Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 5.5
Process-based modelling of the Reynolds Creek hillslope: (a) topography, geology and instrumen-
tation; (b) discretisation of the hillslope for the finite difference model; (c) calibrated transient simulation
results for 5 April to 13 July 1971 melt season (after Stephenson and Freeze, 1974, with kind permission of
the American Geophysical Union).
The best discharge predictions (Figure 5.6a) were found for the hypothesis that assumed that the
majority of the runoff is generated by a near surface subsurface flow mechanism close to the stream
while, on the rest of the slope, snowmelt infiltrates the soil surface and percolates vertically to a deep
saturated zone in the porous weathered basalt. This is consistent with the earlier, much more limited,
study of Stephenson and Freeze (1974), but in a sensitivity analysis it was found that different parameter
sets gave equally acceptable results within the limitations of the data available for model evaluation. The
