THE VARIATION OF DRAINAGE DENSITY WITHIN A CATCHMENT

Abstract

Actual discharges from two experimental catchments are related to the corresponding measurements of the length of channel flow; within a single catchment this is equivalent to drainage density. Drainage densities ranging from less than 1.0 to nearly 10.0 are associated with discharges ranging from 0.15 to nearly 20.0 c.f.s. per square mile. In each catchment all discharge values (Q) and drainage density values (Dd) are related by a function approximately of the form Q ∝ Dd², which is then discussed in relation to studies made of the variation of streamflow and drainage density between catchments. It is suggested that both peak flow and base flow are related to drainage density in the same way. Studies which include drainage density as a basin characteristic and which relate it to water yield should acknowledge that its value varies within any one catchment, and therefore that the drainage density values derived by a particular method can be related only to one type of flow. In Great Britain the watercourses shown on the 1:10,560 maps relate to specific low flow discharges.