31. Infiltration Indices
Infiltration is the process of water entering soil, crucial for hydrology in understanding rainfall-runoff processes, flood estimation, and groundwater recharge. Infiltration indices are empirical tools used to analyze storm runoff and estimate effective rainfall, providing simplified representations of complex infiltration behaviors. Various indices, including φ-index and W-index, help hydrologists estimate runoff while considering initial losses and storm characteristics.
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What we have learnt
- Infiltration is essential for flood estimation and groundwater recharge.
- Infiltration indices simplify complex infiltration behaviors for storm runoff analysis.
- Different indices exist for estimating effective rainfall depending on storm and catchment characteristics.
Key Concepts
- -- Infiltration Capacity (f)
- The maximum rate at which soil can absorb water at any given time.
- -- Cumulative Infiltration (F)
- The total volume of water that has infiltrated over a certain period.
- -- φindex
- The average rate of infiltration that equates the volume of excess rainfall to the observed direct runoff.
- -- Windex
- A modified φ-index that accounts for initial losses like interception before infiltration begins.
- -- Horton's Infiltration Model
- A time-dependent formula that describes the rate of infiltration, useful for generating average infiltration rates.
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