Author
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Norton, Lloyd |
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Submitted to: European Geophysical Society Meeting
Publication Type: Proceedings Publication Acceptance Date: 3/2/2009 Publication Date: 4/20/2009 Citation: Norton, L.D. 2009. Simple Experimental Procedure for Determining WEPP Erodibility Parameters [abstract]. European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2009, April 19-24, 2009, Vienna, Austria. 2009. Geophysical Research Abstracts, Vol. 11, EGU2009-3256, 2009. Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: The Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) model was developed in the USA as a process based model to simulate fluvial erosion on hillslopes. Fundamental to the model is the separation of soil erodibility into terms of interrill and rill susceptibility to erosion. Rill erosion is further divided into terms describing a critical flow component and a rate component based on differences in soil cohesion and transportability. The difficulty in the use of the WEPP model to other areas has been the lack of information on the erodibility parameters required by the model. In this presentation, a simple experimental procedure that can be performed both in the field and the laboratory will be decribed. It should be noted that the procedure requires a rainfall simulator and flowing water and is best performed under field conditions. The procedure since it is simple, can be performed with sufficient replications to provide the statistical confidence required. From many years of conducting these experiments, it must be cautioned that this procedure provides erodibility parameters for a given soil condition and additional measurements on the soil condition are necessary before any extrapolation of these data may be made to other field conditions. This procedure will help with the expanded use of the WEPP model to areas where data on soil erodibility are lacking. |
