Soil detachment and transport under the combined action of rainfall and runoff energy on shallow overland flow

Rainfall and runoff energy results in soil erosion. This paper presents new the concepts of rainfall and runoff energy and analyzes the relationship of rainfall energy and runoff energy with sediment transport based on the conversion theory of kinetic and potential energy using artificial rainfall and mechanical calculation. The results show that the ratio of sediment detachment in sloping fallow overland flow increases with the slope gradient,rainfall energy and runoff energy, while the sediment detachment ratio under raindrop impact are significantly higher than those under no raindrop impact. The sediment concentration increases with the slope gradient and rainfall energy; when the slope gradient and rainfall energy are constant, the sediment concentration decreases as the runoff energy increases. Rainfall disturbance coefficients have a logarithmic correlation with the rate of rainfall energy and runoff energy. On the same slope gradient,when the rainfall energy is constant, the disturbance coefficient decreases as the runoff energy increases,while when the runoff energy is constant, the disturbance coefficient increases as the rainfall energyincreases. Rainfall energy results in sediment detachment, and runoff energy is the transportation for erosion sediment. This showed that rainfall energy and runoff energy are important in the sediment detachment and transportation of shallow overland flow.

Effects of Roughness Elements Distribution on Overland Flow Resistance

Roughness elements are various in a mountain area; they include gravel and ground surface vegetation that often result in surface friction drag to resist overland flows. The variation and characteristics of flow resistance strongly impact the overland flow process and watershed floods. In view of the universal existence of natural vegetation, such as Chlorophytum malayense(CM) or Ophiopogon bodinieri(OB), and the sand-gravel bed of the river channel, it is important to understand the role of different types of roughness elements in flow resistance. This study was performed to investigate and compare through flume experiments the behaviors of overland flow resistance by the reaction of multi-scale configuration of different roughness elements. The result showed that the resistance coefficient gradually reduced versus the increase of flow rate in unit width and tended to be a constant when q = 3.0 l/s.m, Fr = 1.0, and Re = 4000 for slopes of 6 to 10 degrees. The gap of the vegetated rough bed and the gravel rough bed is limited to the same as the gap of the two types of vegetation, CM and OB. It was noted that the vegetation contributed to the increase in form resistance negatively and may lead to the mean resistance on decrease. To classify the flow pattern, the laminar flows were described by DarcyWeisbach's equation. In the study the f-Re equation of vegetated bed was developed with f ?5000 Re.The friction coefficient for laminar flows can be regarded as the critical value for identifying the transformation point of the flow pattern.

Effects of simulated submerged and rigid vegetation and grain roughness on hydraulic resistance to simulated overland flow

Better understanding of the role of vegetation and soil on hydraulic resistance of overland flow requires quantitative partition of their interaction. In this paper, a total of 144 hydraulic flume experiments were carried out to investigate the hydraulic characteristics of overland flow. Results show that hydraulic resistance is negatively correlated with Reynolds number on non-simulated vegetated slopes, while positively on vegetated slopes. The law of composite resistance agrees with the dominant resistance, depending on simulated vegetation stem,surface roughness, and discharge. Surface roughness has greater influence on overland flow resistance than vegetation stem when unit discharge is lower than the low-limited critical discharge, while vegetation has a more obvious influence when unit discharge is higher than the upper-limited critical discharge. Combined effects of simulated vegetation and surface roughness are unequal to the sum of the individual effects through t-test, implying the limitation of using linear superposition principle in calculating overland flow resistances under combined effect of roughness elements.

