Magnitude of Impervious Surfaces in Urban Areas

Runoff quantity/quality varies between rain events due to rainfall spatial variability, but it also presents significant variability between neighborhoods, even if they receive the same amount of rainfall.This variability might be associated with the differences observed in the land uses and surface covers.Therefore, for a stormwater monitoring study to be successful, a careful examination of the study watershed is required.An inventory of watershed development conditions is needed as part of a comprehensive stormwater quality plan to support many decision making activities. This book focuses on describing the methods of field data collection, data processing and measurements of land surfaces required when studying the impact of urbanization on receiving water quality. Also, a stormwater management model is employed to predict the runoff quantity/quality and to study the performance of different combinations of stormwater control devices. The analyses presented in this book should be especially useful to professionals in Environmental Eng. and Watershed Management fields or city planners who might consider improving receiving water biological conditions.