CASE STUDIES
Apr 27, 2010

Determining the Sediment Delivery Ratio Using the Sediment-Rating Curve and a Geographic Information System–Embedded Soil Erosion Model on a Basin Scale

Publication: Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 15, Issue 10

Abstract

This study presents a model-based approach for determining the sediment delivery ratio (SDR) on a basin scale in Southern Korea. The study builds a sediment-rating curve using the measured suspended sediment concentration and water discharge. The sediment-rating curve is then used to determine the sediment yield. A geographic information system-embedded empirical model is used to estimate soil erosion. The ratio between the sediment yield and soil erosion is used to compute the SDR. The data spanning the year 2002–2008 are divided into two sets. The first set (2002–2005) is used for calibrating the model and the second set (2006–2008) is used for validating the model. For the soil erosion model, the rainfall-runoff erosivity factor was analyzed separately using the rainfall amount and rainfall intensity. The results show that the rainfall-runoff erosivity factor derived from rainfall intensity gives better performance in calculation of soil erosion than does the rainfall amount. The accuracy of these results may vary, depending on model selection and measurement accuracy, but the method used herein should work anywhere.

Get full access to this article

View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.

References

Asselman, N. E. M. (2000). “Fitting and interpretation of sediment rating curves.” J. Hydrol., 234, 228–248.
Asselman, N. E. M., Middelkoop, H., and Dijk, P. M. (2003). “The impact of change in climate and land use on soil erosion, transport and deposition of suspended sediment in the River Rhine.” Hydrolog. Process., 17, 3225–3244.
Bartsch, K. P. (1998). “Modelling soil loss to determine water loss risk at Camp Williams National Guard Base.” Ph.D. thesis, Utah State Univ., Logan, Utah.
Boyce, R. C. (1975). “Sediment routing with sediment delivery ratios: In present and prospective technology for predicting sediment yields and sources.” ARS-S-40, USDA, Washington, D.C.
Delwiche, D. L. L., and Haith, D. A. (1983). “Loading functions for predicting nutrient losses from complex watersheds.” Water Resour. Bull., 19(6), 951–959.
Desmet, P. J., and Govers, G. (1996). “A GIS procedure for automatically calculating the USLE LS factor on topographically complex landscape units.” J. Soil Water Conservat., 51, 427–433.
DeVries, A., and Klavers, H. C. (1994). “Riverine fluxes of pollutants: Monitoring strategy first calculation methods second.” Europe Journal of Water Pollution Control, 4, 12–17.
Ebisemiju, F. S. (1990). “Sediment delivery ratio prediction equations for short catchment slopes in a humid tropical environment.” J. Hydrol., 114, 191–208.
Erickson, A. J. (1997). “Aids for estimating soil erodibility—K value class and soil loss tolerance.” U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Services, Salt Lake City.
Frenette, M., and Julien, P. Y. (1987). “Computer modeling of soil erosion and sediment yield from large watersheds.” Int. J. Sediment Res., 2(1), 39–68.
Gervov, G. (1996). “Suspended sediment load of Bulgarian rivers.” GeoJournal, 40(4), 387–396.
Haregeweyn, N., et al. (2008). “Sediment yield variability in Northern Ethiopia: A quantitative analysis of its controlling factors.” Catena, 75, 65–76.
Horowitz, A. J. (2003). “An evaluation of sediment rating curves for estimating suspended sediment concentrations for subsequent flux calculations.” Hydrolog. Process., 17, 3387–3409.
Horowitz, A. J., Elrick, K. A., and Smith, J. (2001). “Estimating suspended sediment and trace element fluxes in large river basins: Methodological considerations as applied to the NASQAN programme.” Hydrolog. Process., 15, 1107–1132.
IPCC. (2007). Climate change 2007: The physical science basis, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K.
Kasai, M., Marutani, T., Reid, L. M., and Trustrum, N. A. (2001). “Estimation of temporally averaged sediment delivery ratio using aggredational terraces in headwater catchments of the Waipaoa River, North Island, New Zealand.” Earth Surf. Processes Landforms, 26, 1–16.
Lu, H., Moran, C. J., and Prosser, I. P. (2006). “Modelling sediment delivery ratio over the Murray Darling Basin.” Environ. Modell. Software, 21, 1297–1308.
Maidment, D. R. (1993). Handbook of hydrology, McGraw-Hill, New York.
