Showing 7 results for Rainfall Simulator
M. Sheklabadi, H. Khademi, A. H. Charkhabi,
Volume 7, Issue 2 (7-2003)
Abstract
Soil erodibility in arid regions, particularly in less developed soils, greatly depends on parent material. The objectives of this study included comparison of the potential of runoff and sediment production in soils with different parent materials and identification of the highly sensitive parent materials in Golabad watershed, 60 km northeast of Isfahan, with about 160 mm of annual precipitation and various geological formations, as one of the highly erodible watersheds in Iran. Soils formed on twelve different parent materials were selected. Rainfall simulator was run for 80 minutes on three replicates of each soil. To have an idea about the rate of runoff and sediment generation with time, runoff loaded with sediment was collected every 10 minutes using plastic containers. After measuring the volume of each runoff sample, it was dried and the amount of sediment was measured. The mechanical parameters of the applied rain were: intensity about 40 mm/hr, rain drop average diameter: 6.56 mm plot size: 1 m2 and kinetic energy of 13.7-17.2 J/m2.mm. Based on the rainfall simulation experiments, soils formed on green andesite and slightly dissected alluvium derived from both sedimentary and igneous rocks created the highest amount of runoff. They also created runoff much more rapidly as compared to other soils. In contrast, soils developed on granodiorite and moderately undulating alluvium produced the least volume of runoff. Furthermore, maximum quantity of sediment was produced from the soils occurring on green andesite and shale. The least sediment yield was observed in soils developed on granodirite and moderately undulating alluvium. Soils formed on shale created the highest sediment concentration and no significant differences were observed among other soils. Based on the results obtained, soils were ranked according to sensitivity to erosion. It is concluded that soil parent materials have a high influence on the production of runoff and sediment yield in Golabad watershed.
M. Yousefifard, A. Jalalian, H. Khademi,
Volume 11, Issue 40 (7-2007)
Abstract
Improper use of natural resources, especially soil, causes its degradation and severe soil erosion. Water erosion is an important factor causing soil degradation. Land use change of pasture would result in severe soil erosion mainly due to the reduction of vegetation cover and also surface soil disturbance. The objectives of this study were to estimate the amount of sediment, runoff and nutrient loss in four different land uses including a pasture with good vegetation cover (> 20%), a pasture with poor vegetation cover (< 10%), a currently being used dryland farm and a degraded dryland farm which is not used. Soil samples were taken from the depth of 0–10 cm in a completely randomized design with four replications. A rainfall simulator was run for two hours to estimate the amount of sediment, runoff and nutrient loss. Organic matter, total N, available P and distribution of particles size in soil and sediment were measured. The results showed that a very high degradation has occurred in the area mostly due to water erosion created as a result of overgrazing in pasture, susceptibility of geological formations and more importantly, the change of land use pasture to inefficient dryland farming. Maximum and minimum runoff was observed in the abandoned dry landfarm and pasture with good vegetation cover, respectively. Maximum sediment content was observed in dryland farm. Sediment content in dryland farm, abandoned dry landfarm and pasture with poor vegetation cover were 54.5, 21 and 10.4 times more than that in the pasture with good vegetation cover, respectively. Enrichment ratio (ER) of soil particles in sediment was highest for fine silt (2-5µm), followed by clay. A minimum of ER was obtained for sand fraction. Percentages of organic matter, total N and available P in sediment were higher in the first hour as compared to the second one. This is mainly due to the fact that fine particles are removed at the beginnings of the rainfall event. Total removal of these chemical factors was highest in dryland, intermediate in pasture with poor vegetation cover and abandoned dryland and lowest in pasture with good vegetation cover. In general, cultivation and disturbance of the pasture in the area land have caused a great decrease in soil quality and made the surface very sensitive to erosion.
Mahnaz Zarea Khormizi, Ali Najafinejad, Nader Noura, Ataollah Kavian,
Volume 17, Issue 64 (9-2013)
Abstract
Soil erosion is one of the most important factors affecting soil quantity and quality and is environmental problems in developing countries like Iran. It can have deteriorating effects on ecosystems. This research was carried out in farm lands of the Chehel-Chai watershed, Golestan province to investigate the effect of soil properties on runoff and soil loss. Runoff and soil loss were measured in a completely randomized design in 36 plots with 10×10 m sizes in farm lands. For this reason, this study was conducted using rainfall simulator with 2 mm/min intensity and 15 min duration in 4 replicates. Soil samples were also taken in each plot. Sampling was conducted in October 2009. Results of the Pearson correlation showed that among soil properties, the contents of the lime, silt and fine sand had positive correlations with runoff at 1% confidence level. Also, soil surface resistance at 1% confidence level, the contents of the organic matter and nitrogen at 5% confidence level had negative correlations with soil loss. Finally, the results of multiple linear models showed that the content of lime is effective in estimating runoff and soil surface resistance, and organic matter is effective in estimating soil loss.
