Modelización espacialmente distribuida de la erosión y el transporte de sedimento en cuencas de montaña del Pirineo aragonés: retos para la calibración y validación

L.C. Alatorre; Santiago Beguería; Noemí Lana-Renault; Ana Navas

doi:10.18172/cig.1992

Authors

L.C. Alatorre Universidad Autonoma de Ciudad Juarez
Santiago Beguería Estacion Experimental de Aula Dei, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC),
Noemí Lana-Renault Universidad de La Rioja
Ana Navas Estacion Experimental de Aula Dei, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18172/cig.1992

Keywords:

soil erosion, sediment transport, 137Cs inventories, model WATEM/SEDEM, transport capacity coefficient, experimental Arnás catchment, Central Spanish Pyrenees,

Abstract

Most erosion models applied at basin scale are based on spatially aggregated representation, for example, in a space subdivision of the surfaces to which behavior is assumed homogeneous (sub-basins, hydrological units, etc.). This approach leads to a desirable simplification of the calculations, but presents difficulties in addressing problems related to sediment transport and identification of sediment source areas, which should be treated by a continuous spatial representation. Spatially distributed models, however, allow a more accurate approach to this problem, at the cost of an increased computational complexity. The objective of this work is the calibration and validation of the model WATEM/SEDEM, an empirical-conceptual spatially distributed model, to predict erosion and sediment yield in two watersheds in the Central Spanish Pyrenees: i) the watershed of the Barasona Reservoir (1504 km2), which is drained by the Ésera and Isábena Rivers, the model calibration and validation was based on the depositional history of the Barasona Reservoir and suspended sediment records over 3 years (May 2005–May 2008) at the outlet of the Isábena River; ii) the experimental Arnás catchment (2.84 km2), the model calibration was performed based on a dataset of soil redistribution rates derived from point 137Cs inventories, allowing capture differences per land use in the main model parameters. The validation process was carried with the registration of six years of suspended sediment at the outlet of the Arnás catchment. The calibration process for watershed of the Barasona Reservoir showed the problem you have when trying to calibrate the parameters of transport capacity with a single variable (the export of sediment to the basin outlet), making impossible to find a single set of parameters that optimize the error function, making it necessary to adopt a compromise solution. For the experimental Arnás catchment the model calibration processes using spatially distributed sediment yield derived from 137Cs inventories allowed calibrating the empirical parameters of transport capacity in a satisfactory way, finding a single combination of values that optimizes the error function. These results show that the calibration parameters of transport capacity are a fundamental aspect of the model WATEM/SEDEM and other similar models. To obtain a reliable estimate of the spatial distribution of erosion and sediment transport requires a calibration and validation by means of spatially distributed data of soil loss, which in turn allows a calibration of spatially distributed parameters concerning transport capacity

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Alatorre, L.C., Beguería, S. 2009a. Identification of eroded areas using remote sensing in a badlands landscape on marls in the central Spanish Pyrenees. Catena 76, 182-190.

Alatorre, L.C., Beguería, S. 2009b. Identificación de zonas de erosión activa y áreas de riesgo mediante teledetección: un ejemplo en un paisaje de cárcavas sobre margas en el Pirineo Central Español. Cuadernos de Investigación Geográfica 35 (2), 171-194.

Alatorre, L.C., Beguería, S., García-Ruiz, J.M. 2010. Regional scale modeling of hillslope sediment delivery: a case study in Barasona reservoir watershed (Spain) using WATEM/SEDEM. Journal of Hydrology 391, 109-123.

Alatorre, L.C., Beguería, S., Lana-Renault, N., Navas, A., García-Ruiz, J.M. 2012. Soil erosion and sediment delivery in a mountain catchment under scenarios of land use change using a spatially distributed numerical model. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 16, 1321-1334.

Almorox, J., De Antonio, R., Saa, A., Cruz Díaz, M., Gasco, J.M. 1994. Métodos de estimación de la erosión hídrica. Agrícola Española, Madrid, 152 pp.

Angulo-Martínez, M., Beguería, S. 2009. Estimating rainfall erosivity from daily precipitation records: a comparison between methods in the Ebro Basin (NE Spain). Journal of Hydrology 379, 111-121.

Avendaño, C., Cobo, R., Sanz, M.E., Gómez, J.L. 1997a. Capacity situation in Spanish reservoirs. Proceedings of the Nineteenth Congress on Large Dams 74 (53), 849-862.

