Skip to main content
ARS Home » Midwest Area » West Lafayette, Indiana » National Soil Erosion Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #163785

Title: ESTIMATION OF SOIL EROSION USING THE WEPP MODEL FOR MEDITERRANEAN CONDITIONS

Author
item SPADARO, G - CATANIA, ITALY
item Flanagan, Dennis
item COSENTINO, S - CATANIA, ITALY
item MANTINEO, M - CATANIA, ITALY

Submitted to: European Society of Agronomy
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/1/2004
Publication Date: 7/11/2004
Citation: Spadaro, G., Flanagan, D.C., Cosentino, S.L., Mantineo, M. 2004. Estimation of soil erosion using the wepp model for mediterranean conditions. European Society of Agronomy. p. 2.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: In the Mediterranean environment, the prediction of soil erosion by water can be useful in understanding the risk of soil loss as well as the impact of potential climate change. To validate and calibrate the WEPP model, runoff and soil ersion data collected from twleve plots, with different cropping sytems were used. The field site is located in the hilly area of Sicily, Italy. WEPP model simulations were performed using observed climate, slope, soil and management information for the site. Both single storm and continuous model simulations were conducted. In uncalibrated continuous WEPP simulations, good correlation was obtained between observed and predicted runoff and soil erosion, with coefficient of determination 'r*2' values of 0.79 and 0.73, respectively. Analyses of the model predictions according to Nash and Sutcliffe (1970), showed acceptable indices of model efficiency (r*2), with r*2 = 0.58 (runoff), and r*2 = 0.34 (soil loss). When input values of effective soil hydraulic conductivity and critical shear were adjusted, the WEPP prediction improved with r*2 values 0.82 for runoff and 0.88 for soil loss. The Nash and Sutcliffe efficiency index also increased to 0.82 (runoff) and 0.61 (soil loss). These results indicate that WEPP has good potential for simulation of runoff and soil loss under Mediterranean conditions. However, a much wider range of additional evaluation and parameterization studies are needed.