JWSS - Journal of Water and Soil Science

To preserve soil as a productive resource, a balance between natural capability and utilization must be established to achieve through land suitability evaluation. The aim of this study was to compare the run-off and deposition of different land uses of Beheshtabad watershed in the current situation and in compliance with standardized land use fitted situation. For this purpose, land use map in its current state was provided using Landsat 7 images and land use suitability map was obtained by FAO (1979) instructions. SWAT model was then applied to simulate runoff and sediment yield by using these land use maps. To do this, the curve number method was used for calculating the runoff, the Muskingam was applied for channel routing, and Hrgrave-samani was employed for potansial evapotranspiration. The results confirmed that considering suitability in using lands in Beheshtabad watershed caused the reduction of the average runoff from 99.4 mm/yr to 82.8 mm/yr (17%) and sediment rate of 10.7 to 7.8 t/ha. yr (27%). Also, the reduction percentage in some land uses, such as dry, irrigated cropland and downstream ranges, was much more.

Soil is one of the most important natural resources of countries in which erosion occurs. In this research, the effect of soil characteristics on the amount of erosion at the suborder level was studied. For this purpose, 77 soil samples (0-30 cm) were prepared and the parameters were determined in the laboratory. The semi-variograms of soil parameters and their spatial distribution maps were prepared with GS⁺ and GIS, respectively. The study area was divided into work units by combining land use and geology maps and water erosion was estimated at each unit by the EPM method. By drilling profiles in different parts of study area, soil suborders were determined by Soil Taxonomy and the average values of parameters in each suborder was estimated. The principle components analysis (PCA) was then used for data analysis. The results showed that three parameters of silt, organic carbon and electrical conductivity could account for 30.384% as the first main component; clay, sand and vegetation could explain 11.189% as the second main component; and slope and height covered 15.330% as the third main component; in total, 63.805% percent of erosion variation could be justified by three main components. The lowest and highest amounts of erosion (69.12 and 343.57 m³/km², respectively) were estimated in Xeralfs and Fluvents suborders. The erosion class of suborders at the study area was determined to be “few” and “medium”.

One of the reasons for soil salinization is the accumulation of salts in it by transmission through water and wind. In order to investigate the phenomenon of transfer of salts with dust in the arid regions of the north of Yazd- Ardakan plain, field samples were taken using 32 MDCO sediments traps with uniform dispersion in an area of 20,000 hectares at some stage in 4 seasons of 2017. After washing the sediment collector with a liter of distilled water in the field and transferring the samples to the laboratory, for the quantitative analysis of saline dust, similar to measuring the Water Electrical Conductivity (EC_w), the Total Soluble Solids (TDS) were additionally measured through evaporation technique. The form and distribution of the dust particle size were additionally investigated using a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) tool. Within the qualitative examine of salts, effective cations and anions in salinity including Na⁺, K⁺, Ca⁺⁺, Mg⁺⁺, C1^-, HCO^-₃ and SO^-₄ were measured The results confirmed that, in general, the fallout was 11.1 g.m^-2 of soluble material with dust particles (13.28%) in the course of only 12 months. Particles with a diameter of 5 to 10 microns were the most frequent. Considering the high correlation between C1^- and Na⁺ in the spring, autumn and winter, due to the high correlation between Ca⁺⁺ and SO^-₄ in summer dust, sodium chloride (NaCl) and gypsum (CaSO₄) 2H₂O)), the most abundant composition of dust- containing salts could be expected in these seasons. By determining the percentage of solutes in the fallout dust, it was observed that the impact of the amount of the deposited salt from dust was slight and insignificant in the short time period; with the assumption of no change in the rate of subsidence, it was anticipated that it would explain the poor salinity in non- saline mass soils for up to 10 cm in 72 years. In general, the capability of airborne salt in increasing the soil salinity in the study area can be in long- term periods. Therefore, it is recommended to investigate other environmental effects of this phenomenon in order to identify its hazards.

The occurrence of wind erosion and the spread of dust particles can be regarded as one of the most important and threatening environmental factors. Climate change and the frequency of droughts have played an important role in exacerbating or weakening these events. The primary objective of the present study was to investigate the trend of changes in four important climatic elements (precipitation, temperature, wind speed and relative humidity) and dust storm index (DSI) in Qazvin city using the Mann-Kendall pre-whitened test and to determine the relationship between them based on the multiple linear regression method. Assessment of the meteorological drought status based on two standardized precipitation index and standardized precipitation, as well as the evapotranspiration index and analysis of their effect on activity level of dust events, was the other objective of this study in the study area. For this purpose, after preparing and processing the climatic data and calculating the dust storm index, the trend of changes and the relationship between climatic parameters and dust events were investigated. The results showed that the changes of trend in the annual precipitation and relative humidity in Qazvin city were increasing, while the trend of annual changes in the wind speed and the mean air temperature was a decreasing one. Investigation of the monthly changes in the dust events also showed that there was a sharp decrease in the occurrence of wind erosion and the spread of domestic dust particles only in July. On a seasonal scale, with the exception of winter that has been reported without trends, in other seasons, the intensity of these events was significantly reduced. The effect of the meteorological drought on wind erosion was estimated to be 11% at the confidence level of 99%. In general, these findings indicate a decreasing trend of land degradation and desertification caused by wind erosion in Qazvin.

