Hydrologic processes of forested headwater watersheds across a physiographic gradient in the southeastern United States.

Download
(PDF; 0)
Cite
Feedback

Abstract

Understanding the hydrologic processes is the first step in making sound watershed management decisions including designing Best Management Practices for nonpoint source pollution control. Over the past fifty years, various forest experimental watersheds have been instrumented across the Carolinas through collaborative studies among federal, state, and private organizations. One of the most notable theoretical hydrological advances that directly resulted from studies in this region perhaps was Variable Source Area Concept (VSAC) proposed by John Hewlett and others. VSAC offers a framework that explains the mechanisms of streamflow generation at the watershed scale and provides a basis for developing watershed management practices for minimizing negative impacts on stream water quality. Unfortunately, due to the dynamic nature of the variable source area, a zone that varies across space and time, it is rarely measured and quantified at the watershed scale. This paper presents findings from a stormflow monitoring study that spans a physiographic gradient from the mountain to the sea. This study suggests that the variable source area and stormflow flow characteristics were most influenced by antecedent soil moisture conditions, which reflect the controls of climate and topography. We found that the saturated area was rather small in the Appalachians and piedmont upland watersheds, but it could be rather large and variable in the lower coastal plain watersheds. Implications of these contrasting differences in VSA to watershed management are discussed.

  • Citation: Sun, Ge: Boggs, Johnny; McNulty, Steven G.; Amatya, Devendra M.; Trettin, Carl C.; Dai, Zhaohua; Vose, James M.; La Torre Torres, Ileana B.; Callahan, Timothy. 2008. Hydrologic processes of forested headwater watersheds across a physiographic gradient in the southeastern United States. In: Proceedings of the 2008 South Carolina Water Resources Conference, October 14-15, 2008, Charleston, SC.
  • Posted Date: September 22, 2009
  • Modified Date: November 19, 2009

    • Print Publications Are No Longer Available

    In an ongoing effort to be fiscally responsible, the Southern Research Station (SRS) will no longer produce and distribute hard copies of our publications. Many SRS publications are available at cost via the Government Printing Office (GPO). Electronic versions of publications may be downloaded, printed, and distributed.

    Publication Notes

    • This article was written and prepared by U.S. Government employees on official time, and is therefore in the public domain.
    • Our online publications are scanned and captured using Adobe Acrobat. During the capture process some typographical errors may occur. Please contact the SRS webmaster if you notice any errors which make this publication unusable.
    • To view this article, download the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader.