Manuel Seeger

Assessing the Effect of Climate Oscillations and Land-use Changes on Streamflow in the Central Spanish Pyrenees

Abstract Plans to increase the amount of irrigated land in Mediterranean countries should consider how changes in climate and land-use affect water resources. In this study, both precipitation and temperature were used to analyze regional trends in discharge in the basins of the Central Spanish Pyrenees since the mid-20th century. Annual variations in the relationship between precipitation and discharge suggested that discharge was relatively lower in the second half of the study period, coinciding with major changes in land use. On a monthly scale, precipitation increased significantly in October, April, and July, and decreased in March, and temperature increased in January and February and decreased in April. Nevertheless, discharge has decreased significantly in most months in the past 50 years. Land-use and plant-cover changes are the only nonclimatic factor that can explain the loss of around 30% of the average annual discharge.

Quantitative comparison of initial soil erosion processes and runoff generation in Spanish and German vineyards.

The aim of this study was to enable a quantitative comparison of initial soil erosion processes in European vineyards using the same methodology and equipment. The study was conducted in four viticultural areas with different characteristics (Valencia and Málaga in Spain, Ruwer-Mosel valley and Saar-Mosel valley in Germany). Old and young vineyards, with conventional and ecological planting and management systems were compared. The same portable rainfall simulator with identical rainfall intensity (40mmh(-1)) and sampling intervals (30min of test duration, collecting the samples at 5-min-intervals) was used over a circular test plot with 0.28m(2). The results of 83 simulations have been analysed and correlation coefficients were calculated for each study area to identify the relationship between environmental plot characteristics, soil texture, soil erosion, runoff and infiltration. The results allow for identification of the main factors related to soil properties, topography and management, which control soil erosion processes in vineyards. The most important factors influencing soil erosion and runoff were the vegetation cover for the ecological German vineyards (with 97.6±8% infiltration coefficients) and stone cover, soil moisture and slope steepness for the conventional land uses.

Comparative measurements with seven rainfall simulators on uniform bare fallow land

To assess the inflfl uence of rainfall simulator type and plot dimensions on runoff and erosion, seven small portable rainfall simulators from Freiberg, Tubingen, Trier (all Germany), Valencia, Zaragoza (both Spain), Basel (Switzerland) and Wageningen (the Netherlands) were compared on a prepared bare fallow fifi eld. The experiments were carried out during an international rainfall simulator workshop, organized at Trier University (Germany) from 30th of June to 1st of July 2011.The tested rainfall simulators differ in design, rainfall intensities, rain spectra, etc. and represent most of the devices which have been used over the last decade in Europe. The plots for the different rainfall simulators were selected as similar as possible concerning soil physical and chemical properties, aspect and inclination and were chosen to be placed side by side in horizontal direction. Test procedure was standardized in order to examine the inflfl uence of the rainfall simulator andplot dimension only. The results show a clear and consistent relationship in runoff, erosion and infifi ltration behaviour of the different used rainfall simulators. With all the devices total soil loss is measurable, but different plot sizes, intensities and kinetic energies of the simulated rainfall caused differences in soil loss and runoff quantities per unit of area. Regarding course characteristics over runs, similarities could be observed especially in runoff behaviour. The rainfall simulators (> 1 m² plot size) are able to reproduce infifi ltration and interrillerosion processes. With an increase of plot size (≥ 1 m²), rill-erosion will be also reflfl ected. Therefore it can be concluded that up to a certain plot size, the results of the different simulators are comparable and depend in their magnitude on the properties of the applied rainfall. The increase in process complexity with increasing plot size shows, that the scale of the simulation is one of the most important parameters to be taken intoaccount when comparing values of erosion and runoff.

