Although it was designed to predict long-term average annual soil loss, it has the capacity to predict event soil losses reasonably well at some geographic locations and not well at others.
After each sampling event, soil samples were transported to a temperature-controlled greenhouse facility and weed seed bank composition and density was assessed over a period of four months via the direct germination method.
An objective common to many watershed studies is to separate storm hydrographs into two components: water that was present in the watershed prior to a storm event (soil moisture and groundwater) and water which fell on the watershed during the storm.
Also evapotranspiration and snow processes play a critical role determining, for example, before-event soil saturation.
For rain events with high preceding soil moisture, mobile pre-event soil water was the main contributor (generally >60%) to the fracture flow.
Operational yield is obtained under real-world field conditions that are typically less than ideal due to abiotic (weather events, soil conditions, etc).
Pre-event soil water contributed significantly to the tile drain flow, and creates a flow path for stored pesticides from the soil matrix to the tile drain.
The water sources of the subsurface flows were apportioned to individual rain events using a two end-member model (i.e., mobile pre-event soil water extracted by a suction-cup sampler vs. rainwater (event water)) based on δ18O measurements.
The duration of the antecedent dry period affected not only the relative contributions of the rainwater and the mobile pre-event soil water to the subsurface flows but also the peak colloid concentration, particularly in the fracture flow.
Exemplary for the Elbe River basin, the influence of pre-event soil moisture as an indicator of hydrological pre-conditions, on the link between weather patterns and flood occurrence is investigated.
