Appalachian Flood Hydrology in Headwater Watersheds: Hillslope Scale Studies at the Fernow Experimental Forest

Streamflow and rainfall are combined with observations from a network of 240 crest piezometers on two headwater watersheds (0.30 and 0.14 km²) at the Fernow Experimental Forest near Parsons, WV to examine the storm event response of forested, Appalachian watersheds. Weekly data from each piezometer, 5-minute data from over 20 piezometers, and continuous rainfall and streamflow measurements from 2003 and 2004 are used in these analyses. Watershed and piezometer response is examined in the context of antecedent conditions, rainfall accumulations, and rain rates. Piezometer nests (piezometers depths of 25, 50, and 100 cm) allow observations of the relative timing of saturation and piezometric head at different depths in the soil profile, allowing us to look for perched water tables and to distinguish saturation excess and infiltration excess runoff. Observations show pronounced heterogeneity even within the unchannelized swales of headwater watersheds. Piezometer observations yield insight into the dominate runoff production mechanisms for flood response and help to identify signatures in the watershed hydrographs due to different runoff production mechanisms. These hydrograph signatures will be used to help examine differences in watershed response for times when piezometers observations are not available, such as after historical logging of watersheds in the Fernow Experimental Forest.