Maner, S. B. (1958). “Factors affecting sediment delivery ratios in the Red Hills physiographic area.” Trans. American Geographysics, 39, 669–675.
Morris, G., and Fan, J. (1998). “Reservoir sedimentation handbook: Design and management of dams.” Reservoirs and catchments for sustainable use, McGraw-Hill, New York.
Nash, J. E., and Sutcliffe, J. V. (1970). “River flow forecasting through conceptual models: I—A discussion of principles.” J. Hydrol., 10, 282–290.
Nearing, M. A. (1997). “A single continuous function for slope steepness influence on soil loss.” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 61, 917–919.
Novotny, V., and Chesters, G. (1989). “Delivery of sediment and pollutants from nonpoint sources: A water quality perspective.” J. Soil Water Conservat., 44(6), 568–576.
Phillips, J. M., Webb, B. W., Walling, D. E., and Leeks, G. J. L. (1999). “Estimating the suspended sediment loads of rivers in the LOIS study area using infrequent samples.” Hydrolog. Process., 13, 1035–1050.
Pionke, H. B., and Blanchard, B. J. (1975). “The remote sensing of suspended sediment concentrations of small impoundments.” Water, Air, Soil Pollut., 4, 19–32.
Pruski, F. F., and Nearing, M. A. (2002). “Climate-induced changes in erosion during the 21st century for eight U.S. locations.” Water Resour. Res., 38(12), 1298–1308.
Renard, K. G., Foster, G. R., Weesies, G. A., McCool, D. K., and Yoder, D. C. (1997). “Predicting soil erosion by water: A guide to conservation planning with the revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE).” U.S. Department of Agriculture handbook, No. 703, USDA, Washington, D.C.
Renard, K. G., Foster, G. R., Weesies, G. A., and Porter, P. J. (1991). “RUSLE: Revised universal soil loss equation.” J. Soil Water Conservat., 46(1), 30–33.
Renfro, G. W. (1975). “Use of erosion equations and sediment delivery ratios for predicting sediment yield. In: present and prospective technology for predicting sediment yields and sources.” Agricultural Resources Services ARS-S-40, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.
Roehl, J. E. (1962). “Sediment source areas, and delivery ratios influencing morphological factors.” Int. Assoc. Hydrological Sciences, 59, 202–213.
Sadeghi, S. H. R., et al. (2008). “Development, evaluation and interpretation of sediment rating curves for a Japanese small mountainous reforest watershed.” Geoderma, 144, 198–211.
Schmidt, K. H., and Morche, D. (2006). “Sediment output and effective discharge in two small high mountain catchments in the Bavarian Alps Germany.” Geomorphology, 80(1–2), 131–145.
Vanoni, V. A. (1975). “Sediment engineering.” Manual and report, Vol. 54, ASCE, New York.
Verstraeten, G., and Poesen, J. (2002). “Using sediment deposits in small ponds to quantify sediment yield from small catchments: Possibilities and limitations.” Earth Surf. Processes Landforms, 27, 1425–1439.
Walling, D. E. (1977a). “Assessing the accuracy of suspended sediment rating curves for a small basin.” Water Resour. Res., 13, 531–538.
Walling, D. E. (1977b). Limitations of the rating curve technique for estimating suspended sediment loads with particular references to British Rivers, IAHS Publication, Wallingford, U.K.
Walling, D. E. (1983). “The sediment delivery problem.” J. Hydrol., 65, 209–237.
Williams, J. R., and Berndt, H. D. (1977). “Sediment yield prediction based on watershed hydrology.” Trans. ASCE, 20, 1100–1104.
Wischmeier, W. H. (1971). “A soil erodibility nomograph for farmland and construction sites.” J. Soil Water Conservat., 26, 189–193.
Wischmeier, W. H., and Smith, D. D. (1965). “Predicting rainfall erosion losses from cropland east of the Rocky Mountains: Guide for selection of practices for soil and water conservation.” U.S. Dept. of Agricultural handbook, No. 537, USDA, Washington, D.C.
Wischmeier, W. H., and Smith D. D. (1978). “Predicting rainfall erosion losses—A guide to conservation planning.” U.S. Dept. of Agriculture handbook, No. 537, USDA, Washington, D.C.
Wischmeier, W. H., Smith, D. D., and Uhland, R. E. (1958). “Evaluation of factors in the soil loss equation.” Agric. Eng., 39, 458–462.
Wolman, M. G. (1977). “Changing needs and opportunities in the sediment field.” Water Resour. Res., 13, 50–54.
Yanar, T. A., and Akyurek, Z. (2006). “The enhancement of the cell-based GIS analysis with fuzzy processing capabilities.” Inf. Sci. (N.Y.), 176, 1067–1085.
Zhou, W., and Wu, B. (2008). “Assessment of soil erosion and sediment delivery ratio using remote sensing and GIS: A case study of upstream Chaobaihe River catchment, North China.” Int. J. Sediment Res., 23, 167–173.

