Green roofs. Contribution of Carpobrotus Acinaciformis to the integrated management of urban surface runoff

Abstract

In the mathematical modeling of urban watershed, the parameters that are necessary to know, are the factors of the basin that can modify the surface runoff. The green roofs can modify (from its capacity of retention and delay the water flow originated by the rainfalls), the superficial run-off. But the magnitude that they can do it, will depend on the response of the above mentioned green roofs to the rainfalls, and this response will be different according to the type of green roof (basically substrate thickness and type of vegetation). Because of it, in the mathematical simulation models, the modeling will be more precise depending on the precision of the information sources used. The aim of this work has been to determine the capacity of retention that present green roof, extensive and intensive, planted with Carpobrotus acinaciformis. The results would allow affirming, for the studied conditions, that the Carpobrutus acinaciformis, can realize a contribution to the decrease of the urban runoffs for cities located in the Buenos Aires coast as that of this work.