Modelling of piping collapses and gully headcut landforms:Evaluating topographic variables from different types of DEM

The geomorphic studies are extremely dependent on the quality and spatial resolution of digital elevation model(DEM)data.The unique terrain characteristics of a particular landscape are derived from DEM,which are responsible for initiation and development of ephemeral gullies.As the topographic features of an area significantly influences on the erosive power of the water flow,it is an important task the extraction of terrain features from DEM to properly research gully erosion.Alongside,topography is highly correlated with other geo-environmental factors i.e.geology,climate,soil types,vegetation density and floristic composition,runoff generation,which ultimately influences on gully occurrences.Therefore,terrain morphometric attributes derived from DEM data are used in spatial prediction of gully erosion susceptibility(GES)mapping.In this study,remote sensing-Geographic information system(GIS)tech-niques coupled with machine learning(ML)methods has been used for GES mapping in the parts of Semnan province,Iran.Current research focuses on the comparison of predicted GES result by using three types of DEM i.e.Advanced Land Observation satellite(ALOS),ALOS World 3D-30 m(AW3D30)and Advanced Space borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer(ASTER)in different resolutions.For further progress of our research work,here we have used thirteen suitable geo-environmental gully erosion conditioning factors(GECFs)based on the multi-collinearity analysis.ML methods of conditional inference forests(Cforest),Cubist model and Elastic net model have been chosen for modelling GES accordingly.Variable's importance of GECFs was measured through sensitivity analysis and result show that elevation is the most important factor for occurrences of gullies in the three aforementioned ML methods(Cforest=21.4,Cubist=19.65 and Elastic net=17.08),followed by lithology and slope.Validation of the model's result was performed through area under curve(AUC)and other statistical indices.The validation result of AUC has shown that Cforest is the most appropriate model for predicting the GES assessment in three different DEMs(AUC value of Cforest in ALOS DEM is 0.994,AW3D30 DEM is 0.989 and ASTER DEM is 0.982)used in this study,followed by elastic net and cubist model.The output result of GES maps will be used by decision-makers for sustainable development of degraded land in this study area.     

Erosion-control mechanism of sediment check dams on the Loess Plateau

Severe soil erosion occurs on the Loess Plateau in China, which makes the Yellow River the most sediment-laden river in the world. Construction of about 60,000 sediment check dams has remarkably controlled soil erosion on the Loess Plateau and reduced the sediment load of the middle and lower Yellow River. Nonetheless, little is known about the mechanism of erosion control and vegetation development of sediment check dams. The function of a single check dam mainly is trapping sediment, while the function of a train of check dams comprising dozens of or over hundreds of check dams in a gully encompasses controlling bed incision and reducing erosion energy. A formula was proposed to calculate the potential energy of bank failure and slope failure in a gully, which essentially constitutes the erosion energy. The erosion energy increases when gully incision occurs, which is induced by the incision of the Yellow River and its tributaries on the Loess Plateau. Sediment deposition in many gullies due to construction of check dams reduces the erosion energy to almost zero, which in turn greatly reduces soil erosion and sediment yield. Construction of check dams promotes vegetation development. The vegetation-erosion dynamics model was used to study the effect of check dams on vegetation development. Simulation results show that reforestation without check dam construction might result in an increase of vegetation cover in the first ten years and then a drop of vegetation cover to less than 10% in the later years. The check dams provide a foundation for vegetation development.     

Topographic thresholds in gully development on the hillslopes of communal areas in Ngqushwa Local Municipality, Eastern Cape, South Africa

The relationships between the spatial distribution of gully erosion and topographic thresholds in the form of slope angle, position and configuration, as well as land use change in the form of abandoned lands were examined in several affected catchments of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Land use and permanent gullies were mapped, digitized from orthophoto maps in Arc/info 3.5.2 GIS and converted to shapefiles using ArcView 3.2 GIS. Relationships between the mapped phenomena and topographic variables were sought using a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) in Idrisi Kilimanjaro GIS. A comparison between areas with a high potential for gullying and actual gully erosion was made using the Stream Power Index (SPI) as a surrogate for critical flow shear stress. Field surveys were also conducted to assess the present condition of the gullied sites as well as to validate DEM derivations.Seventy five percent of the gullied area was noted to lie on abandoned lands. A predominance of gullying in concave bottom lands was also identified. The SPI values highlighted a distinct preferential topographic zone for gully location. A conceptual model depicting the interaction between land use and topographic parameters to induce gully erosion was developed. This should assist local authorities to develop a policy regarding management of abandoned lands.     

Experimental analysis of shear strength of undisturbed soil in leucaena forest in Jiangjia Ravine,Yunnan, China

Five leucaena trees of similar age were chosen in Jiangjia Ravine of Dongchuan, Yunnan Province, China, near which the soil samples were collected by digging profiles 2m in depth and 1m in width. In each section, soil samples at different depths were taken for direct shear experiments to determine the root amount and mechanical composition. It is found that the cohesion and internal friction angle of the undisturbed soil are related to the root amount, depth, clay content and breccias content. Cohesion correlates negatively with root content, a finding that differs from that of other researchers. In addition, internal friction angle correlates positively with all these factors.     

