Investigating the Effect of Slope on Runoff Coefficient of Surfaces with Different Materials under Natural Rainfall

Studying the processes of runoff generation and assessing the factors affecting it are of the requirements of proper management of the soil and water resources. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of slope on runoff coefficient of surfaces with different materials. For conducting this research, six surfaces of cement, natural grass, asphalt, asbestos cement, pavement and roof insulation, each with an area of 1 square meters in three slopes of 5, 10 and 15 percent, outdoors in research farm of University of Zanjan were prepared. Following three rainfall events on these surfaces, the volumes of the runoffs produced on them were measured. The runoff coefficients of the surfaces and slopes were determined by using the surface area, depth of rain and volume of runoff. Comparison of the result of each surface in the same slope in three different rainfall events did not show significant change in value of the runoff coefficient. The roof insulation and asbestos cement surfaces had the highest runoff coefficients with values of 0.96-0.99 and 0.92-0.97, respectively. The runoff coefficient of the pavement with value of 0.81-.90 was on average 11% higher than that of the cement 0.67-0.82). The results of the various slopes in the grass, cement and asphalt showed that there is a significant difference between the runoff coefficients in the slopes of 5, 10 and 15 percent. In the grass, by increasing the slope, the runoff coefficient increased significantly (about 15%). As well, in the cement and asphalt, increasing the slope increased the runoff coefficient by 7 and 9 percent, respectively.