Wind erosion is known as one of the most important land degradation aspects, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions. Soil properties, by affecting soil erodibility, can control the wind erosion rate. The aim of this study was to attribute the soil physical and chemical properties to the wind erosion rate for the purpose of determining the most important property. To this aim, wind erosion rates were measured in-situ at 60 points of Kerman province using a portable wind tunnel facility. The results indicated that wind erosion rates varied from 0.03 g m^-2 min^-1 to 3.41 g m^-2 min^-1. Threshold wind velocity decreased wind erosion rate following a power function (R²=0.81, P<0.001). Clay and silt particles, shear strength, mean weight diameter (MWD), surface gravel, dry stable aggregates (DSA<0.25mm), soil organic carbon (SOC), calcium carbonate equivalent (CCE) and the concentrations of the soluble Ca²⁺, K⁺ and Mg²⁺ were inversely proportional to the wind erosion rates following nonlinear functions. On the other hand, Wind erosion was significantly enhanced with increasing the sand fraction, soluble Na⁺, electrical conductivity (EC) and sodium adsorption ratio (SAR). According to the final results, among the studied soil properties, SAR and MWD were s the most effective properties controlling wind erosion in the soils of Kerman province. Therefore, it is recommended to consider suitable conservation practices in order to prevent the sodification and degradation of arid soils.

Wind erosion is one of the environmental problems worldwide, particularly in arid and semi-arid areas of Iran. Different methods and models have been proposed to measure and monitor wind erosion in the recent years. One of the accurate models for measuring f wind erosion is the USEPA model. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the quantification of wind erosion with the USEPA model and the comparison of different interpolation methods for drowsing high-precision soil erosion mapping. For this purpose, 50 samples from 0-30 depth were taken from the study area. Based on the analysis of the physical properties of the soil, including the distribution of the primary and secondary particle sizes, climatic parameters such as evaporation and transpiration, rainfall, wind speed and also, the vegetation and topography characteristics of the area, the erosion rates of Q, Q₃₀ and Q₅₀ were measured. Interpolation methods including general kriging, IDW, LPI and RBF were compared. The results showed that the highest erosion emission rate of Q₅₀ was 39 ton ha^-1. The highest and lowest erosion rates for the Q₃₀ index were 0.060 and 2.694 ton ha^-1, respectively; for the Q index, the highest and lowest erosion rates were 0.009 and 0.055 ton ha^-1, respectively. The results also showed that the IDW method for the Q₅₀ index with the minimum error rate (RMSE) values of 3.94 and the mean absolute error (MAE) with the valueof 1.89 had the best performance among the studied models. The LPI model Q had the best performance with the lowest error (0.0086) and absolute absolute error (0.0021).

Soil erosion is one of the most serious environmental issues in the world, causing soil degradation, reduction of land productivity, increasing flood, water pollution and pollutions transportation; it is also a serious threat to sustainable development in the world. Therefore, the soil conservation and the prevention of soil erosion and use of conditioners as the nanoclay can be considered as a solution to improve   land productivity and protect environment. The present study was, therefore, conducted to address the effect of the application of montmorillonite nanoclay with three rates of 0.03, 0.06 and 0.09 t ha^-1 on changing runoff and soil loss variables under laboratory conditions. The results showed that the nanoclay with the rate of 0.03 t ha^-1 could decrease the runoff coefficient, soil loss and sediment concentration with the rate of 40.65, 88.38 and 82.19 percent, respectively. The average of soil loss in control treatment and conservation treatments of nanoclay with various rates was measured to be 3.76, 0.44, 1.33 and 3.16 g, respectively. Also, the results showed that the most sediment concentration was the control treatment with the rate of 5.84 g l^-1 and the conservation treatments with nanoclay in the applied rates was 1.04, 3.47 and 2.96 g l^-1, respectively. Also, the results showed that the nanoclay effect was significant on changing the soil loss and sediment concentration at the level of 99 percent. Finally, due to the effect, the use of this conditioner in natural conditions and investigation of the effects on environment and aggregates stability are recommended.