Effects of sediment load on the abrasion of soil aggregate and hydraulic parameters in experimental overland flow

The breakdown of soil aggregates under rainfall and their abrasion in overland flow are important processes in water erosion due to the production of more fine and transportable particles and,the subsequent significant effect on the erosion intensity.Currently,little is known about the effects of sediment load on the soil aggregate abrasion and the relationship of this abrasion with some related hydraulic parameters.Here,the potential effects of sediment load on soil aggregate abrasion and hydraulic parameters in overland flow were investigated through a series of experiments in a 3.8-m-long hydraulic flume at the slope gradients of 8.7 and 26.8%,unit flow discharges from 2×10^-3 to 6×10^-3 m^2 s^-1,and the sediment concentration from 0 to 110 kg m-3.All the aggregates from Ultisols developed Quaternary red clay,Central China.The results indicated that discharge had the most significant(P<0.01)effect on the aggregates abrasion with the contributions of 58.76 and 60.34%,followed by sediment feed rate,with contributions of 39.66 and 34.12%at the slope gradients of 8.7 and 26.8%,respectively.The abrasion degree of aggregates was found to increase as a power function of the sediment concentration.Meanwhile,the flow depth,friction factor,and shear stress increased as a power function along with the increase of sediment concentration at different slope gradients and discharges.Reynolds number was obviously affected by sediment concentration and it decreased as sediment concentration increased.The ratio of the residual weight to the initial weight of soil aggregates(Wr/Wi)was found to increase as the linear function with an increasing flow depth(P=0.008)or Reynolds number(P=0.002)in the sediment-laden flow.The Wr/Wi values followed a power function decrease with increasing friction factor or shear stress in the sediment-laden flow,indicating that friction factor is the best hydraulic parameter for prediction of soil aggregate abrasion under different sediment load conditions.The information regarding the soil aggregate abrasion under various sediment load conditions can facilitate soil process-based erosion modeling.

Distributed hydrological models for addressing effects of spatial variability of roughness on overland flow

In this study, we investigated the origin of the overland flow roughness problem and divided the current overland flow roughness research into three types, as follows: the first type of research takes into account the effects of roughness on the volume and velocity of surface runoff, flood peaks, and the scouring capability of flows, but has not addressed the spatial variability of roughness in detail; the second type of research considers that surface roughness varies spatially with different land usage types, land-cover conditions, and different tillage forms, but lacks a quantitative study of the spatial variability; and the third type of research simply deals with the spatial variability of roughness in each grid cell or land type. We present three shortcomings of the current overland flow roughness research, including(1) the neglect of roughness in distributed hydrological models when simulating the overland flow direction and distribution,(2) the lack of consideration of spatial variability of roughness in hydrological models, and(3) the failure to distinguish the roughness formulas in different overland flow regimes. To solve these problems,distributed hydrological model research should focus on four aspects in regard to overland flow: velocity field observations, flow regime mechanisms, a basic roughness theory, and scale problems.

Effects of alfalfa coverage on runoff,erosion and hydraulic characteristics of overland flow on loess slope plots

An evaluation of the interactions between vegetation,overland and soil erosion can provide valuable insight for the conservation of soil and water.An experiment was conducted to study water infiltration,runoff generation process,rate of sediment erosion,and hydrodynamic characteristics of overland flow from a sloping hillside with different draw-off discharges from alfalfa and control plots with 20°slope.The effect of alfalfa on runoff and sediment transport reduction was quantitatively analyzed.Alfalfa was discussed for its ability to reduce the overland flow scouring force or change the runoff movement.Compared to the bare-soil plots,alfalfa plots generated a 1.77 times increase in infiltration rate.Furthermore,the down-slope water infiltration rate for the bare soil plots was higher than in the up-slope,while the opposite was found in the alfalfa plots.In addition,alfalfa had a significant effect on runoff and sediment yield.In comparison to the control,the runoff coefficient and sediment transportation rate decreased by 28.3%and 78.4%in the grass slope,respectively.The runoff generated from the alfalfa and bare-soil plots had similar trends with an initial increase and subsequent leveling to a steady-state rate.The transport of sediment reduced with time as a consequence of the depletion of loose surface materials.The maximum sediment concentration was recorded within the first few minutes of each event.The alfalfa plots had subcritical flow while the baresoil plots had supercritical flow,which indicate that the capability of the alfalfa slope for resisting soil erosion and sediment movement was greater than for bare soil plots.Moreover,the flow resistance coefficient and roughness coefficient for the alfalfa plots were both higher than for the bare-soil plots,which indicate that overland flow in alfalfa plots had retarded and was blocked,and the flow energy along the runoff path had gradually dissipated.Finally,the ability to erode and transport sediment had decreased.