Assessing riparian zone impacts on water and sediment movement: a new approach

The state of river channels and their riparian zones in terms of geomorphology and vegetation has a significant effect on water and sediment transport in headwater catchments. High roughness in natural rivers due to vegetation and geomorphological attributes generate drag on flowing water. This drag will slow water discharge, which in turn influences the sediment dynamics of the flow. The impacts of changes in the management of rivers and their riparian zone (either by catchment managers or river restoration plans) impacts both up- as well as downstream reaches, and should be assessed holistically prior to the implementation of these plans. To assess the rivers current state as well as any possible changes in geomorphology and vegetation in and around the river, effective approaches to characterise the river are needed. In this paper, we present a practical approach for making detailed surveys of relevant river attributes. This methodology has the benefit of being both detailed - describing river depth, width, channel morphology, erosive features and vegetation types - but also being practical in terms of time management. This is accomplished by identifying and describing characteristic benchmark reaches (typical sites) in detail against which the remainder of the river course can be rated. Using this method, a large river stretch can be assessed in a relatively short period while still retrieving high quality data for the total river course. In this way, models with high data requirements for assessing the condition of a river course, can be parameterised without major investments on field surveys. In a small headwater catchment (23 km(2)) in southwestern Poland, this field methodology was used to retrieve data to run an existing model (HEC-GeoRAS) which can assess the impact of changes in the riparian and channel vegetation and channel management on sedimentation processes and stream flow velocity. This model determines the impact of channel morphology and in-channel and riparian vegetation on stream flow and sediment transport. Using four return periods of flooding (2, 10, 20 and 100 years), two opposing channel management / morphology scenarios were run; a natural channel and a fully regulated channel. The modelling results show an increase in the effect of riparian vegetation / geomorphology with an increase in return period of the modeled peak discharge. More natural channel form and increased roughness reduces the stream flow velocity due to increasing drag from flow obstructions (vegetation and channel morphological features). The higher the flood water stage, the greater the drag due to vegetation on the floodplains of natural river reaches compared to channelised sections. Slower flow rates have an impact on sediment mobilisation and transport in the river.

Measuring fast-temporal sediment fluxes with an analogue acoustic sensor: a wind tunnel study.

In aeolian research, field measurements are important for studying complex wind-driven processes for land management evaluation and model validation. Consequently, there have been many devices developed, tested, and applied to investigate a range of aeolian-based phenomena. However, determining the most effective application and data analysis techniques is widely debated in the literature. Here we investigate the effectiveness of two different sediment traps (the BEST trap and the MWAC catcher) in measuring vertical sediment flux. The study was performed in a wind tunnel with sediment fluxes characterized using saltiphones. Contrary to most studies, we used the analogue output of five saltiphones mounted on top of each other to determine the total kinetic energy, which was then used to calculate aeolian sediment budgets. Absolute sediment losses during the experiments were determined using a balance located beneath the test tray. Test runs were conducted with different sand sizes and at different wind speeds. The efficiency of the two traps did not vary with the wind speed or sediment size but was affected by both the experimental setup (position of the lowest trap above the surface and number of traps in the saltation layer) and the technique used to calculate the sediment flux. Despite this, good agreement was found between sediment losses calculated from the saltiphone and those measured using the balance. The results of this study provide a framework for measuring sediment fluxes at small time resolution (seconds to milliseconds) in the field.

The rill experiment as a method to approach a quantification of rill erosion process activity.

Within this paper a standardized method to quantify sediment transport and runoff in natural rills is described. In order to achieve this, several rill experiments (RE) were accomplished in March 2007 in the Arnas catchment in the Spanish Pyrenees. Both, anthropogenically initiated and naturally developed rills were flushed with a total water quantity of 72 l in 8 minutes (equivalent to 9 l min-1). For the characterisation of the rill, slope is measured and micromorphological features like scours are registered. The experiments are characterised by the flow velocities along the whole flushed rill, sediment concentrations at different points and different times during the experiment. Runoff is measured after 25 m continuously. With this data, a set of characteristic variables is generated, which reflects the infiltration and flow behaviour along the rill. By means of rainfall simulations within the rills catchments, their contributing runoff was estimated also. The tested rills were developed on average slopes oscillating between 7.6° and 11.3°, the steepest slope reached 16°. The sediment concentrations reached average values between 0.69 and 2.21 g l-1, the maximum values ranged between 1.59 and 6.31 g l-1. Comparing the sediment concentrations measured in the rills to the sediment concentrations in the runoff of the river Arnas, it can be stated that the concentrations in the rills are usually higher. Though, the runoff was to low to cause erosion. Accordingly, the runoff amount that can be produced within the rills catchments was found to be about 10-25 times higher. By means of the developed rill experiments, for which easy to handle devices were built and are described in detail, it becomes possible to assess the effectivity of individual rills in a catchment and to evaluate their hydraulic functioning as well as their geomorphodynamic activity

