Bulletin of Forestry Science / Volume 1 / Issue 1 / Pages 45-57
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Riparian forest impact onto streamflow recession curve and its meaning

Péter Kalicz, Zoltán Gribovszki & Géza Király

Correspondence

Correspondence: Kalicz Péter

Postal address: H-9400 Sopron, Bajcsy-Zsilinszky u. 4.

e-mail: kaliczp[at]emk.nyme.hu

Abstract

In rainless periods groundwater feeds streamflow and on the falling limb of the streamflow hydrograph a recession curve can be detected. Lot of important information can be deduced from the recession curve. One of the simplest model of a catchment water resources recession is an exponential curve fitting to the falling limb of a hydrograph as a linear reservoir model.
From steepness of streamflow recession curves catchment scale hydraulic conductivity value can be calculated. Riparian vegetation (especially preatophyte riparian forest) use generally large amount of groundwater resources for transpiration, so it has a significant effect on the steepness of the recession curve in the growing season. Therefore only dormant season (transpiration-free) recession curves can be used for estimation of hydraulic parameters. The apparent residence time (inverse of the recession curve steepness) changes parallel with the transpiration intensity during the growing season.
Groundwater evapotranspiration of the riparian zone can be estimated from the steepness of recession curves in the growing season using the combination of the linear storage model and the catchment groundwater balance.
The groundwater evapotranspiration estimation method was tested in streamflow time series of the two neighboring subcathment (Farkas Valley and the Vadkan Valley) of the fully forest covered Hidegvíz Valley experimental catchment, located in the Sopron Hills (Hungary). On the basis of recession curves 5.8 and 6.2 mm/day growing season mean groundwater evapotranspiration can be calculated between 2000 and 2005 for the dry periods. The method gives fairly high but reasonable groundwater evapotranspiration compared to other evapotranspiration estimations in case of similar riparian forests.

Keywords: groundwater evapotranspiration, riparian forest, recession curve, linear storage model

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    Cite this article as:

    Kalicz, P., Gribovszki, Z. & Király, G. (2011): Riparian forest impact onto streamflow recession curve and its meaning. Bulletin of Forestry Science, 1(1): 45-57. (in Hungarian)

    Volume 1, Issue 1
    Pages: 45-57

    First published:
    1 September 2011

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