Effects of spatial variability on annual average water balance

Spatial variability of soil and vegetation causes spatial variability of the water balance. For an area in which the water balance is not affected by lateral water flow, the frequency distributions of storm surface runoff, evapotranspiration, and drainage to groundwater are derivable from distributions of soil hydraulic parameters by means of a point water balance model and local application of the vegetal equilibrium hypothesis. Means and variances of the components of the budget can be found by Monte Carlo simulation or by approximate local expansions. For a fixed set of mean soil parameters, soil spatial variability may induce significant changes in the areal mean water balance, particularly if storm surface runoff occurs. Variability of the pore size distribution index and permeability has a much larger effect than that of effective porosity on the means and variances of water balance variables. The importance of the pore size distribution index implies that the microscopic similarity assumption may underestimate the effects of soil spatial variability. In general, the presence of soil variability reduces the sensitivity of water balance to mean properties. For small levels of soil variability, there exists a unique equivalent homogeneous soil type that reproduces the budget components and the mean soil moisture saturation of an inhomogeneous area.