Assessing response of sediment load variation to climate change and human activities with six different approaches

Zhao, Guangju; Mu, Xingmin; Jiao, Juying; Gao, Peng; Sun, Wenyi; Li, Erhui; Wei, Yanhong; Huang, Jiacong

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.05.154

Cited by 69 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…Hydrological models, water balance equations, and statistical analyses are usually employed to assess the contribution of climatic shifts and anthropogenic interventions to changes in river hydrological regimes (Zhao et al, ; Gao, Deng, et al, ). Many hydrological models are currently used, such as the soil and water assessment tool, the variable infiltration capacity model, the Water Erosion Prediction Project model, and the Xinanjiang model (Choi, Rasmussen, Moore, & Kim, ; Li et al, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Water balance equations (e.g., Budyko hypothesis) not only need extensive basic data but also cannot be applied to SSLs (Dooge, Bruen, & Parmentier, ; Gao, Fu, Wang, Liang, & Jiang, ; Milly & Dunne, ). Statistical analysis is an easy and quick way to be building statistical relations between hydrologic regimes and meteorological factors (Zhao et al, ). Although statistical analysis is a black‐box model without physical significance, it has been widely used because of its convenience and smaller requirements for essential data, particularly in large areas.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Changes in run‐off and sediment load in the three parts of the Yellow River basin, in response to climate change and human activities

Gao

et al. 2018

Hydrological Processes

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Hydrological regimes in the Yellow River have changed significantly because of climate change and intensive human interventions. These changes present severe challenges to water resource utilization and ecological development. Variation of run-off, suspended sediment load (SSL), and eight precipitation indices (P1: 0-12 mm·day −1 , P12: 12-25 mm·day −1 , P25: 25-50 mm·day −1 , P50: P ≥ 50 mm·day −1 and corresponding rainfall day: Pd1, Pd12, Pd25, Pd50 day year −1 ) in three critical parts of the Yellow River basin (source region: SRYRB, upper reaches: URYRB, middle reaches: MRYRB) were investigated for the period from 1960 to 2015. The results show that run-off and SSL significantly decreased (P < 0.01) in the URYRB and the MRYRB, whereas their decline in the SRYRB was insignificant (P > 0.05). Moreover, run-off in the URYRB had one change point in 1987, and SSL in the URYRB as well as run-off and SSL in the MRYRB had two change points (in the 1970s and the 1990s). Over the same period, only Pd1 and Pd12 in the SRYRB showed significant increasing trends, and an abrupt change appeared in 1981. The optimal precipitationindices for assessing the effects of precipitation on run-off and SSL in the URYRB and MRYRB were Pd50 and P12, respectively. A double-mass curve analysis showed that precipitation and human activities contributed to approximately 20% and 80% of the reduction in run-off, respectively, for both the SRYRB and the MRYRB. However, the contribution rate of precipitation and human activities on SSL reduction was approximately 40% and 60% in the URYRB and 5% and 95% in the MRYRB, respectively. Human activities, primarily soil and water conservation measures and water extraction (diversion), were the main factors (>50%) that reduced the run-off. However, the dominant driving factors for SSL reduction were soil and water conservation measures and reservoir interception, for which the contribution rate was higher than 70% in the MRYRB. This work strengthens the understanding of hydrological responses to precipitation change and provides a useful reference for regional water resource utilization.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in run‐off and sediment load in the three parts of the Yellow River basin, in response to climate change and human activities

Gao

et al. 2018

Hydrological Processes

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“…According to [23], several problems with this method can be observed, e.g., the unknown effectiveness of the reservoir, the importance of a detailed analysis of the sediment cores; the precise location of sources of the sediment; the size of the reservoir and related discharges; and depreciation of the organic fraction of the sediment due to the measurements. Nevertheless, the bathymetric method is arguably the best way to determine the volume of sediment and can be carried out by several approaches [23,24,57]. The use of the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) to investigate the temporal evolution of changes in the bottom of the reservoir through the DEM was approved in this paper.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Validation of the EROSION-3D Model through Measured Bathymetric Sediments

