Water flux and sediment transport within a forested landscape: the role of connectivity,subsurface flow,and slope length scale on transport mechanism |
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| Authors: | Afshin Ghahramani Yoshiharu Ishikawa |
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| Institution: | 1. CSIRO, Climate Adaptation National Research Flagship and Plant Industry;2. United Graduate School of Agriculture, Symbiotic Science of Environment and Natural Resources, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, , Tokyo, Japan |
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| Abstract: | The connectivity and upscaling of overland runoff and sediment transport are important issues in hillslope hydrology to identify water flux and sediment transport within landscape. These processes are highly variable in time and space with regard to their interactions with vegetation and soil surface conditions. The generation of overland runoff and its spatial connectivity were examined along a slope to determine the variations in the transport mechanism of runoff and soil particles by rain splash and overland runoff. Field experiments were conducted by erosion plots on a steep hillslope at lengths of 5, 10, and 15 m. The overland runoff connectivity and flow transport distance decreased with the slope length, while spatial variability of infiltration increased significantly with the slope length. Observation of subsurface flow revealed that surface soil and litter layer could have important role in water transport. However, the surface soil water content and water flux transport along the slope was highly variable for different storm events; the variability was related to the complexity of the system, mainly by way of the initial wetness conditions and infiltration characteristics. Only net rain‐splashed soil was measurable, but examination of the water flux, overland runoff and sediment transport connectivity, characteristics of sheetwash, and the variability in spatial infiltration indicated an increase in the contribution of the rain splash transport mechanism along the slope. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
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| Keywords: | hillslope scaling overland runoff subsurface runoff rain splash sheetwash HYDRUS |
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