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Journal

ELSEVIER Journal of Hydrology 176 (1996) 219-225

The runoff coefficient as the key to moisture recycling


Hubert H.G. Savenije
International Institutefor Infrastructural, Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering (IHE), P.O. Box 3015,
2601 DA, De@, Netherlands

Received 24 March 1995; accepted 30 March 1995

Abstract

Moisture recycling by evapotranspiration from vegetation is probably the most important


mechanism sustaining rainfall on continental catchments, particularly in semiarid areas. A very
simple and very useful parameter to evaluate moisture recycling is the annual runoff coefficient
C,. On continents, the proportion of rainfall recycled equals 1 - Car whereas the average
number of times that a moisture particle returns as rainfall equals l/CR. Since the runoff
coefficient is widely mapped, it is a very handy indicator to evaluate the importance of land-
use practices in rainfall recycling. It is further stated that the idea of some water resources
engineers that a high runoff coefficient is an asset for water resources development is a mis-
conception. For the water resources management of continental areas, the most efficient use of
water is made by minimizing runoff.

1. Introduction

Land-use, rainfall, runoff, recharge and erosion are closely related in semiarid
zones. In particular, the link between rainfall and land-use is very strong. In the
Sahel, more than 90% of the moisture is recycled, meaning that more than 90% of
the rainfall consists of water that has been evaporated in the Sahel area (Savenije,
1995). As a result there exists an important feedback mechanism between land-use
and climate, which has immediate implications for the management of natural
resources.
Evapotranspiration of moisture is the most important mechanism for sustaining
rainfall on continental catchments, particularly in semiarid areas. Consequently, it is
also the most important mechanism sustaining river flow in the interior of continents.
The economic value of rainfall is generally not considered in water resources
planning. This is probably because of an intrinsic assumption that rainfall can not
be managed, and hence there is no reason to attribute an economic value to it.
0022-1694/96/$15.00 0 1996 - Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved
SSDI 0022- 1694(95)02776-9
220 H.H.G. Savenije / Journal of Hydrology I76 (1996) 219-225

Savenije (1995), however, demonstrated that human interference indeed can have a
significant influence on rainfall amounts, particularly in sensitive areas and that
watershed management aimed at maximizing evapotranspiration and minimizing
runoff can contribute substantially to sustaining rainfall in the region.
In this paper it will be shown that the annual runoff coefficient, the ratio between
the annual runoff and the annual rainfall is a very good indicator of the importance of
recycling, and the degree of recycling of moisture in a given area. Moreover, it is a
good indicator for monitoring the change over time of the recycling of moisture in a
catchment, and if there is an increase of the runoff coefficient over time, a good
indicator of land degradation. Lastly, it is a very simple indicator, an indicator
which has been mapped world-wide at different levels of detail.
Finally, the paper will address the misconception among certain water resources
engineers that a high runoff coefficient is good in terms of water resources develop-
ment. It will be argued that runoff should be minimized, since runoff is a loss to the
atmospheric water balance. If runoff is minimized, more rainfall will be generated in
the interior of the continent, which in its turn will sustain river flow.

2. Derivation of recycling indicators from the atmospheric and terrestrial water balance

Assume the water balance of a continental area with a unit width and length X
along a Lagrangean stream line of atmospheric moisture advection. The x-axis of the
process follows the Lagrangean stream line of advected moisture, starting from the
coast, pointing landward into the continent. The length X is the length scale of the
longitudinal rainfall distribution which is defined as the length which the average
moisture particle travels, along a stream line, after having been recycled a number
of times, until it disappears from the atmospheric system through runoff (Savenije,
1995). The net average annual runoff (R) (mm year-‘) from this area is defined as
(R)=R+ -R-(R+ and R- are the fluxes of water (both surface and subsurface) into
and from the area, respectively), the annual average rainfall over the area is (P) (mm
year-‘) and the average annual evapotranspiration over the area is (E) (mm year-‘).
The brackets indicate area1 averages.
If storage can be neglected, which is an acceptable assumption when we deal with
annual averages, then the water balance reads

(R)= (4 - (E)
Subsequently, the annual average runoff coefficient, the proportion of the annual
rainfall which comes to runoff, is defined as

