Soil moisture variability in a semi-arid gully catchment: implications for runoff and erosion control

Fitzjohn, C.; Ternan, J. L.; Williams, Andy

doi:10.1016/s0341-8162(97)00045-3

Cited by 186 publications

(149 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…At a catchment scale, widespread runoff and erosion must overcome the spatial arrangement and threshold values of hydrological response units at small scales and requires prolonged or larger magnitude storms. Therefore, creating a mosaic pattern of areas with contrasting hydrological responses may be an effective management strategy in runoff and erosion control (Fitzjohn et al, 1998). However, land uses can produce changes in soil physical attributes and evapotranspiration to result in infiltration changes.…”

Section: Implications For Land Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This variability of soil moisture results from the differences in topography (Burt and Butcher, 1985), soils (Hawley et al, 1983), vegetation (Le Roux et al, 1995) and land uses (Fu et al, 2000). A better understanding of the soil moisture variability is important for improving hydrological models (Grayson et al, 1992;Stolte et al, 2003) and land management in runoff and erosion control (Fitzjohn et al, 1998). Many have studied soil moisture variability for evaluating the factors of controlling soil moisture, determining their significance in the ecosystem processes and predicting soil moisture in catchment or on a large scale (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The effects of land use on soil moisture variation in the Danangou catchment of the Loess Plateau, China

Wang

Chen

et al. 2003

CATENA

256

118

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Soil moisture plays a critical role in both crop growth and vegetation restoration in semiarid environments. Its spatial and temporal variability results from topography, soils, vegetation and land uses. However, little knowledge exists about the effects of land use structure on soil moisture variability. In order to analyze soil moisture variations in relation to land use patterns, five land use structures and seven land use types were selected to monitor soil moisture. Soil moisture measurements were performed biweekly at 26 locations in a small catchment on the Loess Plateau of China from May to October 1998. The measurements were taken using a Theta-Probe at five depths of soil profile (0 -5, 15 -20, 25 -30, 45 -50 and 70 -75 cm). These data were analyzed for soil moisture variations in space and time for seven land use types. Three peaks and three troughs of soil moisture variations during the growing season were found. The influence of shrubland on mean soil moisture within 0 -70 cm was significantly different from that of cropland, orchard and intercropping land. Three types of soil moisture changes in profile were classified as increasing, decreasing and waving types. An analysis of the differences in soil moisture for five land use structures indicated that the influences of land use patterns on soil moisture were complex. This study provides an insight into the implications for hydrological modeling, runoff and erosion control in this area. D

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Section: Implications For Land Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of land use on soil moisture variation in the Danangou catchment of the Loess Plateau, China

Wang

Chen

et al. 2003

CATENA

256

118

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…These studies also demonstrate that discontinuities of hydrological pathways can exist between runoff generating areas and the channel network or the catchment outlet particularly for dry conditions (Fitzjohn et al, 1998;Bergkamp, 1998;Cammeraat, 2002). With increasing catchment area, the importance of transmission losses of runoff that already became channel flow by re-infiltration into the channel bed also increases.…”

Section: Landscape Variability and Hydrological Processes In Semi-arimentioning

confidence: 76%

Representation of landscape variability and lateral redistribution processes for large-scale hydrological modelling in semi-arid areas

Güntner

Bronstert

2004

Journal of Hydrology

117

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The spatial variability of landscape features such as topography, soils and vegetation defines the spatial pattern of hydrological state variables like soil moisture. Spatial variability thereby controls the functional behaviour of the landscape in terms of its runoff response. A consequence of spatial variability is that exchange processes between landscape patches can occur at various spatial scales ranging from the plot to the basin scale. In semi-arid areas, the lateral redistribution of surface runoff between adjacent landscape patches is an important process. For applications to large river basins of 10 4 -10 5 km 2 in size, a multi-scale landscape discretization scheme is presented in this paper. The landscape is sub-divided into modelling units within a hierarchy of spatial scale levels. By delineating areas characterized by a typical toposequence, organised and random variability of landscape characteristics is captured in the model. Using runoff -runon relationships with transition frequencies based on areal fractions of modelling units, lateral surface and subsurface water fluxes between modelling units at the hillslope scale are represented. Thus, the new approach allows for a manageable description of interactions between fine-scale landscape features for inclusion in coarse-scale models. Model applications for the State of Ceará (150,000 km 2 ) in the north-east of Brazil demonstrate the importance of taking into account landscape variability and interactions between landscape patches in a semiarid environment. Using mean landscape characteristics leads to a considerable underestimation of infiltration-excess surface runoff and total simulated runoff. Re-infiltration of surface runoff and lateral redistribution processes between landscape patches cause a reduction of runoff volumes at the basin scale and contribute to the amplification of variations in runoff volumes relative to variations in rainfall volumes for semi-arid areas. q 2004 Published by Elsevier B.V.

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“…Anderson and Kneale, 1980;Nyberg, 1996;Crave and Gascuel-Odoux, 1997;Bárdossy and Lehmann, 1998;Famiglietti et al, 1998;Qiu et al, 2001). It is also known from field observations that soil moisture patterns can reflect patterns in landscape and/or soil characteristics in a wet state, while reflecting vegetation and/or soil characteristics in a dry state (Grayson et al, 1997;Fitzjohn et al, 1998;Gómez-Plaza et al, 2000). Recent advances in the theoretical understanding of these empiral findings have been made by Albertson and Montaldo (2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimating spatial mean root-zone soil moisture from point-scale observations

Teuling

Uijlenhoet

Hupet

et al. 2006

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. Root zone soil moisture is a key variable in many land surface hydrology models. Often, however, there is a mismatch in the spatial scales at which models simulate soil moisture and at which soil moisture is observed. This complicates model validation. The increased availability of detailed datasets on space-time variability of root-zone soil moisture allows for a posteriori analysis of the uncertainties in the relation between point-scale observations and the spatial mean. In this paper we analyze three comprehensive datasets from three different regions. We identify different strategies to select observation sites. For instance, sites can be located randomly or according to the rank stability concept. For each strategy, we present methods to quantify the uncertainty that is associated with this strategy. In general there is a large correspondence between the different datasets with respect to the relative uncertainties for the different strategies. For all datasets, the uncertainty can be strongly reduced if some information is available that relates soil moisture content at that site to the spatial mean. However this works best if the space-time dynamics of the soil moisture field are known. Selection of the site closest to the spatial mean on a single random date only leads to minor reduction of the uncertainty with respect to the spatial mean over seasonal timescales. Since soil moisture variability is the result of a complex interaction between soil, vegetation, and landscape characteristics, the soil moisture field will be correlated with some of these characteristics. Using available information, we show that the correlation with leaf area index or a wetness coefficient alone is insufficient to predict if a site is representative for the spatial mean soil moisture content.

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Soil moisture variability in a semi-arid gully catchment: implications for runoff and erosion control

Cited by 186 publications

References 27 publications

The effects of land use on soil moisture variation in the Danangou catchment of the Loess Plateau, China

The effects of land use on soil moisture variation in the Danangou catchment of the Loess Plateau, China

Representation of landscape variability and lateral redistribution processes for large-scale hydrological modelling in semi-arid areas

Estimating spatial mean root-zone soil moisture from point-scale observations

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