Avendaño, C., Sanz, M.E., Cobo, R., Gómez, J.L. 1997b. Sediment yield at Spanish reservoirs and its relationships with the drainage basin area. Proceedings of the Nineteenth Congress on Large Dams 74 (54), 863-874.

Bathurst, J.C., Moretti, G., El-Hames, A., Beguería, S., García-Ruiz, J.M. 2007. Modelling the impact of forest loss on shallow landslide sediment yield, Ijuez river catchment, Spanish Pyrenees. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 11, 569-583.

Bujan, A., Santanatoglia, O.J., Chagas, C., Massobrio, M., Castiglioni, M., Yanez, M., Ciallella, H., Fernández, J. 2003. Soil erosion evaluation in a small basin through the use of Cs-137 technique. Soil & Tillage Research 69, 127-137.

Chueca, J., Julián, A. 2002. Rasgos climáticos del macizo de la Madaleta (Pirineo Central Español). Boletín Glaciológico Aragonés 3, 113-130.

Collins, A.L., Walling, D.E., Sichingabula, H.M., Leeks, G.J.L. 2001. Using 137Cs measurements to quantify soil erosion and redistribution rates for areas under different land use in the Upper Kaleya River basin, southern Zambia. Geoderma 104, 229-323.

Desmet, P.J.J., Govers, G. 1996. A GIS procedure for automatically calculating the USLE LS factor on topographically complex landscape units. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 51, 427-433.

De Roo, A.P.J. 1993. Validation of the ANSWERS catchment model for runoff and soil erosion simulation in catchments in The Netherlands and the United Kingdom. IAHS Publ. 211, 465-474.

De Vente, J., Poesen, J., Verstraeten, G., Van Rompaey, A., Govers., G. 2008. Spatially distributed modelling of soil erosion and sediment yield at regional scales in Spain. Global and Planetary Change 60, 393-415.

Feng, X., Wang, Y., Chen, L., Fu, B., Bai, G. 2010. Modeling soil erosion and its response to land-use change in hilly catchments Chinese Loess Plateau. Geomorphology 118, 239-248.

Ferro, V., Porto, P., Tusa, G. 1998. Testing a distributed approach for modeling sediment delivery. Hydrological Sciences Journal 43, 425-442.

García-Ruiz, J.M., Lasanta-Martínez, T. 1990. Land-use changes in the Spanish Pyrenees. Mountain Research and Development 10, 267-279.

García-Ruiz, J.M., Beguería, S., López Moreno, J.I., Lorente, A., Seeger, M. 2001. Los recursos hídricos superficiales del Pirineo aragonés y su evolución reciente. Geoforma, Logroño, 192 pp.

García-Ruiz, J.M., Arnáez, J., Beguería, S., Seeger, M., Martí-Bono, C., Regüés, D., Lana- Renault, N., White, S. 2005. Runoff generation in an intensively disturbed, abandoned farmland catchment, Central Spanish Pyrenees. Catena 59, 79-92.

Keesstra, S.D., van Dam, O., Verstraeten, G., van Huissteden, J. 2009. Changing sediment dynamics due to natural reforestation in the Dragonja catchment, SW Slovenia. Catena 78, 60-71.

Kozak, J. 2003. Forest cover change in the Western Carpathians in the past 180 years: A case study in the Orawa region in Poland. Mountain Research and Development 23, 369-375.

Lana-Renault, N. Regüés, D. 2007. Bedload transport under different flow condition in a humandisturbed catchment in the Central Spanish Pyrenees. Catena 7, 155-163.

Lana-Renault, N., Regüés D. 2009. Seasonal patterns of suspended sediment transport in an abandoned farmland catchment in the central Spanish Pyrenees. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 34, 1291-1301.

Lana-Renault, N., Latron, J., Regüés, D. 2007a. Streamflow response and water-table dynamics in a sub-Mediterranean research catchment (Central Spanish Pyrenees). Journal of Hydrology 347, 497-507.

Lana-Renault, N., Regüés, D., Martí-Bono, C., Beguería, S., Latron, J., Nadal, E., Serrano, P., García-Ruiz, J.M. 2007b. Temporal variability in the relationships between precipitation, discharge and suspended sediment concentration in a small Mediterranean mountain catchment. Nordic Hydrology 38, 139-150.

Lasanta, T., Beguería, S., García-Ruiz, J.M. 2006. Geomorphic and hydrological effects of traditional shifting agriculture in a Mediterranean mountain, Central Spanish Pyrenees. Mountain Research and Development 26, 146-152.

