Course development funded by:
Fall 2008
FE 537
FE 537: Hillslope and
Watershed Hydrology
Taught by:
Jeff McDonnell
Dept. of Forest Engineering
Oregon State University
Course delivered to:
Oregon State University
FE 537
This lecture
What are the main questions that
this course will address?
 Introductions
 Grading, readings, project and
other class business
 Lecture road map
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FE 537
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Main
questions
examined in
this course
FE 537
This course addresses 3 basic questions
 Where does water
go when it rains?
 How long does it
reside in the
catchment?
 What flowpath
does the water take
to the stream?
Kevin McGuire
Oregon State University
FE 537
Flowpath has a large effect on nutrient flushing
- Same stream at different times of the year (or storm)
- Different tributaries in the same watershed
Photo from Hjalmar Laudon
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FE 537
Flow path, flow source and residence time
and base cation/anion concentration
Charlie Driscoll, SU
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FE 537
Residence time and land use
change
http://www.mdbc.gov.au/education/basinkids/kidsencyclopaedia/salinity.htm
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Our 3 questions and some age-old
problems
FE 537
WS8
WS7
WS6
21.4 ha
15.4 ha
13 ha
HJ Andrews OR
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FE 537
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Our 3 questions and new problems
Science Article 2004
Global Change in the PNW
Water policy linkages:
FE 537
Are headwaters jurisdictional under the Clean Water Act?
?
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FE 537
Other example applications
 Tritium
phytoremediation (SRS)
 Mine covers (AL)
 Cellulous-based
biofuels (DOE)
 Reservoir operation
rules (US West)
 Watershed
management (NYC)
 Water purveyor needs
(CA)
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FE 537
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We’ll explore runoff generation from the hillslope to the
headwater watershed scale
FE 537
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Why headwaters?
From Tracy Nadeau, EPA
FE 537
Hillslopes are a fundamental landscape unit
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Photo by Jim Kirchner, UC Berkeley
Flow (L/s)
FE 537
We’ll explore how hillslopes filter
rainfall inputs to watersheds
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Time (Julian Days)
FE 537
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Our traditional problems
Gordon Grant
FE 537
What we are all taught in Engineering
Hydrology 101
Quick Flow,
Assumed to be
precipitation
Slow Flow—
Assumed to be
Groundwater/interflow
From Linsley, R.K., M.A. Kohler, and J.L.H. Paulhus, 1975.
Hydrology for Engineers, 2nd Ed., McGraw-Hill, New York, 482 pp.
Oregon State University
FE 537
Data of Colin Neal
Oregon State University
The reality
Kirchner, 2003 HP
The old water paradox
FE 537
“…streamflow responds promptly to
rainfall inputs, but fluctuations in
passive tracers are often strongly
damped. This indicates that storm
flow in these catchments is mostly
‘old’ water”
Kirchner 2003 HP
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FE 537
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Our class holy grail
FE 537
Field experiments and model construction
.... following Uhlenbrook et al. (2002) WRR
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FE 537
Introductions
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Introductions
FE 537
 Me (see web page)
 http://www.cof.orst.edu/cof/fe/watershd
 You (self introductions)
 Who you are
 Your background
 What you are now studying
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FE 537
Grading,
readings, project
and other class
business
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FE 537
Course Structure
Powerpoint lectures
Interactive question and answer as
much as possible
Please interrupt and ask questions
whenever something is unclear or you
would like to add a comment—this will
add greatly to the learning experience
for everyone!
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FE 537
Virtual lectures….if you ever suffer from insomnia
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FE 537
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Good basic material
FE 537
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Advanced material
FE 537
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Journals you should consult
FE 537
A good book to
consult if you
are new to the
area
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The Tarboton web module
FE 537
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for those without a hydro background
The new Encyclopedia of Hydrological Sciences
FE 537
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FE 537
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Course Text
FE 537
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Benchmark Papers
Horton, RE, 1933, The role of infiltration in the hydrological
cycle, Trans. Amer. Geophys. Un., 14, 446-460.**
Horton, RE, 1936, Maximum groundwater levels, Trans. Amer.
