Spatial variability in rainfall erosivity and sediment yield within a semiarid woodland
Hastings BK, Breshears DD, Smith FM. Spatial variability in rainfall erosivity and sediment yield within a semiarid woodland. Soil Science Society of America Journal
In this study, the authors measured the spatial variability of rainfall erosivity using 12 tipping-bucket rain gauges within a 40-ha area of a pinon-juniper woodland in north central New Mexico. The study period encompassed 14 rainfall-runoff events derived from convective summer thunderstorms occurring over a 2-year period (2000-01). Each rain gauge was instrumented with 1-minute resolution electronic data loggers to determine rainfall erosivity. The spatial variability in rainfall erosivity had a median coefficient of variation across all storms of 22%, which exceeded the coefficent of variation of rainfall depth, which was 15%. The most spatially variable storm, relative to rainfall erosivity, had a rainfrall erosivity gradient that varied by a factor of five in less than a 300-m distance and was the second largest of the 14 storms. These spatial differences in erosivity impacted the site sediment yield. Sediment yield was postively correlated with rainfall erosivity.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Hastings, Brian; Breshears, David; Smith, Freeman
- Units
- BAND
- Keywords
- Hydrology, Juniper, Physical Sciences, pinyon pine, Plant Studies, Soil Erosion