Long-term Data–the Key for Evaluating Runoff Peak Discharge Estimation Tools and Parameters for Watersheds on Forest Lands

Abstract

The SCS-CN (curve number) and the Rational Method are widely used for quantifying direct runoff and peak discharge rates for designing road cross-drainage and water management structures in agricultural and urban landscapes. However, the studies applying and evaluating these methods are very limited for forest lands. Here we suggest that validating and possibly improving these tools and their parameters using long-term hydro-climatic and high resolution LIDAR and imagery data from US Forest Service experimental forest watersheds and similar other sites in varying ecoregions can help fill that knowledge gap for sustainable management of infrastructure, particularly forest roads in the face of climate change.