The effects of land use and land use change on the yields of 42 watersheds in Massachusetts were evaluated over the 20 year period from 1952 to 1971. Land use data for each watershed was determined from aerial photography taken in 1951-52 and again in 1971-72. Average annual and seasonal water yields were related to various climatic, topographic and land use variables using multiple regression techniques. Changes in annual and seasonal runoff were determined by time regression analyses of runoff deviations from estimates made by three different hydrologic models, and then related to changes in land use by simple correlation techniques. Results indicated that the average 20 year yields were most strongly related to land use factors during the growing season when vegetation was actively transpiring. Growing season runoff was inversely correlated with the percentage. of watershed area in forest and positively correlated with the percentage in agricultural and urban types.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UMASS/oai:scholarworks.umass.edu:dissertations-2526 |
| Date | 01 January 1976 |
| Creators | MRAZIK, BRIAN REED |
| Publisher | ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst |
| Source Sets | University of Massachusetts, Amherst |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Source | Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest |
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