Work

Influence of antecedent dry weather period and seasonality on initial soil moisture of urban swales

Year: 2026

Type: conference-paper

Abstract: In recent years, sustainable drainage infrastructures have been integrated within conventional stormwater systems to reduce the pressure exerted on the latter during rain events. Swales are effective in reducing peak runoff flows, but their response is strongly affected by the initial soil moisture (ISM) at the start of the event, which is in return influenced by the length of antecedent dry weather period (ADWP). In this work, rain and soil moisture data collected from three swales within a peri-urban area in Luleå were analyzed to investigate the relationship between ADWP and normalized ISM. Despite the variability of event conditions and of data between sensor locations, a first important drop of initial soil moisture was observed for values of ADWP up to 60 h. Furthermore, for a fixed ADWP, the influence of seasonality on normalized ISM was observed.

Source: Diva portal (Dalarna University Library)

Authors: Manetti, Marco, Broekhuizen, Ico, Viklander, Maria

Institution: Luleå University of Technology

Language: English

Topic: Urban Stormwater Management Solutions

Subfield: Environmental Engineering

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Clean water and sanitation, Sustainable cities and communities, Climate action

Open Access status: green

Funders: VINNOVA, Svenska Forskningsrådet Formas, Vetenskapsrådet, Svenskt Vatten

Award: DRIZZLE - Centre for Stormwater Management, phase 2