Abstract
This paper presents a taxonomy (hierarchical organization) of
hydrological processes; specifically, runoff generation processes in
natural watersheds. Over 120 process names were extracted from a
literature review of papers describing experimental watersheds,
perceptual models, and runoff processes in a range of hydro-climatic
environments. Processes were arranged into a hierarchical structure, and
presented as a spreadsheet and interactive diagram. For each process,
additional information was provided: a list of alternative names for the
same process, a classification into hydrological function (e.g.
partitioning, flux, storage, release) and a unique identifier similar to
a hashtag. The taxonomy provides a method to label and search
hydrological knowledge, thereby facilitating synthesis and comparison of
processes across watersheds.