Applicability Analysis of Four Flow Accumulation Threshold Determination Methods in Loess Eroded Area

In this paper,a method based on the theory of geomorphic development and drainage fractal dimension is proposed for testing the rationality of four threshold determination methods for catchment area:drainage density method,channel branching method,minimum error in river source distance method,trial and error method.The results show that drainage density method and channel branch method have a good applicability in the watershed of the loess hilly landform and can reflect the accurate information of gully channel.River source minimum error method is controlled by the topography of the river source,which is only applicable to small watershed with little change of topography.Trial and error method is controlled by artificial vision and scale,so it is not suitable for the area with large changes of topography or the complex river network.

A novel gully network extraction method combining hydrological confluence process and surface morphology

The automatic extraction of gullies from digital elevation models(DEMs)has great application value in GIS and hydrology.Many types of algorithms have been developed to address this problem,and the well-known D8(Deterministic eight-node)algorithm has been widely applied and implemented in some commercial GIS software such as ArcGIS.However,a key parameter called flow accumulation threshold(FAT)must be determined in this process.Numerous studies focus on how to determine an optimal value for this parameter but ignore that the optimal threshold varies for different gullies,so the universality of a different optimal threshold parameter determined by different methods is poor.To address this problem,this study designs a parameter called surface concavity index(SC-index)that can describe the shape of gullies from the perspective of surface morphology.Based on this index,the positions of different gullies'heads are identified,and then the flow accumulation matrix calculated by the D8 algorithm is used as auxiliary data to extract the gully network in the research area.In this study,six small watersheds in the Loess Plateau in northern Shaanxi,China,were used as test areas to verify the validity of the proposed method in areas with various landform types.Experimental results show that gully heads in different test areas can be effectively identified by setting different SCindex thresholds that are related to the types of terrain in the test areas.Then,the entire gully network can be extracted in watersheds with the help of a D8 algorithm.The accuracy of the gully network extracted by the new method is better than the contrast method in all test areas.In test areas with a large area of flat land(e.g.,Chunhua),the difference between the total length of gullies extracted by the new method and the reference value is-2.77 km,while the corresponding value of the contrast method is 14.50 km.In test areas with large numbers of short gullies(e.g.,Jiuyuangou),the difference between the total length of gullies extracted by the new method and the reference value is-2.61 km while the corresponding value of the contrast method is-27.9km.It is pointed out that the new method can not only avoid the extraction of pseudo gullies,but also extract short gullies effectively.Further experimental analysis shows that the dependence of the new method on DEM resolution is significantly weaker than that of the contrast method.Taking Jiuyuangou test area as an example,when the DEM cell size increases from 5 m to 30 m,the total length of gullies extracted by the new method changes only about 1km,while the corresponding value of the contrast method exceeds 20 km.

A Participatory GIS Approach to Identify Critical Land Degradation Areas and Prioritize Soil Conservation for Mountainous Olive Groves(Case Study)

Climate change scenarios predict an increase in the frequency of heavy rainfall events in some areas. This will increase runoff and soil erosion, and reduce agricultural productivity, particularly on vulnerable mountainous agricultural lands that is already exhibiting high rates of soil erosion. Haphazard implementation of soil and water conservation （SWC） interventions on scattered fields is inefficient in reducing soil erosion. The objective of this study was to identify areas at high risk of erosion to aid the design and implementation of sustainable SWC using GIS analysis and farmers＇ participation approach. A 25 m digital elevation model （DEM） was used to derive layers of flow accumulation, slope steepness and land curvature, which were used to derive an erosion-risk （priority） map for the whole watershed. Boundaries of farmers＇ fields were mapped and verified by the community and each field was classified into high, moderate or low erosion risk. Fields with low flow accumulation （top of hill） and/or steep slope and/or convex slope were assigned high erosion risk and therefore high implementation priority. The study showed that more than 54% of the fields were classified into high erosion risk areas. Accordingly, a community-watershed plan was established, revised and approved by the community.Incentive loans to implement SWC measures were distributed to 100 farmers based on the priorities of their fields. Judged by local farmers and using 16 randomly selected fields, 90% of the targeted areas were correctly identified using the erosion risk map. After two years, the conservation measures had led to marked improvement of soil conservation. The approach is simple and easy to comprehend by the community and provides scientific basis to prioritize the implementation of SWC and to target the most degraded areas, which amplify the impact of these in reducing the vulnerability to land degradation.

