Rainfall-runoff Responses and Roles of Soil Moisture Variations to the Response in Tropical Rain Forest, Bukit Tarek, Peninsular Malaysia

Abstract

Field observations were conducted at Bukit Tarek Experimental Watershed in Peninsular Malaysia to investigate the relationship between rainfall-runoff responses and variation in soil moisture in a tropical rain forest. Stormflow depended strongly on the antecedent wetness as represented by the initial runoff rate. Though heavy rains fell in almost every month, the soil moisture decreased when fair weather was sustained. The soil moisture depleted and became dry at 160 cm depth during occasional dry spells. During dry conditions, streamflow responded quickly to rain events but declined rapidly after the rain stopped, and the soil moisture of surface soil (≤20 cm) increased but remained dry at lower depths (≥80 cm). This suggests that the rain water was mostly retained in the soil and only small proportions appeared as stormflow. As soil moisture conditions became wetter, the recession limb of the storm hydrograph was more gradual. Stormflow volume increased with increasing soil moisture. During wet conditions, the soil profile was moist at all parts of the slope. The hydraulic gradient was around 1.0 and there was downward soil water flux, which followed the pressure gradient. This suggests that subsurface flow from the upper part of the slope might also be important for stream-flow production. Positive pressures were observed at 10 cm and 160 cm depths during large storms. The behavior of the subsurface flow might be an important determinant of stormflow.