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF HYDRODYNAMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF OVERLAND FLOW WITH GEOCELL

The hydrodynamic characteristics of the overland flow with a geocell slope are different from those of traditional flows because of its special structure. In this paper, a hydraulic flume with different slope gradients is used to study the hydrodynamic characteristics of the overland flow with geocell. The differences of flow characteristics between the overland flow with the geocell slope and the traditional flows are studied, and the hydrodynamic characteristics are obtained, including the flow pattern, the flow velocity and the hydraulic friction factor for the slope flow with geocell under different flow rates and slope gradients. The results show that there is a positive power function relationship between the rill depth of the slope surface （h） and the drag coefficient of the Darcy Weisbach （f）. There is a positive logarithmic function relationship between the drag coefficient f and the Reynolds number Red, and there is a negative power function relationship between the drag coefficient f and the Froude number Fr.

The experimental study of hydrodynamic characteristics of the overland flow on a slope with three-dimensional Geomat

The hydrodynamic characteristics of the overland flow on a slope with a three-dimensional Geomat are studied for different rainfall intensities and slope gradients. The rainfall intensity is adjusted in the rainfall simulation system. It is shown that the velocity of the overland flow has a strong positive correlation with the slope length and the rainfall intensity, the scour depth decreases with the increase of the slope gradient for a given rainfall intensity, and the scour depth increases with the increase of the rainfall intensity for a given slope gradient, the overland flow starts with a transitional flow on the top and finishes with a turbulent flow on the bottom on the slope with the three-dimensional Geomat for different rainfall intensities and slope gradients, the resistance coefficient and the turbulent flow Reynolds number are in positively related logarithmic functions, the resistance coefficient and the slope gradient are in positively related power functions, and the trend becomes leveled with the increase of the rainfall intensity. This study provides some important theoretical insight for further studies of the hydrodynamic process of the erosion on the slope surface with a three-dimensional Geomat.

An approach to estimating sediment transport capacity of overland flow

Estimating sediment transport capacity of overland flow is essential to the development of physically based soil erosion models.Correlation analysis indicates that stream power is a dominant factor for sediment transport in overland flows and a new sediment transport capacity equation is proposed based on dimensional analysis.The coefficients of the new equation are calibrated using the published laboratory data,and rainfall impact is taken into consideration by adding an empirical factor on the dimensionless critical stream power.The new sediment transport capacity equation is a function of stream power,rainfall impacted critical stream power and slope.The new equation is applied in a one-dimensional soil erosion model to simulate field data of a runoff plot and the simulation results are reliable.

Longitudinal variations of hydraulic characteristics of overland flow with different roughness

The evolution of the overland flow velocity along the distance downslope on smooth and granular beds in different cases is investigated by means of the electrolyte tracer via flume experiments. The results demonstrate that a non-uniform flow regime and a uniform flow regime exist in the development process of the overland flow. Owing to the different attributes of beds＇ roughness, the position of those zones with different flow regimes varies correspondingly：（1） the overland flow on granular beds enters into the uniform regime much sooner, additionally, the roll waves tend to appear because of the presence of the proper flow resistance impa-rted by the roughness （coarse sands）, and large slopes （20o and 25o） which makes the flow velocities and depths to undulate spatially. Furthermore, the flow resistance of the overland flows with different roughness elements, that is the non-sands, the fine sands and the coarse sands, is calculated. A quadratic interpolation method of the third order accuracy is employed in the calculation of the longitu-dinal flow resistance. The results show that it is rational to use the bed slope to approximate the hydraulic energy slope over a rela-tive small roughness （the present roughness）, however on the other hand, if the mean flow velocities and depths rather than the local parameters are used to calculate the flow resistance, a considerable error will be induced within the non-uniform regime of the over-land flows, including the acceleration zone and the roll-wave zone.

