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Soil Erosion on Upland Areas by Rainfall and Overland Flow

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Advances in Water Resources Engineering

Part of the book series: Handbook of Environmental Engineering ((HEE,volume 14))

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Abstract

Soil erosion in agricultural watersheds is a systemic problem that has plagued mankind ever since the practice of agriculture began some 9000 years ago. It is a worldwide problem, the severity of which varies from location to location depending on weather, soil type, topography, cropping practices, and control methods. Research to address and predict soil loss from agricultural land and in watersheds began in earnest in the 1930s following the events of the Dust Bowl. Early research primarily consisted of monitoring of soil loss from natural runoff plots and small watersheds. Gradually and over time, the focus shifted toward the development of prediction equations based on the acquired soil loss database. With computer technology, modeling watershed erosion and sedimentation processes became routine. Also, fundamental research was conducted to acquire a better understanding of the complex aspects of soil erosion and sediment transport processes and to fill in knowledge gaps in cases where data were not readily available. In recent years, most soil loss from upland areas occurs as gully erosion. This chapter presents a background of the knowledge that was systematically acquired in predicting soil erosion from upland areas and the technology that was developed and is used today. This chapter does not address all the aspects of upland soil erosion, but focuses primarily on the erodibility (K-factor) and hydrological aspects (R-factor) of the most widely used erosion prediction equations: the revised universal soil loss equation, version 2 (RUSLE2) and water erosion prediction project model (WEPP) models-based formulae. This chapter also includes a presentation of the Chinese approach of adapting gully erosion predictions according to the universal soil loss equation (USLE) format. Finally, ongoing research and technology development using light detection and ranging (LiDAR) and photogrammetry in gully erosion predictions is discussed.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Administrative communication from D. D. Smith to runoff plot managers (January 1, 1961): “Instructions for establishment and maintenance of cultivated fallow plots..

Abbreviations

A :

Average annual soil loss per unit area (Mg/ha year)

A wr :

Average annual soil loss per unit area (wheat and range region) (Mg/ha year)

Al2O3 :

Aluminum oxide

AGNPS:

Agricultural nonpoint pollution system

APEX:

Agricultural policy/environmental eXtender model

ARS:

Agricultural research service

β :

Correction factor

cm:

Centimeter

C :

Cover and management factor

Ca:

Calcium

CaCO3 :

Calcium carbonate

CREAMS:

Model for chemicals, runoff, and erosion from agricultural management systems

d b :

Flow depth at brink (m)

d d :

Downstream flow depth (m)

d u :

Upstream flow depth (m)

d t :

Depth of depositional bed (m)

D i :

Interrill detachment rate (kg/m2s)

D c :

Detachment capacity of clear water

D g :

Geometric mean particle diameter (m)

D r :

Soil detachment by rill flow (kg/m2s)

e :

Storm kinetic energy (Nm)

e max :

Maximum unit energy (Nm)

E :

Rainfall energy (MJ/ha)

EUROSEM:

European soil erosion model

Fe2O3 :

Iron oxide

G :

Ephemeral gully erosion factor (China)

GLEAMS:

Groundwater loading effects of agricultural management systems model

GUESS:

Griffith University Erosion Sedimentation System Model

h :

Vertical distance from brink to pool surface (m)

i m :

Rainstorm intensity (mm/h)

I :

Rainfall intensity (mm/h)

I 30 :

30-min maximum rainfall intensity (mm/h)

K :

Potassium

K :

Soil erodibility factor (Mg ha h/ha MJ mm)

K d :

Soil erodibility (cm3/Ns)

K i :

Interrill erodibility constant (cm3/Ns)

k 0 :

Organic matter sub-factor

k p :

Soil profile permeability sub-factor

K r :

Rill erodibility (1/s)

k s :

Soil structure sub-factor

k t :

Soil texture sub-factor

k t68 :

Base soil texture sub-factor

K wr :

