Modeling runoff and soil erosion in a catchment area, using the GIS, in the Himalayan region, India

Remote sensing data and GIS techniques have been used to compute runoff and soil erosion in the catchment area along the NH-1A between Udhampur and Kud covering an area of approximately 181 km². Different thematic layers, for example lithology, a landuse and landcover map, geomorphology, a slope map, and a soil-texture map, were generated from these input data. By use of the US Soil Conservation Service curve number method, estimated runoff potential was classified into five levels—very low, low, moderate, high, and very high. Data integration was performed by use of the weighting rating technique, a conventional qualitative method, to give a runoff potential index value. The runoff potential index values were used to delineate the runoff potential zones, namely low, moderate, high, and very high. Annual spatial soil loss estimation was computed using the Morgan–Morgan–Finney mathematical model in conjunction with remote sensing data and GIS techniques. Greater soil erosion was found to occur in the northwestern part of the catchment area. When average soil loss from the catchment area was calculated it was found that a maximum average soil loss of more than 20 t ha⁻¹ occurred in 31 km² of the catchment area.     

Threshold response of small streams to surface coal mining,bituminous coal fields,central Pennsylvania

Stream response to surface coal mining and reclamation was studied in 29 small (0·13 to 5·72 km²) watersheds located in the bituminous coal fields of Central Pennsylvania. These basins, up to 82 per cent mined, were selected from 176 first-order tributaries of Beech Creek with similar vegetation, soil, lithology, and basin characteristics. Measurements were made at 262 cross-sections (an average of nine cross-sections per stream) of channel cross-section area, bankfull width, mean bankfull depth, dimensions of the largest moving blocks, stream slope, valley-side slope, basin area, and mined area. Observed differences in channel morphology were related to differences in extent of mining by means of scatter plots, correlation, cluster analysis, and bivariate regression. Stream response to increased peak discharge and channel shear stress produced by increased surface runoff from regraded mine spoil takes the form of enlarged channels and increases in the size of moving blocks. Large basin areas appear to dampen the effect of mining, resulting in limited channel enlargement with greater extent of mining. In contrast, where peak discharges and associated shear stresses exceed the combined erosional resistance of floodplain vegetation, colluvial blocks, and channel banks, streams adjust extensively to higher levels of mining, causing an abrupt increase in the size of transported blocks and eroded channels. In the first-order basins studied, this stepped response occurs at approximately 0·45 km² mined area and 50 per cent of the total basin area mined. For streams that have exceeded both threshold levels, disequilibrium is demonstrated by a strong, positive correlation between local stream slope and basin area. Where both threshold levels of mining are exceeded, steep channel slopes reinforce the tendency of stream cross-sections to increase with greater disturbance by mining, necessitating that these streams rapidly adjust their morphology in order to attain a new equilibrium which is compatible with the conditions imposed by mining and reclamation.     

The effect of forestry drainage operations on upland sediment yields: A case study

Forestry is generally considered to be a land use giving low sediment yields. However, in Britain most forestry is on land that requires extensive drainage, and it was found that the drainage of a small upland catchment resulted in sediment yields over the following five years equivalent to nearly half a century's load at pre-drainage rates. Subsequent sediment yields did not decline to pre-drainage levels, but remained about four times higher, as a result of erosion of the drains.     

Flow variability and hillslope hydrology

Examination of spatial variability of streamflow in headwater areas can provide important insight about factors that influence hillslope hydrology. Detailed observations of variations in stream channel input, based on a tracer experiment, indicate that topography alone cannot explain flow variability. However, determination of changes in channel input on a small spatial scale can provide valuable clues to factors, such as structural geology that control subsurface flows.     

Sediment yield studies of headwater catchments in Sussex,S.E. England

The transport of sediment from six small (0.2 to 17.6 km²) headwater catchments is described. The catchments under investigation were located in relation to predominant lithological deposits within the Cretaceous rock succession; two of the areas were underlain by (Weald) clay, two by sandstone (Ashdown Sand and Tunbridge Wells Sand) and two by chalk. The climate of the region under investigation is temperate, with an average annual precipitation (850 mm) in excess of potential evapotranspiration (450 mm). The transport of suspended material from within the catchments was examined by collecting samples of the water-sediment mixture draining the areas, using hand held depth-integrating and permanently installed stage sampling systems. The results of the regularly maintained sampling programme, over a two-year period, are described. Attempts were made to both measure and compute bed load transport. Suspended sediment concentrations are compared between catchments and related to hydrological characteristics. The nature of the material in transit is examined. Sediment rating curves are derived for each of the headwater catchments, defining the relationship in the form y = Ax^b (where y = suspended sediment concentration (mg/1) and x = water discharge (m³/s)). Annual rating curves are used to derive annual suspended sediment loads by combination with water discharge data, using a log-incremental computerized approach. Multiple regression techniques have been used to examine annual loads in terms of hydrological and morphological characteristics of the headwater catchments. Based on the field information available, a generalized model for the relationship between suspended sediment concentration and water discharge is described. Finally, the derived annual loads from the headwater catchments are combined with both limited observations from the larger Sussex rivers and data available for other catchment investigations in the British Isles, to produce a series of prediction equations for catchment yield under temperate climatic conditions.