outcomes often amplified in urban areas. In pervious media such as urban soils, overland flow is initiated via either infiltration‐excess (where precipitation rate exceeds infiltration capacity) or saturation‐excess (when precipitation volume exceeds soil profile storage) mechanisms. These processes call for different management strategies, making it important for municipalities to discern between them. In this study, we derived a generalized one‐dimensional model that distinguishes between infiltration‐excess overland flow (IEOF) and saturation‐excess overland flow (SEOF) using Green–Ampt infiltration concepts. Next, we applied this model to estimate overland flow generation from pervious areas in 11 U.S. cities. We used rainfall forcing that represented low‐ and high‐intensity events and compared responses among measured urban versus predevelopment reference soil hydraulic properties. The derivation showed that the propensity for IEOF versus SEOF is related to the equivalence between two nondimensional ratios: (a) precipitation rate to depth‐weighted hydraulic conductivity and (b) depth of soil profile restrictive layer to soil capillary potential. Across all cities, reference soil profiles were associated with greater IEOF for the high‐intensity set of storms, and urbanized soil profiles tended towards production of SEOF during the lower intensity set of storms. Urban soils produced more cumulative overland flow as a fraction of cumulative precipitation than did reference soils, particularly under conditions associated with SEOF. These results will assist cities in identifying the type and extent of interventions needed to manage storm water produced from pervious areas.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- OSTI ID:
- 1564523
- Journal Information:
- Hydrological Processes, Journal Name: Hydrological Processes Vol. 33 Journal Issue: 26; ISSN 0885-6087
- Publisher:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United Kingdom
- Language:
- English
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