Two-Dimensional Hillslope Scale Soil Erosion Model
Publication: Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 14, Issue 7
Abstract
On a hillslope, overland flow first generates sheet erosion and then, with increasing flux, it causes rill erosion. Sheet erosion (interrill erosion) and rill erosion are commonly observed to coexist on hillslopes. Great differences exist between both the intensities and incidences of rill and interrill erosion. In this paper, a two-dimensional rill and interrill erosion model is developed to simulate the details of the soil erosion process on hillslopes. The hillslope is treated as a combination of a two-dimensional interrill area and a one-dimensional rill. The rill process, the interrill process, and the joint occurrence of rill and interrill areas are modeled, respectively. Thus, the process of sheet flow replenishing rill flow with water and sediment can be simulated in detail, which may possibly render more truthful results for rill erosion. The model was verified with two sets of data and the results seem good. Using this model, the characteristics of soil erosion on hillslopes are investigated. Study results indicate that (1) the proposed model is capable of describing the complex process of interrill and rill erosion on hillslopes; (2) the spatial distribution of erosion is simulated on a simplified two-dimensional hillslope, which shows that the distribution of interrill erosion may contribute to rill development; and (3) the quantity of soil eroded increases rapidly with the slope gradient, then declines, and a critical slope gradient exists, which is about 15–20° for the accumulated erosion amount.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
This research was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (Grant No. NSFC10825211.
References
Ascough, J. C., Baffaut, C., Nearing, M. A., and Liu, B. Y. (1997). “The WEPP watershed model. I: Hydrology and erosion.” Trans. ASAE, 40(4), 921–933.
Bradford, J. M., and Foster, G. R. (1996). “Interrill soil erosion and slope steepness factors.” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 60(3), 909–915.
Chen, F. Y. (1985). “Experiment on influence of slope gradient to soil erosion.” Soil Water Conservation in China, 1985(2), 24–30 (in Chinese).
Chen, L., and Young, M. H. (2006). “Green-Ampt infiltration model for sloping surfaces.” Water Resour. Res., 42, W07420.
Chu, S. T. (1978). “Infiltration during an unsteady rain.” Water Resour. Res., 14(3), 461–466.
Dou, G. R. (1999). “Incipient motion of coarse and fine sediment.” J. Sediment Res., 6, 1–9 (in Chinese).
Elliot, W. J., and Laflen, J. M. (1993). “A process-based rill erosion model.” Trans. ASAE, 36(1), 65–72.
Flanagan, D. C., and Nearing, M. A. (1995). “USDA—Water erosion prediction project: Hillslope profile and watershed model documentation.” Technical Rep. prepared for USDA, National Soil Erosion Research Laboratory, West Lafayette, Ind.
Gabet, E. J., and Dunne, T. (2003). “Sediment detachment by rain power.” Water Resour. Res., 39(1), 1002.
Grosh, J. L., and Jarrett, A. R. (1994). “Interrill erosion and runoff on very steep slopes.” Trans. ASAE, 37(4), 1127–1133.
Hu, S. X., and Jin, C. X. (1999). “Theoretical analysis and experimental study on the critical slope of erosion.” Acta Geogr. Sin., 54(4), 347–356 (in Chinese).
Kong, Y. P., and Zhang, K. L. (2003). “The distribution of soil loss on the surface of loess slope.” J. Sediment Res., 2003(1), 33–38 (in Chinese).
Li, J. C., Liu, Q. Q., and Zhou, J. F. (2003). “Environmental mechanics in China.” Adv. Appl. Mech., 39, 217–306.
Liebenow, A. M., Elliot, W. J., Laflen, J. M., and Kohl, K. D. (1990). “Interrill erodibility—Collection and analysis of data from cropland soils.” Trans. ASAE, 33(6), 1882–1888.
Liu, Q. Q., Chen, L., Li, J. C., and Singh, V. P. (2004). “Two-dimensional kinematic wave model of overland flow.” J. Hydrol., 291(1–2), 28–41.
Liu, Q. Q., Singh, V. P., and Xiang, H. (2005). “Plot erosion model using gray relational analysis method.” J. Hydrol. Eng., 10(4), 288–294.
Liu, Q. Q., Xiang, H., and Singh, V. P. (2006). “A simulation model for unified interrill erosion and rill erosion on hillslopes.” Hydrolog. Process., 20(3), 469–486.
Low, H. S. (1989). “Effect of sediment density on bed-load transport.” J. Hydraul. Eng., 115, 124–138.
Mein, R. G., and Larson, C. L. (1973). “Modeling infiltration during a steady rain.” Water Resour. Res., 9(2), 384–394.
Moore, I. D., and Burch, G. J. (1986). “Sediment transport capacity of sheet and rill flow: Application of unit stream power theory.” Water Resour. Res., 22, 1350–1360.
Sharma, P. P., Gupta, S. C., and Foster, G. R. (1995). “Raindrop-induced soil detachment and sediment transport from interrill areas.” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 59(3), 727–734.
Tang, L. Q., and Chen, G. X. (1997). “The dynamic model of runoff and sediment generation in small watershed.” J. Hydrodynam., 12(2), 164–174 (in Chinese).
Yalin, M. S. (1963). “An expression for bed-load transportation.” J. Hydr. Div., 89, 221–248.
Zhang, K. L., Akiyoshi, Y., and Zhang, X. Q. (1998a). “A laboratory study on rill erosion and sediment delivery on the slope.” Geogr. Res., 17(2), 163–170 (in Chinese).
Zhang, X. C., Nearing, M. A., Miller, W. P., Norton, L. D., and West, L. T. (1998b). “Modelling interrill sediment delivery.” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 62(2), 438–444.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2009 ASCE.
History
Received: Nov 1, 2007
Accepted: Sep 26, 2008
Published online: Jun 15, 2009
Published in print: Jul 2009
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.