Effect of bedrock permeability on subsurface stormflow and the water balance of a trenched hillslope at the Panola Mountain Research Watershed, Georgia, USA

The effect of bedrock permeability on subsurface stormflow initiation and the hillslope water balance is poorly understood. Previous hillslope hydrological studies at the Panola Mountain Research Watershed (PMRW), Georgia, USA, have assumed that the bedrock underlying the trenched hillslope is effectively impermeable. This paper presents a series of sprinkling experiments where we test the bedrock impermeability hypothesis at the PMRW. Specifically, we quantify the bedrock permeability effects on hillslope subsurface stormflow generation and the hillslope water balance at the PMRW. Five sprinkling experiments were performed by applying 882–1676 mm of rainfall over a ∼5·5 m × 12 m area on the lower hillslope during ∼8 days. In addition to water input and output captured at the trench, we measured transpiration in 14 trees on the slope to close the water balance. Of the 193 mm day−1 applied during the later part of the sprinkling experiments when soil moisture changes were small,