Overland flow resistance and its components for slope surfaces covered with gravel and grass

Overland flow resistance plays an important role in predicting hillslope hydrological and erosion pro-cesses on hillslopes.Soil surfaces covered with grass and/or gravel may increase hydraulic resistance to overland flow,but there is little information on the determination on these resistance components in a composite slopeland.In this study,the smooth and sand-bed surfaces covered with different gravel or/and grass(cover degree¼2.5%,5%,10%,15%,20%)under five slope gradients(3,6,9,12,15)were subjected to inflows to investigate the hydraulic resistance and validate the sum law of resistance components.The results showed that,the overland flow mainly belonged to transition or turbulent and supercritical flow regime with 150<Re<2050 and 0.4<Fr<6.9.As the gravel or grass cover increased,Darcy-Weisbach resistance coefficient(f)significantly increased.The resistance can be well predicted by flow discharge,gravel or grass cover using a power equation.The flow discharge had a greater influence on flow resistance than gravel or grass cover,and the impact of flow discharge weakened with the increasing bed slopes.The total resistance was generally greater than the sum of resistance components,and there existed a positive additional resistance for the composite surfaces.The additional resistance accounted for 37.4%,4.2%and 16.6%to the total resistance for the sand surfaces covered with gravel,grass and both of them,respectively.These results can help to understand the rainfall-runoff processes and improve the design of soil and water conservation measures in the rocky and mountainous areas.

Modeling pollutant transport in overland flow over non-planar and non-homogenous infiltrating surfaces

Pollutant transport in overland flow over surfaces with spatially varying microtopography,roughness,and infiltration was investigated using the diffusion wave equation and transport rate-based equation.The finite volume method in space and an implicit backward difference scheme in time were employed in the numerical solution of the 2D governing equations.The developed model was first tested against an analytical solution and an experimental study involving overland flow and the associated pollutant transport,subsequently a series of numerical tests were carried out.Non-point source pollution was investigated under spatially varying microtopography,roughness,and infiltration.The simulation results showed that microtopography and roughness were the dominant factors causing significant spatial variations in solute concentration.When the spatially varying microtopography was replaced by a smooth surface,the result was an overestimation of the solute rate at the outlet of the upland.On the other hand,when the spatially varying roughness was replaced by the average roughness and spatially varying infiltration rate by the average infiltration rate,the pollutant discharge at the outlet of the upland was not significantly affected.The numerical results further showed that one cannot ignore the spatial variations of slope and roughness when investigating the local pollutant concentration distribution.

薄层水流冲刷条件下斜坡土体的临界起动

斜坡土体侵蚀是丘陵地区和水库岸坡普遍存在的灾害现象,其主要动力因素是降雨或者波浪上爬产生的薄层水流对土体产生的冲刷剪切作用。为探索水流冲刷作用下的斜坡土体临界起动条件,采用自主研发的冲刷起动试验装置,开展斜坡土体的冲刷起动试验和理论研究。通过颗粒染色和高倍数电子显微等技术手段观测无黏性土颗粒的起动现象,确定了无黏性岸坡土体的起动模式与水流流速的相互关系;探索了不同干密度、不同黏粒含量及不同坡度与黏土斜坡临界起动流速的相互关系,土体的黏粒含量、干密度及坡度对黏性土体的起动流速影响较大,与干密度和土体坡度相比,黏粒含量对黏土斜坡的起动流速影响更为明显。验证了无黏性岸坡土体的临界起动方程,其中滚动起动流速方程具有较强的可靠性;基于黏土的起动模式构建了黏土斜坡的起动力学平衡方程,获得了黏土斜坡半经验半理论的起动流速方程,用试验结果求解了起动流速方程的相关参数,最终确定的起动流速公式与试验结果拟合度较好,同时验证了起动流速公式的可靠性。

