Articles | Volume 29, issue 10
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-2275-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-2275-2025
Research article
 | 
19 May 2025
Research article |  | 19 May 2025

Delayed stormflow generation in a semi-humid forested watershed controlled by soil water storage and groundwater dynamics

Zhen Cui and Fuqiang Tian

Related authors

Bimodal hydrographs in a semi-humid forested watershed: characteristics and occurrence conditions
Zhen Cui, Fuqiang Tian, Zilong Zhao, Zitong Xu, Yongjie Duan, Jie Wen, and Mohd Yawar Ali Khan
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 3613–3632, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3613-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3613-2024, 2024
Short summary

Cited articles

Anderson, M. G. and Burt, T. R.: The role of topography in controlling throughflow generation, Earth Surf. Process., 3, 331–334, https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.3290030402, 1978. 
Beiter, D., Weiler, M., and Blume, T.: Characterising hillslope–stream connectivity with a joint event analysis of stream and groundwater levels, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 5713–5744, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-5713-2020, 2020. 
Bishop, K., Seibert, J., Nyberg, L., and Rodhe, A.: Water storage in a till catchment. II: Implications of transmissivity feedback for flow paths and turnover times, Hydrol. Process., 25, 3950–3959, https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.8355, 2011. 
Cui, Z.: Xitaizi Experimental Watershed dataset, Beijing, China, Zenodo [data set], https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12581739, 2024. 
Cui, Z., Tian, F., Zhao, Z., Xu, Z., Duan, Y., Wen, J., and Khan, M. Y. A.: Bimodal hydrographs in a semi-humid forested watershed: characteristics and occurrence conditions, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 3613–3632, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3613-2024, 2024. 
Download
Short summary
This study investigates stormflow patterns in a forested watershed in north China, highlighting the fact that delayed stormflow is governed by soil water content (SWC) and groundwater level (GWL). When SWC exceeds its storage capacity, excess water infiltrates, recharging groundwater and gradually elevating GWL. Rising GWL enhances subsurface connectivity and lateral flow, synchronizing watershed responses and, in extreme cases, causing a delayed stormflow peak to merge with the direct stormflow peak.
Share