López-Moreno, J.I., García-Ruiz, J.M. 2004. Influence of snow accumulation and snowmelt on streamflow in the Central Spanish Pyrenees. International Journal of Hydrological Sciences 49, 787-802.

López-Moreno, J.I., Beguería, S., García-Ruiz, J.M. 2002. El régimen del río Ésera, Pirineo Aragonés, y su tendencia reciente. Boletín Glaciológico Aragonés 3, 131-162.

López-Tarazón, J.A., Batalla, R.J., Vericat, D., Francke, T. 2009. Suspended sediment transport in a highly erodible catchment: the river Isábena (Central Pyrenees). Geomorphology 109, 210-221.

López-Vicente, M., Navas, A., Machín, J. 2008. Identifying erosive periods by using RUSLE factors in mountain fields of the Central Spanish Pyrenees. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 12, 523-535.

López-Vicente, M., Lana-Renault, N., García-Ruiz, J.M., Navas, A. 2011. Assessing the potential effect of different land cover management practices on sediment yield from an abandoned farmland catchment in the Spanish Pyrenees. Journal of Soils and Sediments 11, 1440-1455.

Lorente, A., Martí-Bono, C., Beguería, S., Arnáez, J., García- Ruiz, J.M. 2000. La exportación de sedimento en suspensión en una cuenca de campos abandonados, Pirineo central español. Cuaternario y Geomorfología 14, 21-34.

Machín, J. 1990. Mapa de suelos de Aragón (Soil map of Aragón) 1:100,000. Estación Experimental de Aula Dei, Zaragoza.

Merritt, W.S., Letcher, R.A., Jakeman, A.J. 2003. A review of erosion and sediment transport models. Environmental Modelling and Software 18, 761-799.

Nash, J.E., Sutcliffe, J.V. 1970. River flow forecasting through conceptual models: Part 1: a discussion of principles. Journal of Hydrology 10, 282-290.

Navas, A. 2002. Erosion and sedimentation features in Mediterranean landscapes assessed by fallout 137Cs. Nucleus 32, 31-37.

Navas, A., Valero, B., Machín, J., Walling, D. 1998. Los sedimentos del embalse Joaquín Costa y la historia de su depósito. Limnética 14, 93-112.

Navas, A., Soto, J., Machín, J. 2002a. Edaphic and physiographic factors affecting the distribution of natural gamma-emitting radionuclides in the soil of the Arnás catchment in the Central Spanish Pyrenees. European Journal of Soil Scences 53, 629-638.

Navas, A., Soto, J., Machín, J. 2002b. 238U, 226Ra, 210Pb, 232Th and 40K activities in soil profiles of the Flysch sector (Central Spanish Pyrenees). Applied Radiation and Isotopes 57, 579-589.

Navas, A., Machín, J., Soto, J. 2005. Assessing soil erosion in a Pyrenean mountain catchment using GIS and fallout 137Cs. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 105, 493-506.

Navas, A., Machín, J., Beguería, S., López-Vicente, M., Gaspar, L. 2008. Soil properties and physiographic factors controlling the natural vegetation re-growth in a disturbed catchment of the Central Spanish Pyrenees. Agroforestry Systems 72, 173-185.

Renard, K.G., Foster, G.R., Weesies, G.A., Porter, J.P. 1991. RUSLE - revised universal soil loss equation. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 46, 30-33.

Ritchie, J.C., McHenry, J.R. 1990. Application of radioactive fallout cesium-137 for measuring soil erosion and sediment accumulation rates and patterns: a review. Journal of Environmental Quality 19, 215-233.

Sanz-Montero, M., Cobo-Rayán, R., Avendaño-Salas, C., Gómez-Montaña, J. 1996. Influence of the drainage basin area on the sediment yield to Spanish reservoirs. En Proceedings of the First European Conference and Trace Exposition on Control Erosion, Sitges, Spain.

Seeger, M., Errea, M.P., Beguería, S., Arnáez, J., Martí, C., García-Ruiz, J.M. 2004. Catchment soil moisture and rainfall characteristics as determinant factors for discharge/suspended sediment hysteretic loops in a small headwater catchment in the Spanish Pyrenees. Journal of Hydrology 288, 299-311.

Taillefumier, F., Piégay, H. 2003. Contemporary land use changes in prealpine Mediterranean mountains: A multivariate GIS-based approach applied to two municipalities in the Southern French Prealps. Catena 51, 267-296.

Takken, I., Beuselinck, L., Nachtergaele, J., Govers, G., Poesen, J., Degraer, G. 1999. Spatial evaluation of a physically-based distributed erosion model (LISEM). Catena 37, 431-447.