If the water balance of the Earth’s surface is linked to the atmospheric water balance,
it can be concluded that the net average annual runoff (R)from the area equals the net
average annual moisture advection through the atmosphere (A) = A+ - A-, and that
H.H.G. Savenge 1 Journal of Hydrology I76 (1996) 2X9-225 221

substitution in Eq. (1) yields


P) = (A) + P) (3)
which is a fact also recognized by Lettau et al. (1979).
Hence the amount of precipitable moisture in the atmosphere above the area is a
mix of advected and evaporated moisture. Since rainfall intensity is generally assumed
to be directly proportional to the amount of precipitable moisture (Wiesner, 1970),
Budyko’s (1974) assumption that the rainfall can be separated into two components,
the rainfall originating from advected moisture (P,) and the rainfall originating from
local evapotranspiration (P,) may be applied
P) = Pa) + PJ (4)
If A+ Z+ A-, (P,) cx (A) and (P,) % (E).
The area1 average recycling coefficient (y) is defined by Brubakeret al. (1993) as the
amount of area1 rainfall originating from evaporation over the total area1 raintill

Substituting (P,) = (E) in Eq. (5), and using Eq. (2), it follows that
(E)
(b)=(p)=l-cR

Hence, the area1 coefficient for moisture recycling is directly related to the runoff
coefficient. In addition, it can be argued that the return rate (p), the average number
of times that an advected water particle precipitates before it disappears from the
system through runoff, is determined by

(7)

The above reasoning is based on the water balance of continental areas or river basins
with a length larger than X. The question is whether these relations can also be derived
from point observations.

3. Derivation of recycling indicators from Lagrangean point rainfall

Savenije (1995) demonstrated that the x-dependent recycling coefficient y based on


a time average Lagrangean analysis of moisture transport can be expressed as
I_u

+x- l- P Oi
P 0 PO

where

P=Poexp -X (9)
c >
222 H.H.G. Savenije / Journal of Hydrology 176 (1996) 219-22s

P, = Psexp -‘:
( >

(11)
and where cx is the atmospheric loss coefficient owing to runoff and subsurface
moisture storage during the rainy season, X is the length scale defined earlier, u is
the advective velocity of the atmospheric moisture, andp is the rainfall rate defined by
P=pW (12)
where W(x) is the amount of precipitable moisture in the atmosphere. The rainfall
intensity is directly proportional to the moisture content (e.g. Wiesner, 1970). More-
over, climatologists assume thatp is proportional to u and, hence, that u/p is constant
(Wiesner, 1970). This u/p, a climatic constant, is the average length over which a
moisture particle travels through the atmosphere before it precipitates to the Earth’s
surface. The ratio of this climatic constant to the length scale X is cr, a factor which can
be influenced by human behaviour. Hence, X is inversely proportional to Q. Fig. 1
shows typical variations of P, P, and P, for West Africa.

2400

1800

7?
1600
'5
.E 1400
a.

1200

800

600

400

200

0 40 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000

Distance (km)

Fig. 1. Longitudinal plot of Pa, P, and P in West Africa (First published in J. Hydrol., 167: 57-78 (Savenije,
1995)).
H.H.G. Savenije / Journal of Hydrology 176 (1996) 219-22.5 223

The exponential decrease of the rainfall along a streamline follows from the
atmospheric moisture balance of Savenije and Hall (1994)

aw aw a2w
-=-paw
+uax-d (13)
ax2

where the right-hand term is the atmospheric loss term, which when integrated over
the wet season equals the runoff plus the subsurface moisture storage. When
integrated over the entire year, the loss term equals the total runoff from the catch-
ment, which is less than the wet season loss resulting from the advective export of
moisture from the catchment during.the dry season.
If the rainy season were to last the entire year, then cxwould be equal to the runoff
coefficient CR (Peixoto, 1973). However, this is often not the case and then Q:> CR as
a result of evaporation (transpiration from soil moisture and groundwater) during the
dry season, which is a loss to recycling in the wet season, but does not contribute to
runoff. Hence

Ed
a=CR+-=CR+ed
P

In the following, it will be shown that Eq. (6) can be derived from spatial
integration of Eq. (8). Integration over an area of unit width and distance X
yields