Németová

Honek

Kohnová

et al. 2020

Water

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The testing of a model performance is important and is also a challenging part of scientific work. In this paper, the results of the physically-based EROSION-3D (Jürgen Schmidt, Berlin, Germany) model were compared with trapped sediments in a small reservoir. The model was applied to simulate runoff-erosion processes in the Svacenický Creek catchment in the western part of the Slovak Republic. The model is sufficient to identify the areas vulnerable to erosion and deposition within the catchment. The volume of sediments was measured by a bathymetric field survey during three terrain journeys (in 2015, 2016, and 2017). The results of the model point to an underestimation of the actual processes by 30% to 80%. The initial soil moisture played an important role, and the results also revealed that rainfall events are able to erode and contribute to a significant part of sediments.

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“…Pokhrel et al [22] conducted a review of the integrated effects of changing climate, land use, and dams on Mekong River hydrology. In China's Loess Plateau, there are also many similar studies for the basins with the loess hill and gully landform [23][24][25][26][27]. It was found that increasing vegetation coverage was the primary factor driving the significant reduction in sediment load from the 1960s in some basins in the Loess Plateau (e.g., [23]), and more evapotranspiration and less surface runoff and soil water content were produced than before [24].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Liang et al [25] suggested that the Grain-for-Green Project help the ecological restoration actions over the sloping parts of the landscape to weaken the impact of those in channels (i.e., warping dams) on streamflow. The attribution case studies in the Huangfuchuan catchment suggested that human activities were the dominant influencing factor of changes in streamflow and sediment [26,27].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Streamflow and Sediment Declines in a Loess Hill and Gully Landform Basin Due to Climate Variability and Anthropogenic Activities

Chang

Zhang

et al. 2019

Water

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Streamflow and sediment runoff are important indicators for the changes in hydrological processes. In the context of environmental changes, decreases in both streamflow and sediment (especially in the flood season) are often observed in most of the tributaries of the middle Yellow River in China’s Loess Plateau. Understanding the effect of human activities could be useful for the management of soil and water conservation (SWC) and new constructions. In this paper, changes in streamflow and sediment during the flood season (June–September) of the 1966–2017 period in a typical loess hill and gully landform basin were analyzed. Basin-wide rainfall of the flood season decreased nonsignificantly with an average rate of −0.6 mm/flood season for the whole study period by using the trend-free pre-whitening based Mann–Kendall trend test, while the decreasing rate was weakened on the time scale. A remarkable warming trend (1985–1999) and two decreasing trends (1966–1984 and 2000–2017) were observed, and the overall increasing trend could be found in air temperature series with a rate of 0.01 °C/flood season during the study period. Statistical models were developed to describe the rainfall-runoff and rainfall-sediment processes in the pre-impact period (when the hydrological series was stationary). Furthermore, the relative effects of climate variability and human activities on hydrological changes were quantified. Results proved the dominant role of human activities (versus climate variability) on the reductions of both streamflow and sediment load. The relative contribution of human activities to streamflow decrease was 84.6% during the post-impact period 1995–2017, while the contributions were 48.8% and 80.1% for two post-impact periods (1982–1996 and 1997–2017), respectively, to the reduction of sediment load. Besides, the effect of the exclusion of anomalous streamflow or sediment events on change-point detection was also analyzed. It indicated that the anomalous events affect the detection of change points and should be given full consideration in order to decide whether to remove them in the change-point detection. Otherwise, the full series with anomalous samples will completely affect the attribution results of hydrological changes. We also suggest that large-scale SWC measures with different construction quality and operational life could intercept and relieve most floods and high sediment concentration processes, but may amplify the peaks of streamflow and sediment when the interception capacities are exceeded under the condition of extreme rainstorm events.

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Assessing response of sediment load variation to climate change and human activities with six different approaches

Cited by 69 publications

References 53 publications

Changes in run‐off and sediment load in the three parts of the Yellow River basin, in response to climate change and human activities

Changes in run‐off and sediment load in the three parts of the Yellow River basin, in response to climate change and human activities

Validation of the EROSION-3D Model through Measured Bathymetric Sediments

Streamflow and Sediment Declines in a Loess Hill and Gully Landform Basin Due to Climate Variability and Anthropogenic Activities

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