M. Mardian, A. Najafinejad, J. Varvani, V. B. Sheikh1,
Volume 16, Issue 59 (4-2012)
Abstract
Investigation in to the sediment delivery of watersheds and its variation is an important element of ecosystem management. Since sediment load depends on runoff quantity, and runoff is considered as a unique indicator of sediment load, in this research the two modified versions of the MUSLE model were evaluated for 9 torrential events in two subwatersheds of the Kamal Saleh watershed in the Markazi Province of Iran. To this end, first all factors of the model including runoff, erodibility, topographic, cover management, and support practice were estimated using routine equations of the model. Then, the power coefficient in the runoff factor was corrected, applying two methods: “m correction coefficient” and “average correction coefficient. The evaluation criteria showed that the “m correction coefficient method” (compared to the “average correction coefficient method”) reduces the difference of the observed and estimated sediment load of small and large torrential events remarkably. In fact, the application of this modified method increased the accuracy of the MUSLE by decreasing the standard deviation of prediction. Also, the validation analysis of the modified method showed that the coefficient of efficiency indexes for the Hasan-Abad station (Rudkhane Bozorg subwatershed) and Ghal'e-No station (Ashur-abad subwateshed) were 0.997 and 0.811, respectively. This result confirms the efficiency of application of “m correction coefficient method”. However, it is suggested that the performance of this method be evaluated using a sufficient number of individual hydrographs and their sedimentgraphs in other watersheds.
