<p> The traditional paradigm of baseflow generation assumes a uniform water table contributes baseflow evenly across a watershed. This thesis considers an alternate paradigm in which baseflow originates from a mix of localized sources that drain at different rates. Four forested headwater catchments across the United States were examined for spatial variability in baseflow sources by analyzing fractional baseflow contribution from each subcatchment relative to the catchment outlet. This revealed that subcatchment flow contributions changed dynamically through time, supporting the idea of different drainage rates in different places. A parallel linear reservoir model, which is predicated on heterogeneity in flow sources and not groundwater hydraulics, was used to simulate results consistent with observations in some of the study catchments. These results support the idea that in some locations baseflow recession may be better explained by landscape spatial heterogeneity than by aquifer hydraulics. </p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:10192876 |
| Date | 16 February 2017 |
| Creators | Ng, Nicole |
| Publisher | State University of New York Col. of Environmental Science & Forestry |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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