Information & Authors

Information

Published In

Go to Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 15Issue 10October 2010
Pages: 834 - 843

History

Received: Dec 11, 2009
Accepted: Apr 13, 2010
Published online: Apr 27, 2010
Published in print: Oct 2010

Permissions

Request permissions for this article.

Authors

Affiliations

Geun-Sang Lee
Professor, Vision Univ. of Jeonju, 390 Ujeon-Ro, Wansan-Gu, Jeonju City, Jeonbuk Province, South Korea.
Khil-Ha Lee
Research Scientist, KORDI, 1270 Sa2-dong, Sangrok-gu, Ansan-si 426-744, South Korea (corresponding author).

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.

Cited by

View Options

Get Access

Access content

Please select your options to get access

Log in/Register Log in via your institution (Shibboleth)
ASCE Members: Please log in to see member pricing

Purchase

Save for later Information on ASCE Library Cards
ASCE Library Cards let you download journal articles, proceedings papers, and available book chapters across the entire ASCE Library platform. ASCE Library Cards remain active for 24 months or until all downloads are used. Note: This content will be debited as one download at time of checkout.

Terms of Use: ASCE Library Cards are for individual, personal use only. Reselling, republishing, or forwarding the materials to libraries or reading rooms is prohibited.
ASCE Library Card (5 downloads)
$105.00
Add to cart
ASCE Library Card (20 downloads)
$280.00
Add to cart
Buy Single Article
$35.00
Add to cart

Get Access

Access content

Please select your options to get access

Log in/Register Log in via your institution (Shibboleth)
ASCE Members: Please log in to see member pricing

Purchase

Save for later Information on ASCE Library Cards
ASCE Library Cards let you download journal articles, proceedings papers, and available book chapters across the entire ASCE Library platform. ASCE Library Cards remain active for 24 months or until all downloads are used. Note: This content will be debited as one download at time of checkout.

Terms of Use: ASCE Library Cards are for individual, personal use only. Reselling, republishing, or forwarding the materials to libraries or reading rooms is prohibited.
ASCE Library Card (5 downloads)
$105.00
Add to cart
ASCE Library Card (20 downloads)
$280.00
Add to cart
Buy Single Article
$35.00
Add to cart

Media

Figures

Other

Tables

Share

Share

Copy the content Link

Share with email

Email a colleague

Share