A model for simulating the influence of a spatial distribution of large circular macropores on surface runoff

This paper reports the development and test, at the scale of 1 m 2 , of an event-based model that aims at simulating the influence of a spatial distribution of large circular macropores on surface runoff. The main originality of this model is that it focuses on the way macropores are supplied with water at the soil surface, by coupling an original model for water interception by individual macropores to a high-resolution spatialized overland flow model. A three-step evaluation of the model was carried out, involving (1) an experimental test of the model for water interception by macropores; (2) a sensitivity analysis of the model to time and space discretization; and (3) a comparison between numerical and field results in the case of runoff on a crusted soil surface with a population of large macropores made by termites in the Sahel. The model was found to accurately simulate the effect of a spatial distribution of large macropores on runoff, and it showed that small heterogeneities, like macropores or areas where a crust has been destroyed, which cover a very limited proportion of the soil surface, can have a high impact on runoff.

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