(7) = 1 -iiexp(-:e)dx (15)


0 .

which results in

(4 = 1 -
or -,exp;eq
= 1 -of(a) (16)

Analysis of Eq. (16) shows thatf(a) = 1 as o approaches 0 or 1 and thatf(a) < 1.3
for all 0 < a < 1. If integration is done over a distance 1.6X, thenf(o) x 1 over the
full range of 0 < (Y< 1 (see Fig. 2, where o$(o) is plotted against a).
The above derivations show that both the water balance approach of Eq. (6) and
the Lagrangean approach of Eq. (16) yield the same result for the area1 average
recycling coefficient. If o = CR in both cases the runoff coefficient is the key to the
recycling of moisture.
The return rate p was defined by Savenije (1995), as the number of times a particle
returns to the Earth’s surface over a distance x

(17)
224 H.H.G. Savenije / Journal of Hydrology 176 (1996) 219-225

0.4 -

0.3 -

0.2 - I

/
0.1 -
’ I/
:, 0 w-7
0. 0.2
i
0.4 0.6
I I

0.6
-i

Fig. 2. Relation between (yf((~)and (Y.

Hence over a distance A, the distance the average water particle travels, this return
rate reads
,A W-9
Q

which is the same as Eq. (7), if a = CR.

4. Conclusion

Catchments which have a low*iunoff coefficient are very sensitive areas, where each
moisture particle is re-used a number of times. Decreasing the evapbtranspiration
capacity in such catchments by deforestation, agricultural development, urbaniza-
tion, drainage or whatever increases the runoff from the catchment, will imply a
decrease of the rainfall. _
Until now, many hydrologists have assumed that rainfall is an exogenous factor
which is hardly inffuenced by human interference. The above reasoning has shown
that this is not true. The total amount of advected moisture may be exogenous, but
the number of times that this moisture is recycled within a catchment, strongly
depends on the land-use. Particularly in semiarid or arid areas, this recycling of
moisture is the most important source of rainfall.
H.H.G. Savenije / Journal of Hydrology 176 (1996) 219-225 225

Moreover, it is a misconception that an increased runoff coefficient yields more


runoff. The argument that forests consume water and that afforestation will reduce
the runoff from a catchment is (at least partly) wrong. By afforestation, or by
deforestation, the total amount of advected moisture from the ocean does not
change, and hence the total runoff remains the same. Although the runoff coefficient
may increase, the rainfall decreases accordingly, and the total runoff remains the
same. The argument is partly right because afforestation on the mountain ranges
bordering the catchment may increase the moisture content along the boundaries
of the catchment, which may increase the advected export of moisture. However,
this advection will yield more rainfall in the neighbouring catchment.
Consequently, conserving forests, conserving vegetation cover and, in general,
conserving evaporating capacity is a very important water resources management
objective in sensitive areas. Hence, watershed management practices that aim at
retaining moisture, retaining soils and retaining nutrients are very important
management activities for the maintenance of rainfall as well.

References

Brubaker, K.L., Entekhabi, D. and Eagleson, P.S., 1993. Estimation of continental precipitation recycling.
J. Clim., 6: 1077-1089.
Budyko, MI., 1974. Climate and Life. Academic, New York, 508 pp.
Lettau, H., Lettau, K. and Molion, L.C.B., 1979. Amazonia’s hydrologic cycle and the role of atmospheric
recycling in assessing deforestation effects. Mon. Weather Rev., 107: 227-238.
Peixoto, J.P., 1973. Atmospheric vapour flux computations for hydrological purposes. WMO Rep. No.357,
Secretariat of the World Meteorological Organization, Geneva.
Savenije, H.H.G., 1995. New definitions for moisture recycling and the relation with land-use changes in the
Sahel. J. Hydrol., 167: 57-78.
Savenije, H.H.G. and Hall, M.J., 1994. Climate and Landuse: A Feedback Mechanism?. In: IHE Report
Series 29, Water and Environment Key to Africa’s Development. International Institute for Infra-
structural, Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering (IHE), Delft, the Netherlands, pp. 93-108.
Wiesner, C.J., 1970. Hydrometeorology. Chapman and Hall, London

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