Abstract

PIZARRO-TAPIA, Roberto et al. Comparative analysis of three synthetic unit hydrographs in two mediterranean watersheds in the Maule region of Chile. Rev. Chapingo ser. cienc. for. ambient [online]. 2014, vol.20, n.1, pp.05-20. ISSN 2007-4018.  https://doi.org/10.5154/r.rchscfa.2012.09.054.

This paper compares three methods to obtain synthetic unit hydrographs (SUH). The Snyder (modified for Chile by Astorga and Benítez), the US Bureau of Reclamation, and the Témez methods are analyzed on two watersheds located in Mediterranean areas of Chile. To do so, each watershed was characterized in terms of its morphology and vegetation type. In addition, data from three actual storms, with high, medium, and low rainfall intensities, were used to obtain direct runoff hydrographs (DRH) for both watersheds. The NRCS Curve Number method was used to estimate runoff responses to storm events. Our results suggest that, in general, the SUH used had no significant differences between watersheds. On the other hand, the Snyder SUH method was the only one that found significant differences in the DRHs relative to the other methods and only under a highintensity storm in the Cunculén watershed.

Keywords : Effective precipitation; direct runoff; surface runoff; runoff hydrographs.