Spatio-temporal analysis of flowering using Li DAR topography

Spatio-temporal patterns of flowering in forest ecosystems are hard to quantify and monitor. The objectives of this study were to investigate spatio-temporal patterns（e.g. soilssimple slope classesslope aspectand flow accumulation） of flowering around Lake IssaqueenaSouth Carolina（SCUSA） using plant-flowering database collected with GPS- enabled camera（stored in Picasa 3 web albums and project website） on a monthly basis in 2012 and Li DAR-based topography. Pacolet fine sandy loam had the most flowering plantsfollowed by Madison sandy loamboth dominant soil types around the lake. Most flowering plants were on moderately steep（17%–30%） and gently sloping（4%–8%） slopes. Most flowering plants were on west（247.5°–292.5°）southwest（202.5°–247.5°）and northwest（292.5°–337.5°） aspects. Most flowering plants were associated with minimum and maximum flows within the landscape. Chi-square tests indicated differences in the distributions of the proportions of flowering plants were significant by soil typeslopeaspectand flow accumulation for each month（February-November）for all months（overall）and across months. The Chi-square test on area-normalized data indicated significant differences for all months and individual differences by each month with some months not statistically significant. Cluster analysis on flowering counts for nine plant families with the most flowering counts indicated no unique separation by clusterbut implied that the majority of these families were flowering on strongly sloping（9%–16%） slopeson southwest（202.5°–247.5°） aspectsand low flow accumulation（0–200）. Presented methodology can serve as a template for future efforts to quantify spatio-temporal patterns of flowering and other phenological events.

A DEM upscaling method with integrating valley lines based on HASM

A new digital elevation model(DEM)upscaling method based on high accuracy surface modeling(HASM)is proposed by combining the elevation information of DEM and the valley lines extracted from DEM with different flow accumulation thresholds.The proposed method has several advantages over traditional DEM upscaling methods.First,the HASM ensures the smoothness of the upscaled DEM.Secondly,several DEMs with different topographic details can be obtained using the same DEM grid size by incorporating the valley lines with different flow accumulation thresholds.The Jiuyuangou watershed in China’s Loess Plateau was used as a case study.A DEM with a grid size of 5 m obtained from the local surveying and mapping department was used to verify the proposed DEM upscaling method.We established the surface complexity index to describe the complexity of the topographic surface and quantified the differences in the topographic features obtained from different upscaling results.The results show that topography becomes more generalized as grid size and flow accumulation threshold increase.At a large DEM grid size,an increase in the flow accumulation threshold increases the difference in elevation values in different grids,increasing the surface complexity index.This study provides a new DEM upscaling method suitable for quantifying topography.

Short-term desalination of Pulicat lagoon(Southeast India)due to the 2015 extreme flood event:insights from Land-Ocean Interactions in Coastal Zone(LOICZ)models

Introduction:We investigated the magnitude and duration of desalination of Pulicat—a coastal lagoon ecosystem connected to the Bay of Bengal on the South-eastern coast of India—during the 2015 South India flood event which was a period of high-magnitude precipitation and riverine flooding.Methods:We estimated freshwater runoff into the lagoon using flow accumulation models for a period of 55 days(November 1 to December 25,2015)using daily gridded precipitation data from the Global Precipitation Measurement and a digital elevation model.Using the estimates of freshwater runoff,direct precipitation and observed salinities,we simulated water and salinity fluxes of the lagoon using the Land-Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone model.Further,we also used Monte Carlo simulation to estimate the uncertainty in system salinity,the residual salinity at the boundary and the freshwater residence times in the lagoon.Results:We estimated that a high volume(~760×10^(6) m^(3))of relatively low salinity waters(residual salinity=23.47 psu)had been exported from the lagoon to the Bay of Bengal during the period which is likely to have caused a strong dip in the daily salinity profile of the coastal sea.We contend that the lagoon experienced~40%desalination due to the 2015 event with a freshwater residence time of 18.5 days.Conclusions:The study highlighted the short-term,high-magnitude desalination undergone by Pulicat lagoon during the 2015 South India floods.Considering the high residual and exchange volumes obtained from the study,we conclude that Pulicat could be a major exporter of relatively low salinity waters to the Bay of Bengal during monsoons.