SIMULATIONS OF SEDIMENT YIELD AND PHOSPHORUS YIELD FROM A WATERSHED IN TAIWAN, CHINA

1 INTRODUCTION Sediment and nutrients from a watershed may adversely affect a downstream reservoir by reducing its capacity or degrading water quality. Among the output nutrients, phosphorus is often a growth-limiting element for aquatic organisms and pla…     

Predictability of sediment transport in the Yellow River using selected transport formulas

This paper evaluates the applicability of the sediment transport methods developed by Engelund and Hansen, Ackers and White, Yang et al., and van Rijn, together with the Wuhan methods developed in China, to the Yellow River, which has highly concentrated and fine-grained sediment. The sediment data includes over 1000 observations from the Yellow River, 32 sets of data from a canal, and 266 sets of data from laboratory flumes. The best predictions were obtained by the Yang 1996 method, the Wuhan method, and the modified Wuhan method by Wu and Long, while reasonably good predictions were also provided by the van Rijn 2004 method. The Engelund and Hansen, the Ackers and White, and the van Rijn 1984 methods in their original forms are not applicable to the Yellow River. The predicted results for total load concentrations were as good as for bed-material concentrations, even though the total load includes a large portion of wash load.     

Temporal variation of suspended sediment load in the Pearl River due to human activities

Data on sediment flux at three hydrologic stations from the 1950s to 2006 are utilized to study the decadal,annual,and monthly variations in suspended sediment load delivered from the Pearl River to the ocean.Results show that variations in sediment flux from three main tributaries,including the West River,the North River and the East River,are spatially non-uniform.Since nearly 90%of the suspended sediment load comes from the West River,its variation has dominated the overall tendency of sediment flux in the entire Pearl River.Although a significant decreasing trend exists in the annual variation of the total sediment flux,the decadal change can be divided into an increasing phase and a decreasing phase,with the turning point between the two phases in the late 1980s.From the 1950s to the 1980s,the average annual river sediment flux increased by 30.43%.However,sediment flux has decreased significantly since the 1990s,with the average sediment flux being 38.60%less in the 2000s than that in the 1950s.The current sediment flux is also 52.93%less than its peak in the 1980s. The monthly variation pattern of the suspended sediment load transport to the sea is more interesting. For the West River,all months show a decreasing trend,and for most months the reduction values are significant.However,for the East River the sediment load shows a decrease trend in the dry season and an increase trend in the wet season.The method of regression analysis was used to study the influence of precipitation in the variation on the sediment flux.It was found that the climate change is not the main driving force behind the variation in suspended sediment load.Before the 1990s, intensive land use destroyed the vulnerable ecosystem of the upper Pearl River,and speeded up the process of rocky desertification.Consequently,aggravated soil erosion caused an increase in suspended sediment load.However,sediment retention within reservoirs had begun to play a dominant role after the massive construction of large dams after 1990,and resulted in a decrease in the suspended sediment load delivered to the ocean.     

Analysis of the sediment sources of flood driven erosion and deposition in the river channel of the Fu River Basin

Studying the characteristics of runoff and sediment processes and revealing the sources of sediment provide key guidance for the scientific formulation of relevant soil erosion protection measures and water conservancy development plans. In the current study, the flow and sediment data of five hydrological stations on the main stream of the Fu River Basin (FRB) from 2007 to 2018 were selected to identify flood events, explore the variation of sediment transport along the FRB, and clarify the sediment sources. The results found that the Jiangyou–Fujiangqiao section is the main source of sediment in the FRB during the flood season. The runoff volume and sediment load during flood events in the Jiangyou–Fujiangqiao section accounted for 35% and 145% respectively of that of Xiaoheba station. These results combined with the change of the sediment load before and after the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake (May 12) show that the sediment in this section mainly comes from the Fu River tributary–the Tongkou River watershed. The calculation results for the sediment carrying capacity of the Fu River show that the main stream was in a state of erosion in theory. However, according to the calculation results for the interval sediment yield during flood events, the sediment load at the Xiaoheba station was smaller than that at the Shehong station upstream. The analysis indicates that this was not because of sediment deposition in the river channel, but because of sand mining in the river channel and sediment interception by water conservancy projects. If heavy rainfall occurs in the FRB, the sediment accumulated upstream will move downstream with the resulting flood, and the sediment yield in the FRB may further increase. These research conclusions can provide reference information for improving the prediction and management ability of soil and water loss in the FRB and scientific regulation of the Three Gorges Reservoir.     

