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Using GIS and a digital elevation model to assess the effectiveness of variable grade flow diversion terraces in reducing soil erosion in northwestern New Brunswick, Canada
Author(s) -
Yang Qi,
Zhao Zhengyong,
Chow Thien Lien,
Rees Herb W.,
Bourque Charles P.A.,
Meng FanRui
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
hydrological processes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.222
H-Index - 161
eISSN - 1099-1085
pISSN - 0885-6087
DOI - 10.1002/hyp.7436
Subject(s) - digital elevation model , soil and water assessment tool , hydrology (agriculture) , watershed , environmental science , universal soil loss equation , erosion , soil conservation , sediment , deposition (geology) , terrain , swat model , wepp , elevation (ballistics) , drainage basin , geology , streamflow , agriculture , soil loss , geotechnical engineering , geomorphology , geography , remote sensing , mathematics , archaeology , computer science , geometry , machine learning , cartography
Flow diversion terraces (FDT) are commonly used beneficial management practice (BMP) for soil conservation on sloped terrain susceptible to water erosion. A simple GIS‐based soil erosion model was designed to assess the effectiveness of the FDT system under different climatic, topographic, and soil conditions at a sub‐basin level. The model was used to estimate the soil conservation support practice factor ( P ‐factor), which inherently considered two major outcomes with its implementation, namely (1) reduced slope length, and (2) sediment deposition in terraced channels. A benchmark site, the agriculture‐dominated watershed in northwestern New Brunswick (NB), was selected to test the performance of the model and estimated P ‐factors. The estimated P ‐factors ranged from 0·38–1·0 for soil conservation planning objectives and ranged from 0·001 to 0·45 in sediment yield calculations for water‐quality assessment. The model estimated that the average annual sediment yield was 773 kg ha −1 yr −1 compared with a measured value of 641 kg ha −1 yr −1 . The P ‐factors estimated in this study were comparable with predicted values obtained with the revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE2). The P ‐factors from this study have the potential to be directly used as input in hydrological models, such as the soil and water assessment tool (SWAT), or in soil conservation planning where only conventional digital elevation models (DEMs) are available. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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