What is the difference between surface runoff and throughflow

It includes natural and human-induced streamflows. Natural base flow is sustained largely by groundwater discharges. The rural stream rose much slower and reached a lower peak, meaning it may not have flooded at all. It took longer to fall back to baseflow as groundwater slowly seeped into the streambanks over the next week. Earth's water is always in movement, and the natural water cycle, also known as the hydrologic cycle, describes the continuous movement of water on, above, and below the surface of the Earth.

Water is always changing states between liquid, vapor, and ice, with these processes happening in the blink of an eye and over millions of years. The air is full of water, even if you can't see it. Higher in the sky where it is colder than at the land surface, invisible water vapor condenses into tiny liquid water droplets—clouds.

When the cloud droplets combine to form heavier cloud drops which can no longer "float" in the surrounding air, it can start to rain, snow, and hail What is streamflow? How do streams get their water? To learn about streamflow and its role in the water cycle, continue reading.

Perhaps you've never seen snow. Or, perhaps you built a snowman this very afternoon and perhaps you saw your snowman begin to melt. Regardless of your experience with snow and associated snowmelt, runoff from snowmelt is a major component of the global movement of water, possibly even if you live where it never snows. The atmosphere is the superhighway in the sky that moves water everywhere over the Earth. Water at the Earth's surface evaporates into water vapor which rises up into the sky to become part of a cloud which will float off with the winds, eventually releasing water back to Earth as precipitation.

The air is full of water, as water vapor, even if you can't see it. Condensation is the process of water vapor turning back into liquid water, with the best example being those big, fluffy clouds floating over your head. And when the water droplets in clouds combine, they become heavy enough to form raindrops to rain down onto your head. You can't see it, but a large portion of the world's freshwater lies underground. It may all start as precipitation, but through infiltration and seepage, water soaks into the ground in vast amounts.

Water in the ground keeps all plant life alive and serves peoples' needs, too. Note: This section of the Water Science School discusses the Earth's "natural" water cycle without human A spring is a place where water moving underground finds an opening to the land surface and emerges, sometimes as just a trickle, maybe only after a rain, and sometimes in a continuous flow.

Spring water can also emerge from heated rock underground, giving rise to hot springs, which people have found to make a delightful way of soaking away their problems. Skip to main content. Search Search. Water Science School. Surface Runoff and the Water Cycle. The Components of the Water Cycle Investigate each part of the water cycle adults and advanced students Learn more.

Downloadable Water Cycle Products coming soon! The amount of water stored will vary depending on the porosity of the soil and on the permeability of the rock. Water can also be temporarily stored via interception.

This refers to the storage of water on leaf and plant stems. Dense foliage may result in little water reaching the ground, since it often evaporates from the leaves. It is made up of streamflow, which is flow through permanent river channels, and overland flow or surface runoff.

Overland flow transfers water through the basin either as sheetwash, across the surface, or in tiny channels called rills. Beneath the surface, water is transferred via throughflow, which is the movement of water through the lower soil towards rivers, and groundwater flow. Transient Factors - are those factors associated with precipitation input - size of storm, intensity, duration of rainfall, etc.

Study Guide. Additional Readings. Created by Dr. Introduction to Surface Runoff Surface Runoff If the amount of water falling on the ground is greater than the infiltration rate of the surface, runoff or overland flow will occur. Runoff involves the following events: Rainfall intensity exceeds the soil's infiltration rate.

A thin water layer forms that begins to move because of the influence of slope and gravity. Flowing water accumulates in depressions. Depressions overflow and form small rills. Rills merge to form larger streams and rivers. Streams and rivers then flow into lakes or oceans. Table 8n-1 : Continental runoff values. Source : Lvovitch, M. Report Number A small blip caused by rain falling directly into the channel is the first evidence that stream discharge is changing because of the rainfall.

A significant time interval occurs between the start of rain and the beginning of the main rise in discharge on the hydrograph. This lag occurs because of the time required for the precipitation that falls in the stream's basin to eventually reach the recording station.