Time of concentration of surface flow in complex hillslopes

Abstract

Time of concentration (TC) of surface flow in watersheds depends on the coupled response of hillslopes and stream networks. The important point in this background is to study the effects of the geometry and the shape of complex hillslopes on the time of concentration considering the degree of flow convergence (convergent, parallel or divergent) as well as the profile curvature (concave, straight or convex). In this research, the shape factor of complex hillslopes as introduced by Agnese et al. (2007) is generalized and linked to the TC. A new model for calculating TC of complex hillslopes is presented, which depends on the plan shape, the type and degree of profile curvature, the Manning roughness coefficient, the flow regime, the length, the average slope, and the excess rainfall intensity. The presented model was compared to that proposed by Singh and Agiralioglu (1981a,b) and Agiralioglu (1985). Moreover, the results of laboratory experiments on the travel time of surface flow of complex hillslopes were used to calibrate the model. The results showed that TC for convergent hillslopes is nearly double those of parallel and divergent ones. TC in convex hillslopes was very close to that in straight and concave hillslopes. While the effect of convergence on TC is considerable, the curvature effect confirmed insignificant. Finally, in convergent hillslopes, TC increases with the degree of convergence, but in divergent hillslopes, it decreases as degree of divergence increases.