A numerical model of watershed erosion and sediment yield

Abstract

A physically based, distributed parameter, event oriented, nonlinear, numerical model of watershed response is developed to accommodate the spatial changes in topography, surface roughness, soil properties, concentrated flow patterns and geometry, and land use conditions. The Green and Ampt equation with the ponding time calculation for an unsteady rain is used to compute rainfall excess rates. The kinematic wave equations are used to describe the unsteady one-dimensional overland and channel flow. The unsteady and spatially varying erosion/deposition process on hillslopes and channel systems is described dynamically using simultaneous rates of sediment entrainment and deposition rather than the conventional approach using steady state sediment transport functions. To apply the model the watershed is represented by a simplified geometry consisting of discrete overland flow planes and channel elements. Each plane or channel is characterized by a length, width, and a roughness parameter. For channel elements, a cross-section geometry is also needed. A modular computer program called WESP (Watershed Erosion Simulation Program) is developed to provide the vehicle for performing the computer simulations. Rainfall simulator plots are used to estimate infiltration parameters, hydraulic roughness, and soil erodibility parameters for raindrop impact and overland flow. The ability of the model to simulate watershed response (hydrograph and sedigraph) to a variety of rainfall inputs and antecedent soil moisture conditions is verified using data collected on two small watersheds. The good agreement between the simulated watershed response and the observed watershed response indicates that the governing equations, initial and upper boundary conditions, and structural framework of the model can describe satisfactorily the physical processes controlling watershed response.