Geophys. Un., 17(2), 344-357.
Hoover, MD and Hursh, CR, 1943, Influence of topography and
soil-depth on runoff from forest land, Trans. Amer. Geophys. Un.,
24, 693-697
Cappus, P, 1960, Bassin versant expérimental d’Alrance: études des
lois de l’écoulement. Application au calcul et à la prévision des
débits. La Houille Blanche A. 493-520.
Tsukamoto, Y., 1961, An experiment on subsurface flow, J.
Japanese Soc. Forestry, 45, 186-190.
Hewlett, JD and Hibbert, AR, 1963, Moisture and energy
conditions within a sloping soil mass during drainage, J.
Geophys. Res., 68, 1081-1087. **
Whipkey, RZ, 1965, Subsurface stormflow from forested
slopes, Bull. Int. Assoc. Sci. Hydrol., 10, 74-85 **
Betson, R P, 1964, What is watershed runoff? J. Geophys.
Res. 69(8), 1541-1552.
Gregory, K J and Walling, D E, 1968, The variation of drainage
density within a catchment, Int. Assoc. Sci. Hydrol., 13(2), 61-68.
Hewlett, J D and Hibbert, A R, 1967, Factors affecting the
response of small watersheds to repcipitation in humid areas,
in W E Sopper and H W Lull (Eds.), International Symposium
on Forest Hydrology, Pergammon: Oxford. pp275-290 **
Oregon State University
FE 537
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Benchmark Papers
Ragan, RM, 1968, An experimental investigation of partial area
contributions, Intern. Assoc. Sci. Hydrol. Pubn. 76, 241-251.
Patric, J H and Swanston, D N, 1968, Hydrology of a slide-prone
glacial till soil in Southeast Alaska, J. Forestry, 66, 62-66.
Kirkby, M J, 1969, Infiltration, throughflow and overland flow, in R J
Chorley (Ed), Water Earth amd Man, Methuen: London.
Pinder, G F and Jones, J F, 1969, Determination of the groundwater component of peak discharge from the chemistry of total
runoff, Water Resources Research, 5(2), 438-445.
Dunne and Black, RD, 1970, Partial area contributions to storm
runoff in a small New England watershed, Water Resourc. Res.,
6, 1296-1311. **
Osborne, H B and Renard, K G, 1970, Thunderstorm runoff on the
Walnut Gulch experimental watershed, Arizona, USA, Proc. IASHUnesco Symposium on the results of research on representative and
experimental basins, Wellington, NZ, 1970, 455 – 464
Weyman, DR, 1970, Throughflow on hillslopes and its relation to
the stream hydrograph, Bull. Intern. Assoc. Sci. Hyudrol., 15,
25-33.
Jones, JAA, 1971, Soil piping and stream channel initiation, Water
Resour. Res., 7, 602-610
Trafford, B D and Rycroft, D W, 1973, Observations on the soilwater regimes in a drained clay soil, J. Soil Sci., 24(3), 380-391
Beasley, RS, 1976, Contribution of subsurface flow from the upper
slopes of forested watersheds to channel flow, Soil Sci. Soc. Amer.
J. 40, 955-957.
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Benchmark Papers
FE 537
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Yair, A and Lavee, H, 1976, Runoff generative processes and
runoff yield from arid talus mantled slopes, Earth Surface
Processes, 1, 235-247.
Harr, RD, 1977, Water flux in soil and subsoil on a steep
forested slope, J. Hydrol., 33,37-58.
Anderson, MG and Burt, TP, 1978, The role of topography
in controlling throughflow generation, Earth Surf. Process.
Landf., 3, 331-344
Bonell, M and Gilmour, DA, 1978, The development of overland
flow in a tropical rainforest catchment, J. Hydrol., 39, 365-382
Lynch, J A, Corbett, ES and Sopper, WE, 1979, The effects of
antecedent soil moisture on stormflow volumes and timing, Proc.