Takken, I., Govers, G., Jetten, V., Nachtergaele, J., Steegen, A., Poesen, J. 2005. The influence of both process descriptions and runoff patterns on predictions from a spatially distributed soil erosion model. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 30, 213-229.

Torta, G. 2004. Consequences of rural abandonment in a Northern Apennines Landscape (Tuscany, Italy). En Recent dynamics of the Mediterranean vegetation and landscape, S. Mazzoleni, G. di Pasquale, M. Mulligan, P. di Martino, F. Rego (eds.), Wiley, Chichester, pp. 157-167.

Valero-Garcés, B.L., Navas, A., Machín, J., Walling, D. 1999. Sediment sources and siltation in mountain reservoirs: a case study from the Central Spanish Pyrenees. Geomorphology 28, 23-41.

Van Oost, K., Govers, G., Desmet, P.J.J. 2000. Evaluating the effects of landscape structure on soil erosion by water and tillage. Landscape Ecology 15, 579-591.

Van Rompaey, A.J.J., Verstraeten, G., Van Oost, K., Govers, G., Poesen, J. 2001a. Modelling mean annual sediment yield using a distributed approach. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 26, 1221-1236.

Van Rompaey, A., Verstraeten, G., Van Oost, K., Rozanov, A., Govers, G., Poesen, J. 2001b. Modelling sediment transport in the Jonkershoek catchment. Part 1: model calibration and validation. En Cartographic Modelling of Land Degradation, Proceedings of the Workshop held in Ghent (September 2001) in the Framework of the Bilateral Cooperation between Flanders and South-Africa, pp. 75-89.

Van Rompaey, A., Krasa, J., Dostal, T., Govers, G. 2003. Modelling sediment supply to rivers and reservoirs in Eastern Europe during and after the collectivization period. Hydrobiologia 494, 169-176.

Van Rompaey, A., Bazzoffi, P., Jones, R.J.A., Montanarella, L. 2005. Modelling sediment yields in Italian catchments. Geomorphology 65, 157-169.

Verstraeten, G. 2006. Regional scale modelling of hillslope sediment delivery with SRTM elevation data. Geomorphology 81, 128-140.

Verstraeten, G., Poesen, J. 2001. Factors controlling sediment yield from small intensively cultivated catchments in a temperate humid climate. Geomorphology 40, 123-144.

Verstraeten, G., Van Rompaey, A., Van Oost, K., Rozanov, A., Poesen, J., Govers, G. 2001. Modelling sediment transport in the Jonkershoek catchment. Part 2: evaluating the impact of possible land use changes on sediment delivery to the EersteRivier and the Jonkershoek reservoir. En Cartographic Modelling of Land Degradation, Proceedings of the Workshop held in Ghent (September 2001) in the Framework of the Bilateral Cooperation between Flanders and South-Africa, pp. 91-99.

Verstraeten, G., Van Oost, K., Van Rompaey, A., Poesen, J., Govers, G. 2002. Evaluating an integrated approach to catchment management to reduce soil loss and sediment pollution through modelling. Soil Use and Management 18, 386-394.

Verstraeten, G., Poesen, J., Gillijns, K., Govers, G. 2006. The use of riparian vegetated filter strips to reduce river sediment loads: an over-estimated control measure? Hydrological Processes 20, 4259-4267.

Verstraeten, G., Prosser, I.P., Fogarty, P. 2007. Predicting the spatial patterns of hillslope sediment delivery to river channels in the Murrumbidgee catchment, Australia. Journal of Hydrology 334, 440-454.

Vigiak, O., Sterk, G., Romanowicz, R.J., Beven, K.J. 2006. A semi-empirical model to assess uncertainty of spatial patterns of erosion. Catena 66 (3), 198-210.

Walling, D.E., Quine, T.A. 1990. Calibration of Cs-137 measurements to provide quantitative erosion rate data. Land Degradation and Rehabilitation 2, 1661-175.

Walling, D.E., Quine, T.A. 1991. Use of 137Cs measurements to investigate soil erosion on arable fields in the UK: potential applications and limitations. Journal of Soil Science 42, 147-165.

Walling, D.E., He, Q. 1999. Improved models for estimating soil erosion rates from cesium-137 measurements. Journal of Environmental Quality 28, 611-622.

Walling, D.E., He, Q., Whelan, P.A. 2003. Using 137Cs measurements to validate the application of the AGNPS and ANSWERS erosion and sediment yield models in two small Devon catchments. Soil & Tillage Research 69, 27-43.