Erosion causes the reduction and degradation and the soil fertility; one of its most important consequences, endangering the food security of the inhabitants of the area. Therefore, to reduce erosion, it needs to be controlled and managed using good soil conservation methods. It is only necessary to manage and control the full impact of the factors affecting the soil first. If there is a critical state of erosion in the four watersheds, identifying the precise location of erosion will be done quickly and with less cost; thus, further erosion control and counter-operation will be feasible. In this study, geographic information system and decision making models of AHP and ANP in Bagheran region of Birjand were used to determine the erosion prone areas. First, 10 effective criteria including rain, slope, slope direction, soil, geology, permeability, vegetation, land use, distance from road and village, were determined on the erosion in the area based on the expert opinion and library studies. Next, the questionnaires were sent to experts to explore g the impact of the criteria on erosion; after completing the questionnaires based on Expert Choice and Supper Decision software, the relative importance of the criteria was obtained. The maps were then compiled and integrated according to the relative importance of the criteria. Rainfall factor had the greatest impact on the erodibility of the area in the AHP method with the relative importance of 0.21 and the   vegetation criterion with the weight of 0.158 in the ANP method had the most impact on the determination of erosion prone areas. Finally, the erodibility map of the area was obtained based on the presented models. Subsequently, the region was classified into five classes of erosion susceptibility, with areas of moderate sensitivity having the most area in both models. In the lower and upper classes, the ANP method performed better; in the middle classes the AHP method performed better.

Investigating and understanding river change issues is one of the important factors in sediment hydraulic sciences and river engineering. These studies can be done with the help of physical, mathematical models, or both, but due to financial and time constraints, mathematical models are more general and often used. In this study, the GSTARS model was used to investigate erosion and sedimentation and select the most appropriate function in 12.5 km in length from the Talar river in Mazandaran Province. Simulation using the 55 sections taken in 2006, the daily flow data of the hydrometric station of the Shirgah, located at the beginning of the rich and characteristics of the river sediment, was done. The calibration and validation of the model with cross sections taken in 2012 showed that Yang's sediment transport equation has the highest correlation with reality and can be used to predict river change. The amount of sediment depleted from the case study using the Yang equation is estimated at 8590 tons per year. Also, the study of longitudinal profiles of the river with different sediment transfer functions showed that the study reach at the end range has an erosion trend and is not capable of sand and gravel mining.

Soil loss can cause many intra-regional and extra-regional problems, on the other hand, the effect of soil moisture on processes of soil loss and sediment yield for the identification and simulation of soil hydrological response is necessary. Therefore, the application of soil conditioners is essential for soil and water conservation. The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of soil conditioners of vermicompost and nano-manure on variables of soil loss and sediment concentration at moistures of air-dried, 15 and 30%, and rainfall intensities of 50 and 90 mm h^-1. The obtained results in addition to confirmation of the significant effect of each conservation treatment at the level of 99 percent on the intended components showed that the conservation treatment of vermicompost compared to nano-manure treatment had more effect on measured variables. Also, the conservation treatment of vermicompost could decrease the soil loss at soil moisture air-dried, 15, and 30 percent with rates of 72.15, 66.63, and 78.76 percent (50 mm h^-1), respectively, and 45.01, 35.57, and 10.45 percent (of 90 mm h^-1), respectively. The effect of conservation treatments, soil moistures, and rainfall intensity and the interaction effects of conservation treatments × rainfall intensity and rainfall intensity × soil moisture on changes of soil loss and sediment concentration were significant at the level of 99 percent. The application of vermicompost and nano-manure had acceptable results on studied parameters but the vermicompost effect was more than nano-manure. Therefore, due to the widespread use of different types of conditioners, nowadays, it is needed to move the application feasibility of conditioners such as vermicompost and nano-manure that these have not the adverse effects of environmental.

The objective of the present study was to investigate the performance of some of the extracted information for mapping land degradation using remote sensing and field data in Fras province. Maps of vegetation cover, net primary production, land use, surface slope, water erosion, and surface runoff indicators were extracted from MOD13A3, MOD17A3, Landsat TM, SRTM, ICONA model, and SCS model, respectively. The rain use efficiency index was obtained from the net primary production and rainfall map, which was calculated from meteorological stations. The final land degradation map was prepared by integrating all the mentioned indicators using the weighted overlay method. According to the ICONA model, 5.1, 9, 47.21, 27.91, and 10.73 percent of the study area were classified as very low, low, moderate, severe, and very severe water erosion; respectively. Overlaying the ICONA map with other indicators showed that very high and high classes, moderate, and low and very low classes of land degradation covered 1.3, 18.7, 70, 0.9, and 9.1 percent of the study area, respectively. According to the results, integrating remote sensing with ICONA and SCS models increases the ability to identify land degradation.

