The connection between soil water content and stream flow in the experimental catchment of Magyaregregy (Hungary)

With the increasingly negative impact of climate change, there is a significant need for more accurate runoff measurements in steep-sloped catchments to understand and predict the impact of extreme weather conditions. The spatial and temporal variability of precipitation, different soil parameters, soil moisture and infiltration characteristics significantly influence the surface runoff and channel flow processes in natural catchments.

During the last 5 years, the Faculty of Water Sciences of the University of Public Service developed a complex meteorological and hydrological monitoring system at Várvölgyi creek which is a 5.95 km² sub-catchment of Völgységi creek watershed. The small steep-sloped experimental catchment lies on the border of Magyaregregy. This small village located in the eastern Mecsek region in the southern part of Hungary. The research program aims to better understand each runoff process element in the watershed. Five years ago, a meteorological station was installed to improve rainfall measurement accuracy. In addition to meteorological and flow measurements, soil moisture sensors were recently installed at three locations to record soil moisture data at six different depths. In this paper, we investigate the connection between soil water content and streamflow.

The research presented in the article was carried out within the framework of the Széchenyi Plan Plus program with the support of the RRF 2.3.1 21 2022 00008 project.