生态浮床根系密度及过流流量对矩形明渠水力特性的影响

针对河道中生态浮床对水力特性的影响不明确、不利于河道行洪排涝等问题,研究了生态浮床对矩形明渠水力特性的影响。首先,基于ANSYS-fluent软件,利用多孔介质概化生态浮床,构建了含生态浮床的矩形明渠三维水动力数值模拟模型;然后,用水槽试验验证了该模型的可行性,在此基础上探索了生态浮床根系密度、过流流量对矩形明渠水流水动力特征及其变化规律的影响。结果表明,生态浮床段的流速在垂线上呈“S”型三区分布,且根系密度及过流流量的增大使流速的三区分布更显著;紊动能和雷诺应力与生态浮床根系密度和过流流量成正比,可见生态浮床根系密度和过流流量对明渠水力特性影响较大。

基于双线激光测量系统的滚波成熟断面特征分析

为深入研究坡面薄层水流的滚波特性,该研究对坡面薄层水流深度测量系统的精度进行标定,并将其优化为双线激光水深测量系统,在3种坡度和6种流量条件下,采用非接触式测量方法实时测量滚波成熟断面位置的水深。结果表明:坡面薄层水流深度测量系统的精度确认为0.473 mm/格,双线激光水深测量系统的最佳间距为0.04 m。流量和坡度显著影响滚波波速、波高、波高差值及频率,流量的影响(效应量0.655~0.963)大于坡度(效应量0.232~0.874)。坡度显著影响波长,而流量对波长无显著影响。波速随流量增加而增加,但随坡度增加,流量对波速的影响降低。在不同坡度条件下,波高对流量的响应各异。3°坡度下,波高随流量增加先增高后降低,而在较大坡度下(9°和15°),波高处于小流量条件下(2~8 L/min)增幅较大,分别为3.74和4.63 mm。随着流量增大,3°与9°的波高差异增加,但9°与15°之间的差异则减小。此外,波高差值随流量增加显著增大,但随坡度的变化受到流量的影响差异呈现出先增大再减小的趋势。流量增加会导致频率增加,且15°坡度下增幅最大,为2.37 Hz。各坡度的频率差异随流量增大表现为先减小后增加,其临界流量值为8 L/min。小坡度下(3°)波长随流量波动增加,而在大坡度下(15°),较大流量会抑制波长发展。大流量条件下(16~20 L/min),各坡度的波长差异显著。该研究为提高坡面薄层水流测量精度,进一步探明薄层水流滚波的动力学特性提供理论依据。

植被组合方式对坡面流水动力特性的影响

[目的]明晰坡面流水动力特性响应不同植被组合方式的趋势特征以及不同植被组合覆盖坡面的阻力构成,以期探究植被组合对坡面流的调控机制,为合理布设坡面蓄水保土工程提供参考依据。[方法]通过室内水槽试验,在不同植被组合方式(单一灌木、单一草被、灌草单行交替、灌草块状交替),3个坡度(1°,5°,9°),5种流量(20,30,40,60,80 L/min)条件下分析坡面流水动力参数对植被组合的响应规律、水流阻力变化规律和阻力构成。[结果]不同植被组合对坡面水深、平均流速、流型和阻力系数均有显著影响(p<0.05)。植被存在时水深壅高了1.07~4.17倍,缓流效率为2.35%~64.7%。各试验条件下水流集中分布在过渡流区,不同植被组合覆盖坡面紊动强度表现为灌草组合>单一植被>裸坡。植被覆盖下的坡面阻力系数明显增加,约为裸坡的1.25~25.45倍,阻水缓流能力表现为单一灌木组>灌草交错组>单一草被组>裸坡。坡面阻力受植被组合方式和茎秆影响(p<0.05),单一植被覆盖坡面阻力主要由颗粒阻力和植被阻力构成;灌草交错覆盖坡面阻力不是各阻力简单线性叠加的结果,坡面上各粗糙元间互相干扰会产生附加阻力,且附加阻力随坡度增加出现削弱水流阻力现象,但相同坡度条件下随流量增大呈增强水流阻力趋势。[结论]单一灌木组的阻水缓流效果最好,灌草交错组的效果相似。

