Scale effects on runoff generation in meso-scale and large-scale sub-basins in the Luanhe River Basin

Abstract. The scale effects on runoff coefficients have been observed by several researchers on plots or small watersheds, however, little research has been done on meso-scale and large-scale catchments. So six meso-scale and large-scale sub-basins of the Luanhe river basin, in northeast of China, were selected for calculating the runoff coefficients of single event during 1956–2002. An obvious reduction in average runoff coefficients from 0.43 (Liuhe basin) to 0.10 (Luanhe basin) was found with increasing basin area. And for the annual runoff coefficients from 1956 to 2002, the same trend was also observed. In addition, runoff coefficients varied wildly from one rainstorm to the other. One of the reasons is that at the beginning of the storm, the rainfall is absorbed in the soil and fills in the macropores of the soil, and after runoff generation rainfall infiltrates during the routing process. And the spatial variability of rainfall, the groundwater discharge ability can also lead to runoff coefficients reduction with the increasing basin area. The study on the scale effects on runoff coefficient is very important to develop a physically-based hydrological model and parameter estimation on different scales.