Estimated soil erodibility for winter period (wheat and range region) (Mg ha h/ha MJ mm)

L :

Slope length factor (m)

m:

Meter

mm:

Millimeter

M :

Silt term (%)

Mg:

Magnesium

M h :

Annual soil erosion rates with ephemeral gully erosion (China) (Mg/ha year)

M n :

Annual soil erosion rates without ephemeral gully erosion (China) (Mg/ha year)

M r :

Migration rate (m/s)

MUSLE:

Modified universal soil loss equation

NSERL:

National Soil Erosion Research Laboratory

NSL:

National Sedimentation Laboratory

O m :

Percent organic matter in unit plot condition (%)

OM :

Organic matter percentage (%)

p′:

Rainfall amount of individual rainstorms greater than (>) 10 mm (mm)

P :

Support practice factor

P cl :

Percent clay (%)

P m :

Soil permeability (mm/h)

P r :

Permeability class

P sl :

Percent silt (%)

P vfs :

Percent very fine sand (%)

P wr :

Support practice factor for contouring; assumed to be 1 for winter

PSD:

Particle-size distribution

θ :

Slope angle (degrees)

θ e :

Jet entry angle (degrees)

q s :

Suspended sediment flux (kg/s)

Q :

Incoming flow discharge (L/min)

Q s :

Rate of sediment transport (kg/s)

ρ :

Density of water (kg/m3)

\({{r}_{h}}\) :

Hydraulic radius (m)

\(R\) :

Rainfall and runoff factor/erosivity factor (MJ mm/ha h year)

\({{R}_{eq}}\) :

Equivalent rainfall and runoff factor/erosivity factor (MJ mm/ha h year)

\({{R}_{s}}\) :

Sub-factor for runoff effect

RTK:

Real-time kinetic

RUSLE:

Revised universal soil loss equation

RUSLE2:

Revised universal soil loss equation, version 2

\(s\) :

Hydraulic gradient (m/m)

\(S\) :

Slope-steepness factor

\({{S}_{D}}\) :

Scour depth (m)

\({{S}_{f}}\) :

Slope factor

\({{S}_{s}}\) :

Soil structure code

SAR:

Sodium adsorption ratio

\({{(\text{SLR})}_{\text{wr}}}\) :

Soil loss ratio for rilling in the winter period (wheat and range region)

SWAT:

Soil-water management tool

\({{T}_{c}}\) :

Maximum transport capacity (kg/m s)

\(\tau \) :

Hydraulic shear of flowing water (kg/m2)

\({{\tau }_{c}}\) :

Critical shear stress (kg/m2)

USDA:

US Department of Agriculture

USLE:

Universal soil loss equation

\(wr\) :

Wheat and range region

WEPP:

Water erosion prediction project model

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. USDA ARS National Sedimentation Laboratory, P. O. Box 1157, Oxford, MS, USA

    Mathias J. M. Römkens PhD & Robert R. Wells PhD

  2. Beijing Forestry University, 100083, Beijing, China

    Bin Wang PhD

  3. Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University, 712100, Yangling, Shaanxi Province, China

    Fenli Zheng PhD

  4. National Center for Physical Acoustics, University of Mississippi, P. O. Box 1848, 38677-1848, University, MS, USA

    Craig J. Hickey PhD

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  1. Mathias J. M. Römkens PhD
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  2. Robert R. Wells PhD
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  3. Bin Wang PhD
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  4. Fenli Zheng PhD
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  5. Craig J. Hickey PhD
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Correspondence to Mathias J. M. Römkens PhD .

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  1. Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA

    Chih Ted Yang

  2. Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA

    Lawrence K. Wang

Glossary

Glossary

Aggregation—soil particles bound to each other by moist clay, organic matter, organic compounds, and fungal structures. Well-aggregated soils are more stable and less susceptible to erosion.

Agricultural land land suitable for agricultural production, both crops and livestock.

Contouring farming practice of tilling sloped farmland along the lines of constant elevation.