Calculation of watershed flow concentration based on the grid drop concept

The grid drop concept is introduced and used to develop a micromechanism-based methodology for calculating watershed flow concentration. The flow path and distance traveled by a grid drop to the outlet of the watershed are obtained using a digital elevation model （DEM）. Regarding the slope as an uneven carpet through which the grid drop passes, a formula for overland flow velocity differing from Manning＇s formula for stream flow as welt as Darcy＇s formula for pore flow is proposed. Compared with the commonly used unit hydrograph and isochronal methods, this new methodology has outstanding advantages in that it considers the influences of the slope velocity field and the heterogeneity of spatial distribution of rainfall on the flow concentration process, and includes only one parameter that needs to be calibrated. This method can also be effectively applied to the prediction of hydrologic processes in un-gauged basins.

径流对缓坡饱和土壤溶质影响的实验研究

降雨条件下,土壤溶质随径流的产生发生迁移。利用室内实验,研究缓坡饱和土壤溶质流失的时间规律、溶质浓度在垂直入渗和坡面径流两个方向上的变化规律。结果表明:在径流过程中,溶质流失速度变小,流失量减少并趋于稳定,幂函数比指数更适合描述这类变化;垂直方向上,土壤溶质向下层渗透扩散受深度的影响,随深度的增加溶质浓度先增后减并趋于稳定,此规律适合用对数描述;在坡面表层,土壤溶质随径流的迁移规律清晰,土壤溶质浓度远处高于近处,多阶多项式模型更适合描述浓度变化;随土层深度增加,溶质浓度变化有明显分界线,在分界线及以下溶质浓度变化规律性较差,总体呈降低趋势。

粗糙床面坡面流流场及紊动特性试验研究

应用粒子图像测速技术对水深为5~8 mm的粗糙床面坡面流流场进行了详细观测,对试验资料进行了时间-空间双平均处理,结果表明:在低淹没度的床面糙率影响下,坡面流流速分布基本符合对数-尾流规律,其中卡门常数与普通明渠流一致,但尾流函数常数明显偏小;相较于光滑床面,粗糙元增强了水流流向的紊动强度,同时致使紊动强度在水深范围内的分布更趋均匀;水流切应力分布以雷诺切应力为主导,粗糙元引起的形状切应力可以忽略不计;水流的空间波动主要存在于床面附近,但流速的空间波动强度与紊动强度相比普遍偏小。

柔性植被叶片近地表覆盖对坡面流水力学特性的影响

坡面柔性植被对坡面流水力学特性有着显著影响,进而对坡面侵蚀起着重要作用。以往的研究主要集中在完整柔性植被上,包括茎杆和叶片。为进一步探明近地表柔性植被叶片对水力学特性的影响,采用模拟坡面冲刷试验,研究了3种流量(0.5、1.0和1.5 L/min)、5种坡度(2°、4°、8°、12°和16°)、5种覆盖度以及2种覆盖类型下坡面径流的水动力学特征,以期揭示柔性植被叶片近地表覆盖对坡面土壤侵蚀特征的影响。结果表明:平均流速随柔性植被叶片覆盖度的增加而下降,流量与坡度的增加可减缓平均流速的下降趋势;雷诺数Re与佛汝德数Fr随柔性植被叶片覆盖度的增加而降低,佛汝德数Fr下降趋势明显,雷诺数Re下降趋势平缓。柔性植被叶片覆盖度和坡度对流态的影响相互制约;阻力系数随植被叶片覆盖度的增加呈增加趋势,覆盖物起到增阻作用;坡度变化引起阻力系数先降低后增加再降低的趋势,相同条件下横向不同覆盖度覆盖物的形态阻力在总阻力中占比更大。研究结果可为黄土高原坡面侵蚀及生态环境治理提供理论依据。