ABSTRACT
After rainfall has been intercepted by vegetation, the rainfall that reaches the soil surface either joins the water that infiltrates and slowly moves through the soil layers towards the water table to become base flow, or it joins the overland flow once the intensity of the rain has exceeded the soil infiltration capacity (which is also variable depending on the soil water content). This surface runoff, or the excess water that flows down the slopes as a result of gravity, is the main component of the rapid flow of the flood.
