Catchments - Water balance

7 important questions on Catchments - Water balance

Where is the water balance used for?

1) showing how an area interacts with its surroundings
2) setting up a model or testing the performance
3) basis to calculate the nutrient balance

What is the simpelest formula of the water balance?

ΔS = Qin - Qout
Δ S = storage chance

What is the complete formule for the water balance?

ΔS = P - ET ± Q ± Us ± Ul ± X
ET = evapotranspiration
Q = inflow minus outflow of the surface water
Us = upward (+) or downward (-) seepage  
Ul = lateral flow (+) or outflow of groundwater
X = the rest
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When can the water balance equation be simplified?

When seepage, lateral groundwater flow and surface water inflow are not present in a catchment. It is the case in many natural catchments. In these cases the equation is as follows: P-ET-Q=deltaS

What is a balance period

The water balance set up for a certain period of time

What is a hydrological year?

A balance period of a year to factor out the storage change which is difficult to measure. The start and end of a balance period are often selected such that we can assume the difference in storage between the start and end is relatively small

What is the formula for residence time of a water drop in a lake?

Given that there is no storage change, Tr=V/Qin=V/Qout

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