The role of wind-driven rain for soil erosion – an experimental approach

Recent research has shown that wind can have a signififi cant inflfl uence on velocity, impact angle and kinetic energy of raindrops, and subsequently increases soil erosion. The aims of this study were to 1) quantify the inflfl uence of wind on water erosion, 2) specififi cally observe the difference in processes betweenwindless rain (WLR) and wind-driven rain (WDR) simulations and 3) test the device’s and test sequence’s practicability. The Portable Wind and Rainfall Simulator (PWRS), recently developed at Trier University for plot-scale in situ assessment of differences in soil erosion with and without the inflfl uence of wind on raindrops, wasused. To facilitate extraction of the inflfl uences of WDR on soil erosion, to avoid systematic errors, and to reduce variability between test plots, a defifi ned order of four consecutive test runs was established: 0) wind simulation, 1) WLR simulation on dry soil, 2) WLR simulation on moist soil, 3) WDR simulation. The tests were conducted on homogenous sandy substrate deposited on an area of 15.2 m 60 m with uniform and smooth surface and low inclination (1°) in the Willem Genet Tunnel of Wageningen University. The results show an increase of eroded sediment ranging from 113 % up to 1108 % for WDR simulations in comparisonto WLR simulations. The increase in runoff was considerably lower (15 % to 71 %), resulting in an increase of sediment concentration between 56 % and 894 %. The results indicate an immense impact of WDR on soil erosion of sandy cohesionless substrate. The experimental setting and measurement proved reliable and reproducible and enables a clear process observation and quantififi cation in the fifi eld.

Applicability of Different Hydraulic Parameters to Describe Soil Detachment in Eroding Rills

This study presents the comparison of experimental results with assumptions used in numerical models. The aim of the field experiments is to test the linear relationship between different hydraulic parameters and soil detachment. For example correlations between shear stress, unit length shear force, stream power, unit stream power and effective stream power and the detachment rate does not reveal a single parameter which consistently displays the best correlation. More importantly, the best fit does not only vary from one experiment to another, but even between distinct measurement points. Different processes in rill erosion are responsible for the changing correlations. However, not all these procedures are considered in soil erosion models. Hence, hydraulic parameters alone are not sufficient to predict detachment rates. They predict the fluvial incising in the rills bottom, but the main sediment sources are not considered sufficiently in its equations. The results of this study show that there is still a lack of understanding of the physical processes underlying soil erosion. Exerted forces, soil stability and its expression, the abstraction of the detachment and transport processes in shallow flowing water remain still subject of unclear description and dependence.

Temporal changes in soil water erosion on sloping vineyards in the Ruwer- Mosel Valley. The impact of age and plantation works in young and old vines

Abstract It is well known that rainfall causes soil erosion in sloping German vineyards, but little is known about the effect of age of plantation on soil erosion, which is relevant to understand and design sustainable management systems. In the Ruwer-Mosel valley, young (1- to 4-years) and old (35- to 38-years after the plantation) vineyards were selected to assess soil and water losses by using two-paired Gerlach troughs over three years (2013-2015). In the young vineyard, the overland flow was 107 L m-1 and soil loss 1000 g m-1 in the year of the plantation, and decreased drastically over the two subsequent years (19 L m-1; 428 g m-1). In the old vineyard, soil (from 1081 g m-1 to 1308 g m-1) and water (from 67 L m-1 to 102 L m-1) losses were 1.2 and 1.63 times higher, respectively, than in the young vineyard.

Soil Erosion on Abandoned Land in Andalusia: A Comparison of Interrill- and Rill Erosion Rates

The present paper is based on several field investigations (monitoring soil and rill erosion by aerial photography, rainfall simulations with portable rainfall simulators, and manmade rill flooding) in southern Spain. Experiments lead now to a closer understanding of the dynamics and power of different soil erosion processes in a gully catchment area. The test site Freila (Andalusia, Spain) covers an area of 10.01 ha with a rill density of 169 m ha−1, corresponding to a total rill length of 1694 m. Assuming an average rill width of 0.15 m, the total rill surface can be calculated at 250 m2 (0.025 ha). Given that, the surface covered by rills makes up only 0.25% of the total test site. Since the rill network drains 1.98 ha, 20% of the total runoff comes from rills. The rills’ sediment erosion was measured and the total soil loss was then calculated for detachment rates between 1685 g m−2 and 3018 g m−2. The interrill areas (99.75% of the test site) show values between 29 and 143 g m−2. This suggests an important role of rill erosion concerning runoff and soil detachment.