3rd Intl. Symp. in Hydrology, Colorado State University, Fort
Collins, CO.
Mosley, M P, 1979, Streamflow generation in a forested
watershed, New Zealand, Water Resources Research,
15(4), 795-806.
Sklash, MG and Farvolden, RN, 1979, The role of
groundwater in storm runoff, J. Hydrol., 43, 45-65. **
Sharma, M L, Gander, G A and Hunt, S G, 1980, Spatial
variability of infiltration in a watershed, J. Hydrol, 45, 101-122.
Huff, DD, O’Neill, RV, Emmanuel, WR, Elwood, J W and
Newbold, JD, 1982, Flow variability and hillslope hydrology,
Earth Surf. Process. Landf., 7, 91-94
Hjelmfelt, AT and Burwell, R T, 1984, Spatial variability of
runoff, J. Irrig. Drain. Div. ASCE, 110, 46-54
Gillham, RW, 1984, The effect of the capillary fringe on
water table response, J. Hydrology, 67, 307-324. **
Oregon State University
FE 537
and…one of the most important
papers of all time:
Evaporation Rainfall
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ai
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qi
Saturated
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at
SRZi
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Qv
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PMAC
2
Qsat
4
6
8
Oregon State University
Qb
10
12
What do I expect?
FE 537
 Read general introduction tonite (!) and the 15
papers by the end of next week (or at least the
first half by Tuesday Oct 14th and 2nd half by
Oct 16).
Know the authors, the titles and the main
contributions
 Know why these are benchmark papers
 Remember the key points, key figures and key
concepts
 Be able to articulate what the transofrmative science
was in each paper and how it contributed to new
advances in hillslope and watershed hydrology
 Know how they build upon and relate to each other
 But that’s crazy……I can’t read that many, that
fast!?
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Schedule
FE 537
 Oct 7: Virtual lecture: Keith Beven (author of your text)
 Oct 9: Lab 1 by Luisa Hopp
 Nov 6:
 Virtual Lecture: by me.
 Quiz (lecture material and Benchmark Papers)
 Nov 11: Lab 2 by Taka Sayama
 Dec 3: Project reports due before Thanksgiving break
 Final Exam: in last scheduled class
Grading: 1/3 grade Quiz/Exam; 1/3 grade Project 1/3 Grade
Labs
(adjustments up based on participation in class)
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The project
FE 537
 A big part of the course
 Example projects
 Stages
 1-page proposal
 Write-up as a mock journal article
 Why I think that the project is so
important?
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FE 537
Lecture road
map
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FE 537
Lecture Schedule
Wrap-up, Lab/project discussion, mid-term
1 week
2 weeks
2 weeks
1 week
Introduction, Runoff overview, field trip
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3 weeks
Uhlenbrook, McDonnell and Leibundgut, 2001
Flow of information
FE 537
 Review of streamflow generation
mechanisms
 Overview of the 15 benchmark papers and how
they shape our current understanding
 Current major questions in the field
 Plot: How does water move to depth?
 Hillslope: How does water move laterally?
 Watershed: What water forms the watershed
hydrograph?
 How do these processes scale?
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FE 537
How does water infiltrate to depth in the soil
profile?
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Photo: Markus Weiler UBC
FE 537
How does water move laterally?
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FE 537
How do different parts of the watershed
contribute to flow in the stream (during
and between events?
F
F
Photo: Ross Woods, NIWA
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How do these processes scale?
FE 537
MACK (580 ha)
WS08 (21 ha)
WS03 (101 ha)
HI15
WS02 (60 ha)
HJ Andrews
(LOOK – 6200 ha)
PRIMET
WS10
(10 ha)
Photographed by Al Levno Date: 7/91
Oregon State University
WS09
(9 ha)
FE 537
Summary
Oregon State University
FE 537
This lecture
What are the main questions that
this course will address?
 Introductions
 Grading, readings, project and
other class business
 Lecture road map
Oregon State University