Streamflow Generation: Processes and Perceptual Models

Streamflow Generation is a new, accessible, equation-free narrative of what we know about the flow pathways, sources, and travel times of water through headwater catchments. Streamflow Generation: Process and Perceptual Modelsis the first comprehensive synthesis of field-based understanding of how catchments store and release water. It is an equation-free narrative of the flow pathways, sources and travel times of water through headwater catchments. It lowers the barrier of entry into the world of process hydrology by showing where the early ideas came from, what we know today and what remains to be understood. It is one of the first textbooks to highlight the new powers of observation resulting from the use of isotope tracers. McDonnell shows how these tools have ushered in radical shifts in our understanding of hydrological connectivity and the sources and age distributions of water leaving the catchment via streamflow and plant transpiration. Streamflow Generation: Process and Perceptual Modelsemphasizes the importance of process understanding and perceptual models in an algorithmic world where such knowledge is often ignored. It's overall message is that what remains to be discovered about streamflow generation is vast in comparison to what is known—with encouragement to early career hydrologists to continue the chain of field-based discovery science. This book will appeal to novices, senior undergraduates and graduate students and hydrological researchers and consultants.