Potential of weight of evidence modelling for gully erosion hazard assessment in Mbire District – Zimbabwe

Gully erosion is an environmental concern particularly in areas where landcover has been modified by human activities. This study assessed the extent to which the potential of gully erosion could be successfully modelled as a function of seven environmental factors (landcover, soil type, distance from river, distance from road, Sediment Transport Index (STI), Stream Power Index (SPI) and Wetness Index (WI)) using a GIS-based Weight of Evidence Modelling (WEM) in the Mbire District of Zimbabwe. Results show that out of the studied seven factors affecting gully erosion, five were significantly correlated (p < 0.05) to gully occurrence, namely; landcover, soil type, distance from river, STI and SPI. Two factors; WI and distance from road were not significantly correlated to gully occurrence (p > 0.05). A gully erosion hazard map showed that 78% of the very high hazard class area is within a distance of 250 m from rivers. Model validation indicated that 70% of the validation set of gullies were in the high hazard and very high hazard class. The resulting map of areas susceptible to gully erosion has a prediction accuracy of 67.8%. The predictive capability of the weight of evidence model in this study suggests that landcover, soil type, distance from river, STI and SPI are useful in creating a gully erosion hazard map but may not be sufficient to produce a valid map of gully erosion hazard.     

The evolution of gully headcut morphology: a case study using terrestrial laser scanning and hydrological monitoring

We present observations and analysis of gully headcut erosion, which differ from previous headcut studies in both spatial and temporal detail. Using ten terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) surveys conducted over a period of 3 years, we mapped headcut erosion with centimeter‐scale detail on a sub‐annual basis. Erosional change is observed through point cloud differencing, which expands on previous studies of headcut retreat rate by revealing the evolution of the headcut morphology. Headcut retreat observations are combined with hydrological measurements to explore the controlling factors of erosional retreat. We find that (i) mass failure due to wetting, (ii) saturation weakening of shale bedrock in plunge pools, and (iii) direct wash over the headcut face all appear to contribute to headcut retreat; however, mass failure via wetting appears to be the dominant process. Soil moisture was monitored near the study headcut at 0.4 m depth, and time‐lapse photos show that soil wetting tends to be concentrated along the headcut apex after rainfall and snowmelt runoff events. We find that moisture concentration at the headcut apex leads to more rapid erosion at that location than along the headcut sidewalls, resulting in a semi‐ellipsoidal plan view morphology that is maintained as the headcut migrates up‐valley. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

都江堰市八一沟泥石流形成条件与动力学特征分析

八一沟泥石流位于汶川"5.12"大地震极重灾区四川省都江堰市,是一条典型的沟谷型泥石流。本文在分析八一沟泥石流沟流域和泥石流基本特征的基础上,首先对形成泥石流的地形、水源、物源三个基本条件进行了深入论述,接着详细计算了泥石流的重质、流速、流量、冲出量等动力学参数,然后分析了泥石流的发展趋势,最后根据泥石流危险性和被保护对象的重要性,并提出了防治建议。     

Characteristics and temporal-spatial distribution of geohazards in western Sichuan

Xinqiao Gully is located in the area of the 2008 Wenchuan M_s 8.0 earthquake in Sichuan province, China. Based on the investigation of the 2023 “6-26” Xinqiao Gully debris flow event, this study assessed the effectiveness of the debris flow control project and evaluated the debris flow hazards. Through field investigation and numerical simulation methods, the indicators of flow intensity reduction rate and storage capacity fullness were proposed to quantify the effectiveness of the engineering measures in the debris flow event. The simulation results show that the debris flow control project reduced the flow intensity by 41.05% to 64.61%. The storage capacity of the dam decreases gradually from upstream to the mouth of the gully, thus effectively intercepting and controlling the debris flow. By evaluating the debris flow of different recurrence intervals, further measures are recommended for managing debris flow events.     

汶川地震后四川安县甘沟培溃泥石流及其对策

汶川地震诱发的大量崩塌和滑坡不仅直接为泥石流活动提供松散固体物质,还可能造成沟道堵塞.沟道内的堵塞坝虽然不像主河道上的堰寒湖那样造成大范围灾害,但溃央后却会引发大规模泥石流,给人民生命财产和基础设施等造成严重危害.以四川省安县高川乡甘沟为例,说明其造成泥石流的危害特征及防治对策.通过对甘沟自然环境背景条件的分析,发现甘沟具备泥石流暴发的地形地貌和降水条件;流域内地震诱发的崩滑体不仅为泥石流的形成提供丰富的松散固体物质,还造成沟道堵塞,形成堵溃型泥石流.甘沟已建的排导槽存在过流能力不够、槽底和侧墙已基本被破坏、弯道处未考虑超高、沟内未布置拦挡工程等问题.目前沟内由于松散固体物质充足,在一定的降水条件下,仍会再次暴发泥石流.针对甘沟的具体情况,提出了修建拦挡、重建排导槽并结合预警预报措施的防治对策,并对重建排导槽的过流断面进行了优化设计.     

从空间Poisson过程看蒋家沟泥石流

云南东川蒋家沟泥石流频率高,变化多.每场泥石流包含几十到几百个阵流,各阵流具有不同的密度、流体性质和运动形态,流量涨落达3个数量级.这些特征意味着泥石流具有很强的随机性.根据蒋家沟的演化分区和野外观测,可以发现泥石流形成于特殊的源地分支.土体活动(包括滑坡、崩塌和局部的土体流动等)随机发生在那些分支流域,如果认为各源地的土体活动是独立的,而且活动强度正比于源地的面积,那么泥石流的形成和汇流就是一个空间Poisson过程.其结果是阵流流量服从指数分布,这很好地符合蒋家沟的泥石泥观测数据.从蒋家沟泥石流的随机性可见,泥石流依赖于流域的特定源区及其分布,而不是笼统地取决于全流域的地貌或几何因子.