MODELING OF SEDIMENT AND NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTANT YIELD

1 INTRODUCT1ONWaer bodies commonly receive both point soure and nonpoint source pollutans. NonPoint pollution ischaracterized by occasional high loads and high concotions (PfatO, et al, l990; Shen, et al., l992;Novotuy and Olem,l994; Li and Shen, l996). It is very difficult to measure, to colltrOl and to trCat. FornonPoint source pollution control, the most productive research area is probably the develOPmnt andtesting of better watershed water quality models (Haith, l998). Measureme…     

Effect of incoming sediment on the transport rate of bed load in mountain streams

Field experiments were conducted on bed load transport in the Diaoga River, a mountain stream in southwest China, to study the variation of bed load transport with varying sediment supply. The rate of bed load transport is greatly affected by incoming sediment （load and size）. Under the same flow conditions, bed load transport rates may differ by three orders of magnitude depending on whether measurements were taken before or after the first flood of the year. The relation of the ＂bed load transport rate versus flow intensity＂ appears to have similar characteristics as a clockwise looped-rating curve. Experiments also were conducted during the non-flood season to study bed load transport processes with different incoming load from an upstream section. Bed load with different sizes can be grouped into two types： traveling bed load and structural bed load. Traveling bed load is composed of sediment finer than a critical size, De, and its transport rate depends mainly on the incoming sediment rate. The incoming sediment rate can alter the rate of bed load transport by three orders of magnitude. Structural bed load is composed of coarser sediment and its transport rate closely relies on the flow intensity.     

Calibration of an estuarine sediment transport model to sediment fluxes as an intermediate step for simulation of geomorphic evolution

Modeling geomorphic evolution in estuaries is necessary to model the fate of legacy contaminants in the bed sediment and the effect of climate change, watershed alterations, sea level rise, construction projects, and restoration efforts. Coupled hydrodynamic and sediment transport models used for this purpose typically are calibrated to water level, currents, and/or suspended-sediment concentrations. However, small errors in these tidal-timescale models can accumulate to cause major errors in geomorphic evolution, which may not be obvious. Here we present an intermediate step towards simulating decadal-timescale geomorphic change: calibration to estimated sediment fluxes (mass/time) at two cross-sections within an estuary. Accurate representation of sediment fluxes gives confidence in representation of sediment supply to and from the estuary during those periods. Several years of sediment flux data are available for the landward and seaward boundaries of Suisun Bay, California, the landward-most embayment of San Francisco Bay. Sediment flux observations suggest that episodic freshwater flows export sediment from Suisun Bay, while gravitational circulation during the dry season imports sediment from seaward sources. The Regional Oceanic Modeling System (ROMS), a three-dimensional coupled hydrodynamic/sediment transport model, was adapted for Suisun Bay, for the purposes of hindcasting 19th and 20th century bathymetric change, and simulating geomorphic response to sea level rise and climatic variability in the 21st century. The sediment transport parameters were calibrated using the sediment flux data from 1997 (a relatively wet year) and 2004 (a relatively dry year). The remaining years of data (1998, 2002, 2003) were used for validation. The model represents the inter-annual and annual sediment flux variability, while net sediment import/export is accurately modeled for three of the five years. The use of sediment flux data for calibrating an estuarine geomorphic model guarantees that modeled geomorphic evolution will not exceed the actual supply of sediment from the watershed and seaward sources during the calibration period. Decadal trends in sediment supply (and therefore fluxes) can accumulate to alter decadal geomorphic change. Therefore, simulations of future geomorphic evolution are bolstered by this intermediate calibration step.     

Analyses of trends and causes for variations in runoff and sediment load of the Yellow River

Due to the impacts of globe climate change and human activities, dramatic variations in runoff and sediment load were observed for the Yellow River. Analyses of nearly 65 years' data measured at main hydrologic-stations on the Yellow River from 1950 to 2014 indicated that, except for the Tangnaihai station in the head region, sharp downward trends existed in both the annual runoff and annual sedi-ment load according to the Mann–Kendal trend test;and their abrupt changes occurred in 1986 and in 1980, respectively, according to the rank sum test. Factors affecting the changes in the runoff and sediment load were very complicated. Results indicated that the reducing precipitation and the increasing water consumption were the main causes for the runoff decline, while the impoundment of the Longyangxia Reservoir and its combined operation with the Liujiaxia Reservoir exerted a direct bearing on the abrupt change in the annual runoff. In addition to the sediment load decrease associated with the runoff reduction, the reduced storm intensity, the conducted soil erosion control, and the constructed dam buildings all played an important role in the trends and abrupt changes of sediment load decline.     

