Hydrologic simulation of pinyon-juniper woodlands in Arizona

Abstract

A physically-based, user friendly, hydrologic computer simulation model was developed for pinyon-juniper woodland watersheds. The data requirements are minimum, requiring vegetation conditions, basic soil survey information, and daily values for precipitation and temperature. The model predicts runoff from cleared and uncleared watersheds by simulating hydrologic processes on a daily basis. The model was tested with data from small pinyon-juniper watersheds in central Arizona. A crack-forming vertisol was the dominant soil type, and a special feature for addressing its effects on runoff was included. No significant difference between predicted and observed annual runoff was found at the ninety-five percent confidence level.