Isolation and characterization of hydrologic response units within agricultural watersheds

Abstract

To extrapolate hydrologic relations from small to large areas, a watershed can be partitioned by isolation of units of relative homogeneity with respect to soil type, landform, and land use that fall into a sequence compatible with the hydraulics of overland and subsurface flows. In basins where lithology is relatively uniform, processes of landform development and soil genesis are closely related. Degree of slope, topographic position, and water balance of a site affect the kind of soil and its land‐use capability. Hydrologic response units within complex watersheds are based upon areal and elevational distribution of soils as delineated on a hypsometric curve.