Recent changes of water discharge and sediment load from Feiyun River in Zhejiang Province,China

In-depth studies of water and sediment fluxes from rivers into the sea are very important for understanding the interactions between land and sea. This paper is concerned with identifying the changes in the time series of water and sediment fluxes from Feiyun River in Zhejiang Province, China. Inter- and intraannual variability in the water discharge and sediment load of the Feiyun River into the sea are analyzed using the observed data of runoff (1956–2008) and sediment (1957–2008) at Xuekou Station, which is in the main channel. The results show that there is a good peak–valley correlation between the water discharge and sediment load, and there are obvious seasonal variations, with a 65.7% water discharge and 89.2% sediment load during the flooding periods. Water discharge is mainly controlled by natural rainfall, but the construction of the upstream reservoirs in 1997 increased the discharge amount in the dry season and decreased the amount in the flooding season. Sediment loads were reduced after a huge flood in 1990 and construction of upstream reservoirs, while the latter also decreased the sediment load during the typhoon flooding period. Furthermore, the correlation between water discharge and sediment load is also affected by the flood and reservoir construction. There are some differences in the regression equations of sediment load and water discharge for 1957–1989, 1991–1996, and 1997–2008.     

Sedimentation in small-scale irrigation schemes in Ethiopia: Its sources and management

Numerous irrigation schemes in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) exhibit excessive sedimentation, resulting in underperformance and high maintenance costs. In the current study, a participatory monitoring program was used to investigate sediment causes and sources, measure the annual sediment load, and monitor desilting campaigns in two small scale irrigation schemes in Ethiopia, Arata-Chufa (100 ha) and Ketar (430 ha), for three years (2016–2018). Sedimentation quantities were huge, where the annual river sediment influx ranged from 220 m³ for the Arata-Chufa scheme to 1,741 m³ for the Ketar scheme. On average 0.3 m³/m of sediment were removed from the main canal for Arata-Chufa costing 794 days of labor per year. In Ketar, sediment quantities were even greater: 1.1 m³/m was removed requiring 3,118 days of labor per year. The sediment influx from the river source amounts to up to 95% for Arata-Chufa and moderately reaches 46% for Ketar, with the remainder of the sediment entering with overland erosion flows. Farmers reported increased sedimentation over time and difficulty paying operation and maintenance fees instead preferring to contribute labor for the desilting campaigns. Sedimentation management is fragile and mainly involves frequent desilting campaigns and unharmonized efforts to reduce overland sediment inflows. Factors contributing to sediment deposition include mild longitudinal bed slopes, the location of the intake, canal layout, and lack of canal banks for protection against surface water inflow in addition to sub-optimal canal operations. Excessive sedimentation is a major challenge resulting in underperformance of numerous irrigation schemes in SSA, and the stakeholders’ lack of awareness of the sources of sedimentation is an underlying factor aggravating sedimentation problems. It is concluded that investigating the sources, extent, and types of sedimentation entering a small-scale irrigation scheme is the basis for reducing maintenance costs and for effective management of sedimentation problems.     

SEDIMENT LOAD AND ITS INFLUENCE ON CHANNEL PROCESSES OF SOME LARGE RIVERS IN RUSSIA AND CHINA~1

I INTRODUCTIONThe volume and regime of sediment load are the most important factors, which are responsible for theformation, direction and deformation rate of the river channels. Despite the long history of study anddevelopment of sediment load calculation methodology, there are still numerous problems that remain tobe solved such as river pattern and sediment movement and so on (Wang et al, 1997).In this respect, the comparative analysis of sediment load and river channel processes of la…     

Prediction of daily sediment discharge using a back propagation neural network training algorithm: A case study of the Narmada River,India

