Integrating water use systems and soil and water conservation measures into a hydrological model of an Iranian Wadi system

Water resources are precious in arid and semi-arid areas such as the Wadis of Iran. To sustainably manage these limited water resources, the residents of the Iranian Wadis have been traditionally using several water use systems(WUSs) which affect natural hydrological processes. In this study, WUSs and soil and water conservation measures(SWCMs) were integrated in a hydrological model of the Halilrood Basin in Iran. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool(SWAT) model was used to simulate the hydrological processes between 1993 and 2009 at daily time scale. To assess the importance of WUSs and SWCMs, we compared a model setup without WUSs and SWCMs(Default model) with a model setup with WUSs and SWCMs(WUS-SWCM model). When compared to the observed daily stream flow, the number of acceptable calibration runs as defined by the performance thresholds(Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency(NSE)≥0.68, –25%≤percent bias(PBIAS)≤25% and ratio of standard deviation(RSR)≤0.56) is 177 for the Default model and 1945 for the WUS-SWCM model. Also, the average Kling–Gupta efficiency(KGE) of acceptable calibration runs for the WUS-SWCM model is higher in both calibration and validation periods. When WUSs and SWCMs are implemented, surface runoff(between 30% and 99%) and water yield(between 0 and 18%) decreased in all sub-basins. Moreover, SWCMs lead to a higher contribution of groundwater flow to the channel and compensate for the extracted water by WUSs from the shallow aquifer. In summary, implementing WUSs and SWCMs in the SWAT model enhances model plausibility significantly.

Study on a soil erosion sampling survey in the Pan-Third Pole region based on higher-resolution images

Soil erosion is one of the most severe global environmental problems,and soil erosion surveys are the scientific basis for planning soil conservation and ecological development.To improve soil erosion sampling survey methods and accurately and rapidly estimate the actual rates of soil erosion,a Pan-Third Pole region was taken as an example to study a methodology of soil erosion sampling survey based on high-spatial-resolution remote sensing images.The sampling units were designed using a stratified variable probability systematic sampling method.The spatiotemporal characteristics of soil erosion and conservation were taken into account,and finer-resolution freely available and accessible images in Google Earth were used.Through the visual interpretation of the free high-resolution remote sensing images,detailed information on land use and soil conservation measures was obtained.Then,combined with the regional soil erosion factor data products,such as rainfall-runoff erosivity factor(R),soil erodibility factor(K),and slope length and steepness factor(LS),the soil loss rates of some sampling units were calculated.The results show that,based on these high-resolution remote sensing images,the land use and soil conservation measures of the sampling units can be quickly and accurately extracted.The interpretation accuracy in 4 typical cross sections was more than 80%,and sampling accuracy,described by histogram similarity in 11 large sampling sites,show that the landuse of sampling uints can represent the structural characteristics of regional land use.Based on the interpretation of data from the sample survey and the regional soil erosion factor data products,the calculation of the soil erosion rate can be completed quickly.The calculation results can reflect the actual conditions of soil erosion better than the potential soil erosion rates calculated by using the coarse-resolution remote sensing method.

Soil erosion assessment by RUSLE with improved P factor and its validation:Case study on mountainous and hilly areas of Hubei Province,China

The Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation(RUSLE)is widely used to estimate regional soil erosion.However,quantitative impacts of soil and water conservation(SWC)measures on conservation practice factor(P)of the RUSLE remain largely unclear,especially for the mountainous and hilly areas.In this study,we improved the RUSLE by considering quantitative impacts of different SWC measures on the P factor value.The improved RUSLE was validated against the long-term(2000-2015)soil erosion monitoring data obtained from 96 runoff plots(15—35°)in mountainous and hilly areas of Hubei Province,China;the result presented a high accuracy with the determination coefficient of 0.89.Based on the erosion monitoring data of 2018 and 2019,the Root Mean Square Error of the result by the improved RUSLE was 28.0%smaller than that by the original RUSLE with decrement of 19.6%—24.0%in the average P factor values,indicating that the soil erosion modelling accuracy was significantly enhanced by the improved RUSLE.Relatively low P factor values appeared for farmlands with tillage measures(P<0.53),grasslands with engineering measures(P<0.23),woodlands with biological measures(P<0.28),and other land use types with biological measures(P<0.51).The soil erosion modulus showed a downward trend with the corresponding values of 1681.21,1673.14,1594.70,1482.40 and 1437.50 t km^(-2)a-1 in 2000,2005,2010,2015 and 2019,respectively.The applicability of the improved RUSLE was verified by the measurements in typical mountainous and hilly areas of Hubei Province,China,and arrangements of SWC measures of this area were proposed.

Gully internal erosion triggered by a prolonged heavy rainfall event in the tableland region of China's Loess Plateau

Gully erosion is a severe form of soil erosion,but gully internal erosion processes are poorly understood,especially at the event scale.To investigate gully internal erosion intensity and understand the related gully development mechanism in an agricultural environment with gully head stabilization and vege-tation restoration efforts,two successive field investigations were carried out just before and after a prolonged rainfall event in 2021 in the tableland region of China's Loess Plateau.Thirteen gullies were investigated and all experienced gully internal erosion,while most gully boundaries were stable during the heavy rainfall event based on the comparison of the UAV digital orthograph maps(DOMs acquired with Unmanned Aerial Vehicle)before and after the rainfall event.The proportion of gully internal erosion area to gully internal area of the 13 investigated gullies ranged from 3 to 55%,with average areal erosion proportion of the gully sidewall and gully bed of 21%and 36%,respectively.The erosion area of subdrainage units(SDUs)on the gully sidewall was positively correlated to the SDU area,average SDU slope gradient and vegetation type,while the erosion area on the gully bed was positively correlated to the gully area,gully depth and gully bed slope gradient.Gully internal erosion was not significantly correlated with gully drainage area because the connectivity between the upslope and gully areas was interrupted and the effective drainage area of the gully was obviously reduced by soil erosion conser-vation measures,including terraces on the upslope drainage area,shrub belts,and water barriers.Thus,gully internal erosion is still active under the heavy rainfall storm against the background of the'Grain for Green'and'Gully Stabilization and Tableland Protection'programs,and integrated measures for preventing both gully expansion and gully internal erosion must be further enhanced in the context of climate change.