Runoff (1) That portion of precipitation that moves from the land to surface water bodies. (2) That portion of precipitation which is not intercepted by vegetation, absorbed by the land surface or evaporated, and thus flows overland into a depression, stream lake or ocean (runoff called “immediate subsurface runoff” also takes place in the upper layers of the soil). (3) That part of the precipitation, snow melt, or irrigation water that appears in uncontrolled surface streams, rivers, drains or sewers. It is the same as streamflow unaffected by artificial diversions, imports, storage, or other works of man in or on the stream channels. Runoff may be classified according to speed of appearance after rainfall or melting snow as direct runoff or base runoff, and according to source as surface runoff, storm interflow, or ground-water runoff. (4) The total discharge described in (1), above, during a specified period of time. (5) Also defined as the depth to which a drainage area would be covered if all of the runoff for a given period of time were uniformly distributed over it. Meteorological Factors Affecting Runoff: 1 Type of precipitation (rain, snow, sleet, etc.), 2 Rainfall intensity, 3 Rainfall amount, 4 Rainfall duration, 5 Distribution of rainfall over the drainage basin, 6 Direction of storm movement, 7 Antecedent precipitation and resulting soil moisture, and 8 Other meteorological and climatic conditions which affect evapotranspiration such as temperature, wind, relative humidity, and season. Physical Basic Characteristics Affecting Runoff: 1 Land use, 2 Vegetation, 3 Soil type, 4 Drainage area, 5 Basin shape, 6 Elevation, 7 Slope, 8 Topography, 9 Direction of orientation, 10 Drainage network patterns, and 11 Ponds, lakes, reservoirs, sinks, etc. in the basin which prevent or alter runoff from continuing downstream.
Source: http://www.bvsde.paho.org/bvsacg/i/fulltext/dicciona/dicciona.pdf
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Author of the Water Words Dictionary source of text: Gary A. Horton
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