3rd HyMeX workshop 1-4 June 2009 Heraklion (Gournes), Crete-Greece
Analysis of hydrological processes at different scales and land uses in the Duero basin (Spain)Jose Martinez-Fernandez (Centro Hispano Luso de Investigaciones Agrarias. Universidad de Salamanca.); Guido Baroncini-Turricchia, Nilda Sanchez-Martin, Carlos Perez-Gutierrez, Ana Cano
The land use type, and specially the vegetation cover type, have a great influence on the dynamics of the hydrological processes. This is especially important under Mediterranean conditions where the water is often scarce and is very irregularly distributed in the space and in the time. At the same time, the hydrological processes do not operate in the same way at different scales. The joint analysis of both factors, that is to say, land use and spatial scale, can contribute to a better knowledge of the hydrological dynamics of the Mediterranean basins.
The results of the experimentation in a set of experimental catchments located in the southwestern sector of the basin of the Duero (Spain) are shown. Since 1999 the University of Salamanca has equipped several catchments of diverse sizes (from 34 has to 70 km2) with different land uses (dense forest, open forest, agricultural land). The experimental layout is located under climatic Mediterranean conditions but along a marked rainfall gradient (from less than 400 mm to more than 1000 mm of average annual rainfall). The dynamics of variables as soil moisture or runoff has been studied under these different scenarios.