Density a physical property of all matter and is given as mass per unit volume.

Detachment process of tearing loose soil particles.

Dust Bowl period of severe dust storms (1930s) that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the USA and Canadian prairies.

Ephemeral gully erosion topographically driven erosion caused by runoff concentration within a few natural waterways or swales. Typically, these features are larger than rills and may be erased/removed by tillage operations.

Erodibility susceptibility of a soil to be detached and transported. Defined as the amount of soil loss per unit exogenic force of rainfall and overland flow.

Erosion process by which soil and rock are removed by the action of wind and water.

Erosion control mechanical practice of preventing or controlling wind or water erosion in agriculture, land development, and construction.

Erosivity power of a storm or surface flow to erode soil, usually determined from storm characteristics such as rainfall intensity and energy or flow volume and flow gradient.

Exogenic external forcing

Gully erosion slope incisions by flowing water that erodes soil to form channels deeper than 30 cm. Typically, these features require extensive and expensive treatment methods to abate.

Headcut step change in bed topography. Primary position of soil detachment within rills and gullies.

Interrill erosion process of soil detachment by raindrops and transport in thin sheet flow.

Intrinsic soil properties field observable soil attributes like texture, structure, organization, color, features, and consistence.

Iso-erodent lines lines on a map that join points having the same value for erosivity.

Landscape comprises visible features of an area of land, including physical elements (i.e., landforms), living elements (i.e., land cover), human elements (i.e., land use), and transitory elements (i.e., climate).

Models schematic description of a system that accounts for known or inferred properties and may be used to study system characteristics.

Morphology scientific study of form and structure.

Nomograph two-dimensional diagram designed to allow the approximate graphical computation of a function.

Organic matter matter composed of organic compounds that has come from the remains of once-living organisms such as plants and animals and their waste products in the environment.

Permeability measure of the ability of soil to transmit fluids.

Rainfall intensity measure of the amount of rain per unit area and unit time.

Rainfall simulator tool that produces controlled parameter (intensity, duration, drop size) rainstorms over a confined soil surface. Also known as a rainulator.

Rill natural fluvial topographic feature. These channels are shallow and narrow, and form in multiples, parallel to each other.

Runoff excess water flow that occurs when the soil infiltration capacity is exceeded during a rainstorm event, melt water, or other sources of flows over the land.

Runoff plots field plots of various size (standard USLE plot size is 3.7 m wide and 18.3 m long) to monitor runoff volumes, soil loss, chemical transport, etc.

Sediment naturally occurring soil and gravel material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported.

Sedimentation the tendency for particles in suspension to settle out of the fluid in which they are entrained, and come to rest.

Soil conservation set of management practices to prevent soil from being eroded.

Soil erosion natural process that occurs when soil is removed through the action of wind and/or water.

Soil production the rate of bedrock weathering into soil as a function of soil thickness.

Soil texture refers to the size and size distribution of the particles that make up the soil.

Strip cropping growing crops in an arrangement of lines in order to reduce erosion.

Sustainable management concept of keeping a system running indefinitely without depleting resources, while maintaining economic viability and providing for the needs of present and future generations.

Terrace a piece of slope plane that has been cut into a series of successively receding flat, horizontal surfaces which resemble steps, for the purpose of decreasing erosion and surface runoff.

Water quality impairment description of diminished strength or value based upon designated water use. Pollutants and sources are considered.

Unit plot standard plot condition to determine soil erodibility. Conditions for the plot are LS factor = 1 (slope = 9 % and length = 72.6 ft), plot is fallow, tillage is up and down slope, and no conservation practices are applied (CP = 1).

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Römkens, M., Wells, R., Wang, B., Zheng, F., Hickey, C. (2015). Soil Erosion on Upland Areas by Rainfall and Overland Flow. In: Yang, C., Wang, L. (eds) Advances in Water Resources Engineering. Handbook of Environmental Engineering, vol 14. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-11023-3_8

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