Gh. Vahabzadeh, A. Safari, M.h. Farhoudi, H.r. Abdollahi, H. Fathizad, Gh.r. Khosravi,
Volume 18, Issue 70 (3-2015)
Abstract
In this research, sediment production and delivery amount by Darabkola forest roads was estimated using the SEDMODL model. To evaluate the model results, the sedimentation rate in the above roads was directly measured using rainfall simulator. Also, the paired t-test, BIAS, RE and RMSE were used to assess the results. The analysis showed that the rate of sediment production from study roads' surface using the SEDMODL model and direct measurement under the rainfall simulation were 420.97 and 341.19 tons per year, respectively, and rate of sediment delivered to the stream with sediment delivery ratios of 42% and 51%, respectively, was about 177.58 and 174.02 tons per year. Also, results of the statistical methods of BIAS, RE and RMSE for the aforesaid model were 0.04, 17.59 and 0.71, respectively, and at 95% confidence level, no significant difference was obtained between the observed and estimated data. Therefore, the aforesaid model has the appropriate accuracy and efficiency to estimate the sedimentation rate of the Darabkola forest roads. It was also found that from among the input parameters of model, longitudinal slope of road, precipitation and sediment delivery factors were the most influential factors in the sediment production and transport, respectively.
F. Jahanbakhshi, M. R. Ekhtesasi, A. Talebi, M. Piri,
Volume 22, Issue 2 (9-2018)
Abstract
One of the main sources of runoff in arid and semi-arid mountainous highlands is typically composed of before Quaternary formations. Since the structure and lithology of formations are different, varying formations can have different significance in terms of runoff and sediment. The present study aimed to investigate the sediment production potential and the runoff generation threshold on three formations (Shirkooh Granite, Shale, Sandstone and Conglomerate of Sangestan and Taft Limestone) in Shirkooh mountain slopes. The 60 mm/h rainfall intensity with the 40 minute continuity, according to region rainfall records, and the ability of the rainfall simulator were selected as the basis for the study. Field experiments were conducted in dry conditions based on one square meter plot on rocky slopes with a gradient of 20 to 22 percent and a maximum thickness of 30 cm of soil. The results showed that in 60 mm/h rainfall intensity, the minimum rainfall to produce runoff on Sangestan, Shirkooh and, Taft, was 10, 10.7 and 16.7 mm, respectively. The maximum amount of the sediment was measured on Sangestan, Taft and Shirkooh, respectively. Statistical tests related to runoff and sediment production on all three formations confirmed a significant difference at the 5 % level. In terms of the time required to start runoff, the minimum time was for Sangestan, Shirkooh and Taft, respectively. According to the results, in terms of the potential for runoff generation and sediment production, Sangestan, Shirkooh and Taft can be ranked from high to low levels.
M. R. Mirzaei, S. Ruy,
Volume 22, Issue 4 (3-2019)
Abstract
Preferential flow is of great importance in the environment and the human health. So, rapid water transportation and consequently, pollutants and pesticides leak out and get into the groundwater, making it very difficult to measure and quantify. To quantify and describe the preferential flow, two gravity-driven models were used: 1) kinematic wave model (KW) introduced by Germann in 1985), and 2) kinematic dispersive wave (KDW) model developed by applying a second-order correction to the Germann’s model by Di Pietro et al. in 2003. So, the experimental data was obtained using the laboratory mini-rainfall-simulator over cylindrical soil samples at the laboratory. Their parameters were obtained using Solver add-ins in the Excel software. Then, the results were compared using the root-mean-square error (RMSE). The results showed that the KDW model could better predict the preferential flow (with lower RMSE). Also, the regression results showed 1) there was no significant relation between the preferential flow and the total porosity, and 2) there is a significant relation between the preferential flow and the macrospores.
A. R. Vaezi, Kh. Sahandi, N. Sadeghian,
Volume 24, Issue 2 (7-2020)
Abstract
In semi-arid regions, soils are weakly aggregated and subjected to water erosion processes especially rill and interrill erosion. There is no information on the rate of these water erosion types in semi-arid soils located in the hillslopes. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the soils susceptibility to these erosion types in semi-arid region. A laboratory experiment was done in eight soil textures using in a 0.6 m × 1 m flume a simulated rainfall with 50 mm.h-1 in intensity for 60 min. Rill and interrill erosion rate was measured using soil loss amount per flume area and rainfall duration. Based on the results, both rill and interrill erosion rate were significantly varied among the soils textures (P<0.001). Silt loam was the most susceptible soil to rill erosion (0.22 g m-2 sec-1) and interrill erosion (0.15 g m-2 sec-1), whereas sand didn’t appear any soil loss by these water erosion types. The compression of soil loss resulted by rill and interrill erosion among the soil tectures showed that rill erosion rate for sandy clay loam, silt loam, loam and sandy loam was 3.2, 1.4, 1.1 and 2.8 times higher than interrill erosion rate, respectively. These differences were statistically significant. Silt content was the major factor controlling soil loss difference in these soils. This study revealed that the study semi-arid soils having higher silt content appears also higher rill erosion rate than interrill erosion rate.