Splash (raindrop) erosion plays an significant role in soil loss, especially in arid and semi-arid regions with poor vegetation. In this paper, by analyzing the pattern of rainfalls that occurred during 26 years in four basins located in Semnan County, their effect on the pattern of eroded sediments from the basin was investigated. Sedimentary layers from the sampling of retarding reservoir sediments in 2017 were related to the corresponding precipitations. Due to the occurrence of the highest amount of rainfall in each quarter of rainfall, rainfall hyetographs were divided into four categories. Cumulative precipitation curves with similar quartiles were drawn in one shape and compared with sediment curves and vice versa taking into account the physical characteristics of the basin. The results showed that the Aliabad basin (with less slope and more elongation) with an effective quarter of type 3 had the highest similarity in precipitation and sediment patterns. Also, the Western Soldereh basin (with the highest slope and the least elongation) with an effective quarter of type 2 had the least similarity in precipitation and sediment patterns. The results indicate the vital role of rainfall patterns on the resulting sediment patterns, which show up to 85% similarity.

Soil erosion has been one of the most important problems of watersheds in the world and is considered one of the main obstacles to achieving sustainable development in agriculture and natural resources. Identifying and prioritizing regions sensitive to soil erosion is essential for water and soil conservation and natural resource management in watersheds. The present research was performed in 2021 year to prioritize the soil erosion susceptibility in 12 sub-watersheds of the Roudzard watershed in Khouzestan province using morphometric analysis and multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods. In this regard, 11 morphometric parameters including shape parameters such as compactness constant (Cc), circularity ratio (Rc), form factor (Rf), elongation ratio (Re), linear parameters such as drainage density (Dd), stream frequency (Fs), drainage texture (Dt), bifurcation ratio (Rb), Basin length (L), Length of overland flow (Lg), and topographic parameter including Ruggedness number (Rn) were extracted and their relative weights were calculated using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The prioritization sub-watershed to soil erosion was performed using TOPSIS, VIKOR, and SAW methods, and the results were combined using rank mean, Copeland, and Borda methods. The final prioritization was compared with the amount of specific erosion in the MPSIAC model by determining Spearman's correlation coefficient. The result of the evaluation of morphometric parameters by using the AHP model showed that drainage density (0.161), drainage texture (0.158), and stream frequency (0.146) had the greatest effect on the erodability of the sub-watersheds. In contrast, the form factor (0.049), Elongation Ratio (0.036), and shape factor (0.026) had the least effects on erodability of the study area. In this research, the Spearman correlation coefficient between the final result of prioritizing the sub-watershed and the MPSIAC model was obtained as 0.8 in p-value<0.01. The results of prioritization of the sub-watersheds in terms of their sensitivity to soil erosion showed that sub-watersheds 11, 12, and 10 with an area of 191.83 km² are categorized as very sensitive to soil erosion due to high value of linear parameters, low value of shape parameters, sensitive geology formation, and poor vegetation cover and located in rank 1 to 3, respectively. According to the results sub-watersheds 11, 12, and 10 have the highest amount of specific erosion equal to 16.03, 12.48, and 11.6 tons per hectare per year, respectively. Therefore, these sub-watersheds are a priority for watershed management operations. The results of the present study showed that MCDM methods and morphometric analysis are suitable tools for identifying areas sensitive to soil erosion and using the combined methods of the results and it is possible to take advantage of each of the different multi-criteria decision-making methods.

Due to the environmental problems caused by wind erosion, it is necessary to stabilize the dust centers with mulches. The objective of the present study was to determine and compare the optimum vinasse mulches based on mechanical indicators for sensitive soil stabilization to wind erosion. In this research, vinasse (0, 100, 200 g) is combined with bagasse (0, 25, 50 g), ash bagasse (0, 25, 50 g), filtercake (0, 12.5, 25 g), and one-liter water (81 treatments). At first, the treatments were determined in the appropriate range of salinity and acidity (35 treatments) and in the next step, the mechanical indicators have been measured after mulching on laboratory trays (2×30×100 cm). Optimum mulches have been determined based on five indicators by mean comparison (Duncan). The mean comparison showed that treatments 33, 30, 34, 32, and 19 show the mean difference between the groups based on layer thickness, impact resistance, compressive strength, and shear strength properly. It can be concluded that vinasse (100 and 200 g) with 50 g bagasse reduces the crack coefficient greatly, and the application of vinasse, bagasse, and filtercake does not affect the compressive strength and impact resistance.