Beven, Keith (2026) Estimating runoff from rainfall when computers were people (the 1915 model of Adolph F. Meyer, with discussion). Hydrological Sciences Journal. pp. 1-15. ISSN 0262-6667
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
This paper summarizes the 100-page paper of 1915 by Adolph Meyer on “Computing Run-off from Rainfall” and the 53 pages of rather lively discussion and response that follows. The paper outlines Meyer’s methodology for calculating streamflow using a water balance method at annual, monthly and daily time scales. This includes his embryonic perceptual model of each term of the water balance, which is compared with other papers of the early twentieth century. Meyer’s efforts to provide a means of calculating quantitative estimates of evaporation and transpiration are also recorded. He understood the role of storage in correctly estimating water balance components, but his method of correcting for storage effects is not made clear. Meyer’s paper reveals that some of the problems of applying hydrological models over 100 years ago when computers were people still resonate today.