Most of the studies on Artificial Neural Network (ANN) models remain restricted to smaller rivers and catchments. In this paper, an attempt has been made to correlate variability of sediment loads with rainfall and runoff through the application of the Back Propagation Neural Network (BPNN) algorithm for a large tropical river. The algorithm and simulation are done through MATLAB environment. The methodology comprised of a collection of data on rainfall, water discharge, and sediment discharge for the Narmada River at various locations (along with time variables) and application to develop a threelayer BPNN model for the prediction of sediment discharges. For training and validation purposes a set of 549 data points for the monsoon (16 June-15 November) period of three consecutive years (1996–1998) was used. For testing purposes, the BPNN model was further trained using a set of 732 data points of monsoon season of four years (2006–07 to 2009–10) at nine stations. The model was tested by predicting daily sediment load for the monsoon season of the year 2010–11. To evaluate the performance of the BPNN model, errors were calculated by comparing the actual and predicted loads. The validation and testing results obtained at all these locations are tabulated and discussed. Results obtained from the model application are robust and encouraging not only for the sub-basins but also for the entire basin. These results suggest that the proposed model is capable of predicting the daily sediment load even at downstream locations, which show nonlinearity in the transportation process. Overall, the proposed model with further training might be useful in the prediction of sediment discharges for large river basins.     

FRACTIONAL TRANSPORT OF SEDIMENT MIXTURES

A new method based on the Transport Capacity Fraction (TCF) concept is proposed to compute the fractional transport rates for nonuniform sediment mixtures in sand-bed channels. The TCF concept is derived from the understanding that the measurements and predictions of bed-material load are more accurate and reliable than the measurements and predictions of fractional loads. First the bed-material load is computed using an appropriate equation, then the fractional transport rates are determined by distributing the bed-material load into size groups through a transport capacity distribution function. For the computation of bed-material loads, the Ackers and White, Engelund and Hansen, and Yang equations are used in this study. Two new transport capacity distribution functions are developed for flows in sand-bed channels. The new expressions presented in this paper account for the sheltering and exposure effects that exist in mixtures. Comparisons with measured data show that the proposed method can signifi     

Joint probability analysis of water and sediment and predicting sediment load based on copula function

The Jinsha River comprises the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, which is the river section with the highest sediment content. Monitoring of sediment transport in the Jinsha River is done to the guarantee for the normal operation of the Three Gorges Reservoir. In the current study, a copula function was used to do a joint probability analysis of the water and sediment in the Jinsha River Basin (JRB), further a sediment load prediction model based on the copula function also was constructed. The results show that the average annual flow from 2001 to 2018 at the outlet of the Jinsha River (Yibin station) is about 60.43 billion m³, and the average annual sediment load is about 58.82 million t. The linear correlation coefficient between annual flow and annual sediment load is 0.28. The best marginal distribution for annual flow and sediment load is Pearson Type Three (PE3) and Generalized Normal (GNO), respectively, and the best fit for the combined distribution of the two variables is the Frank copula function. The synchronous probability of water and sediment occurrence is 0.459, and the asynchronous probability is 0.541. Based on the copula prediction model, the sediment load can be effectively simulated, and the correlation coefficient between the simulated sequence and the measured sequence reached 0.93. The current study provides important significance for the analysis of water and sediment in the JRB, which is beneficial to the management of Three Gorges Reservoir sediment discharge in the upstream and downstream.     

A NUMERICAL MODEL OF SEDIMENT TRANSPORT IN HANDUN IRRIGATION DISTRICT

LABRIEFINTRODUCTIONOFRANDUNIRRIGATIONDISTRICTYellowRiverisoneofthemainWaterresourcesinNOrthChina.SincethefiftiesirrigationbydivertingwaterfromtheYellowforerdevelOPssteadily.AstheYdlowforerisaheavilysacmentsladenone,sedimentisdiVertedsimultaneouslywhenwaterisdiverted.HOwtoproperlytreatthedivertedsedimentboomesoneOfthekeyproblemsrestrichngthesustainingdevelOPmentofthCwaterresourcesinthatarea.LongchStanceconvopngsedimentisoneofthemainmeasuresfordealingwiththediVertedsedim…     

Key drivers of changes in the sediment loads of Chinese rivers discharging to the oceans

