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Energy efficiency in transient surface runoff and sediment fluxes on hillslopes – a concept to quantify the effectiveness of extreme events

Schroers, Samuel 1; Scherer, Ulrike 1; Zehe, Erwin 2
1 Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT)
2 Institut für Wasser und Gewässerentwicklung (IWG), Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT)

Abstract:

Surface runoff over time shapes the morphology of the landscape. The resulting forms and patterns have been shown to follow distinct rules, which hold throughout almost all terrestrial catchments. Given the complexity and variety of the Earth's runoff processes, those findings have inspired researchers for over a century, and they resulted in many principles and sometimes proclaimed laws to explain the physics that govern the evolution of landforms and river networks. Most of those point to the first and second law of thermodynamics, which describe conservation and dissipation of free energy through fluxes depleting their driving gradients. Here we start with both laws but expand the related principles to explain the co-evolution of surface runoff and hillslope morphology by using measurable hydraulic and hydrological variables. We argue that a release of the frequent assumption of steady states is key, as the maximum work that surface runoff can perform on the sediments relates not only to the surface structure but also to “refueling” of the system with potential energy by rainfall events. To account for both factors, we introduce the concept of relative dissipation, relating frictional energy dissipation to the energy influx, which essentially characterizes energy efficiency of the hillslope when treated as an open, dissipative power engine. ... mehr


Verlagsausgabe §
DOI: 10.5445/IR/1000160776
Veröffentlicht am 21.07.2023
Cover der Publikation
Zugehörige Institution(en) am KIT Institut für Wasser und Gewässerentwicklung (IWG)
Publikationstyp Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Publikationsjahr 2023
Sprache Englisch
Identifikator ISSN: 1607-7938
KITopen-ID: 1000160776
HGF-Programm 12.11.33 (POF IV, LK 01) Regional Climate and Hydrological Cycle
Erschienen in Hydrology and Earth System Sciences
Verlag Copernicus Publications
Band 27
Heft 13
Seiten 2535–2557
Bemerkung zur Veröffentlichung Gefördert durch den KIT-Publikationsfonds
Vorab online veröffentlicht am 11.07.2023
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Globale Ziele für nachhaltige Entwicklung Ziel 7 – Bezahlbare und saubere Energie
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