Assessment of Erosion in River Basins: A Distributed Model to Estimate the Sediment Production over Watersheds by a 3-Dimensional LS Factor in RUSLE Model

Abstract

Erosive processes influence on several phenomena. In particular, they could influence on land depletion, on vegetation weakening, on aggradation phenomena of intermediate, and plain reaches of rivers, on waterways interruption due to overaggradation phenomena caused by floods, and on the losses of water volumes that may be stored in reservoirs. Among the models proposed in the literature for the prediction of erosion on the annual scale, one of the most widely used is the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). In the present paper, starting from the definition of the original model, the authors improved the important combined slope length and slope angle (LS-factor), taking into account the mutual interaction of solid particles, in terms of path and confluences, so as to transform the model, which was first classified on a slope scale or at most on a parcel one, into a distributed model on a basin scale. The use of a distributed approach is an integral part of the analysis of the hydrogeological risk. In this way, it is possible to obtain a map of the erodibility of any basin, from which to derive the most vulnerable areas. The proposed methodology has been tested on the Camastra Basin, located in Basilicata Region of Southern Italy.

Trigno River Mouth Evolution via Littoral Drift Rose

“…The Molise coast has been suffering from severe erosion since the 1950s, principally due to the restrictions imposed to the river flows and the consequent decrease in sediment delivery to the coast [4,5]. Erosive processes due to Molise's traverses and check-dams were intensively deepened in recent studies [6,7], even in other sites of southern Italy [8]. The progressive erosion process has been dealt with, over the years, using structural measures, which consequently resulted in a "hardening" of the coast (with detached breakwaters and groins) of about 62% [4,9].…”

Land management impacts on soil properties and initial soil erosion processes in olives and vegetable crops

“…Previous studies recognized a high variation in runoff (Run) and soil erosion by water due to land-use changes, wildfires, and grazing (Biddoccu et al, 2017;Dalla Rosa et al, 2017;Pereira et al, 2018b). However, along the Mediterranean area, millennia agricultural practices, vulnerable environment, extreme climate conditions characterized by extreme and irregular rainfall events, long dry periods on bare soils are recognized as drivers for higher soil and water losses (Covelli et al, 2020;Kosmas et al, 2015;Salvia et al, 2019).…”

The Reuse of Sediments Dredged from Artificial Reservoirs for Beach Nourishment: Technical and Economic Feasibility

“…Several methods can be applied to prevent and reduce sedimentation in reservoirs [21][22][23][24]. In order to recover storage capacity of silted-up reservoirs, the most efficient methods are sediment flushing [25][26][27], hydro-suction technique [28] and sluicing operations.…”