The magnitude and variation of the sediment loads transported by rivers have important implications for the functioning of river systems and changes in the sediment loads of rivers are driven by numerous factors. In this paper, the key drivers of changes in the sediment loads of the major rivers of China are identified by reviewing recent studies of changes in their sediment loads. Except for the Songhua River, which presents no clear tendency of change in runoff or sediment load, nearly all the major rivers of China are characterized by an apparent decline in annual sediment load. The total annual sediment load of major Chinese rivers transported to the coast decreased from 2.03 billion t/yr during the period 1955–1968 to 0.50 billion t/yr during the period 1997–2010. The primary drivers of changes in the sediment loads of the rivers are dam construction, implementation of soil and water conservation measures, catchment disturbance, agricultural practices, sand mining and climate change. Examples drawn from Chinese rivers are used to demonstrate the importance of these drivers. Construction of a large number of reservoirs in the Yangtze River basin represents the primary driver for the reduced sediment load of the Yangtze River. The implementation of soil and water conservation programmes is one of the key drivers for the sharp decline in the sediment load of the Yellow River. Catchment disturbance explains why the reduction of the sediment load of the Lancang-Mekong River at the Chiang Saen gauging station was much less than that at the Gajiu gauging station upstream. A reduction in sediment load resulting from the expansion of agricultural production may be the main driver for the reduced sediment load of the Huaihe River. The decrease in the sediment load of the Pearl River has been influenced by sand mining activities. Climate change is one of the key drivers responsible for the greatly reduced sediment load of the rivers in the Haihe River Basin.     

南方红壤区长期水土流失综合治理显著减少河流输沙——以鄱阳湖流域赣江上游平江为例

长时间序列水沙数据分析有助于科学评价流域尺度水土保持减流减沙效应,为科学开展区域水土保持成效评估提供实现路径.本文选取南方红壤区水土保持工程最为集中、持续时间最长的典型流域——平江流域,基于1975-2014年的逐日降水量、流量、含沙量数据,综合应用预置白M-K检验法、Theil-Sen趋势度估计法、Pettitt检验...     

Rapid changes of sediment dynamic processes in Yalu River Estuary under anthropogenic impacts

The response of the Yalu River Estuary to human activities was investigated.Changes of sediment dynamics during the past 10 years were explored through hydrodynamic calculation,as well as heavy mineral...     

Copula-based identification of the non-stationarity of the relation between runoff and sediment load

It is important to identify the non-stationarity in the relation between runoff and sediment load under the backdrop of the changing environment. This relation helps to further understand the mechanisms of runoff and sediment yield. A copula-based method was used to detect possible change points in the relation between runoff and sediment load in the Wei River Basin (WRB), China, where soil erosion is a very severe issue. The modified Mann-Kendall trend test method was applied to obtain the trends of runoff and sediment load spanning 1960–2010 at monthly and annual timescales. Finally, the causes of the identified non-stationarity of the relation between runoff and sediment load were roughly analyzed from the perspective of climate change and human activities. Results indicated that:(1) the runoff and sediment load in the Jinghe and Wei rivers were generally characterized by noticeably decreasing trends at both monthly and annual timescales;(2) both the Jinghe and Wei rivers had a common change point (2002), implying that the stationarity of the relation between runoff and sediment load in the Jinghe and Wei River was invalid; (3) human activities including increasing water consumption and growing application of soil conservation practices are dominant factors resulting in non-stationarity in the rela-tion between runoff and sediment load in the WRB. This study provides a new idea for identifying the non-stationarity of multivariate relation in the hydro-meteorological field under the background of the changing environment.     

Variability of the useful life of reservoirs in tropical locations: A case study from the Burdekin Falls Dam,Australia

Large dam construction for irrigation, hydropower, water supply, and flood control in tropical to sub-tropical areas increased markedly after 1950. Many of the dams built during this period have filled with sediment and no longer perform to their original design specifications; in many cases, forecast dam life was greatly overestimated. This study investigates the useful life of Burdekin Falls Dam (BFD), northeastern Australia and compares the findings with other tropical reservoirs. Using two independent methods it is estimated that between 61 and 65 million m³ of sediment has been deposited in the reservoir over the 24 years of operation through 2011. This sediment volume equates to an average of 0.15% of capacity lost per year since construction was completed. If current sediment loads/climate regimes persist, reservoir capacity will be reduced by 50% after 345 years. However, the useful life of the BFD reduces to just 276 years when drawdown data are considered; these data show reservoir use would be affected once 40% of storage was filled with sediment, with a 60% drawdown return period of 1 in 15 years. When compared to similar large tropical to sub-tropical reservoirs, the BFD has a slightly longer reservoir useful life than dams in India and a much longer half-life than for both similar-sized and larger dams in China, Brazil, and Iran. Properties of the BFD that promote a longer useful life include a lower trap efficiency, relatively low annual sediment load delivered to the reservoir, limited sediment deposition behind the dam wall (and uniform distribution of deposited sediment), and the export of highly turbid annual floodwaters before settling and deposition of any remaining sediment within the reservoir.