Comparison of Green & Ampt and reservoir model effect on Rainfall-Runoff response (study case: Skhira basin)

The Skhira basin, located in semi arid region, is characterized by a high complexity environment and high rainfall space-time variability. This complexity makes flow estimation very complicated especially when we are interested to quantify the net rainfall which is unattainable for measurement. In the present study two production functions were used: “Green and Ampt” and “Constant Slope at Origin Reservoir” to evaluate net rainfall and to assess their effect on runoff responses. To evaluate model results, Nash criterion, mean quadratic error, and discharge relative gap were used. In order to analyze infiltration model effect on basin response, some characteristics were compared: number of peaks, maximal discharge, basic time, gap time between observations and simulations, rise time of the hydrogram and floods volume.The first results confirm that the approach of production function is pertinent. A considerable amelioration is noticed for the production function of “Constant Slope at Origin Reservoir”.