Interrelationships among water cycle fluxes and stores in a semi-arid urban environment

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Publication Type thesis
School or College College of Engineering
Department Civil & Environmental Engineering
Author Augustus, Nicholas Walter
Title Interrelationships among water cycle fluxes and stores in a semi-arid urban environment
Date 2010
Description This thesis research was performed to quantify and analyze the interrelationships among water cycle fluxes and stores in a semi-arid urban environment. In September 2007, a hydrologic observation network was installed in a residential area of the Salt Lake City metropolitan area to collect continuous observations of precipitation, dry and wet weather runoff, and soil moisture. In addition, companion studies in the same catchment were simultaneously collecting evapotranspiration and water use data. For the time period studied, precipitation was normal; conversely, the ratios of runoff to rainfall (i.e., runoff coefficient) for the storm events observed were much smaller than expected (0.04 for spring and fall months and 0.006 for summer months), with significant variability noted. Soil moisture was found to have at least a 20% variation between irrigated and nonirrigated areas, which can be expected; however, the increase of nonirrigated soil moisture in response to rainfall was surprisingly small. Dry weather runoff was found to be nearly 8% of the total outflow volume (wet weather plus dry weather), and outdoor water use was shown to influence soil moisture, which in turn was observed to influence the evapotranspiration rate. The continuous observations quantified several uncertain fluxes and stores in semi-arid cities and identified relationships among stores and fluxes useful for developing predictive models of the interactions among urban hydrologic fluxes, stores, and climate.
Type Text
Publisher University of Utah
Subject Hydrologic cycle; Groundwater recharge; Urban ecology
Dissertation Institution University of Utah
Dissertation Name MS
Language eng
Relation is Version of Digital reproduction of "Interrelationships among water cycle fluxes and stores in a semi-arid urban environment " J. Willard Marriott Library Special Collections, GB9.5 2008 .A84
Rights Management © Nicholas Walter Augustus
Format Medium application/pdf
Format Extent 15,176,425 bytes
Identifier us-etd2,95774
Source Original: University of Utah J. Willard Marriott Library Special Collections
ARK ark:/87278/s6rj500r
Setname ir_etd
ID 192466
Reference URL https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6rj500r