Factors Controlling the Suspended Sediment Yield During Rainfall Events of Dry and Wet Weather Conditions in A Tropical Urban Catchment

Abstract

The catchments of the Klang and Ampang Rivers are two sub-catchments that drain into the main Klang River, Selangor, Malaysia. Due to the development and siltation processes, the current capacity of the Klang River in the city centre is insufficient for accommodating the excess flood flow during major events, and, therefore overflows the riverbanks causing flash floods to occur in the Kuala Lumpur city centre. This study investigates the relationship between the rainfall, discharge and suspended sediment transport and its variations during the dry and wet periods in tropical sub-catchments; identifies the different hysteresis types of single flood events in the suspended sediment concentration/discharge relationships in the dry and wet periods, and determines the relationship between the types of single event hysteresis loops and the hydrological and sediment responses. Principal component analysis was performed to examine factors that have a major influence on the suspended sediment yields during both the dry and wet periods. The clockwise and counter-clockwise hysteresis loops occurring mostly during the dry period, can be described as events with moderate total rainfall, rainfall intensity (less than 10 mmh −1 ), average discharge and suspended sediment load. Counter-clockwise events occurring during the wet period are associated with low total rainfall, rainfall intensity, average discharge and suspended sediment load. The clockwise and counter-clockwise events that occurred in the wet period are related to events with a Water Resour Manage (2015) 29:4519-4538 relatively high and low moisture condition, respectively. The figure-eight and complex hysteresis loop events occur predominantly during the wet period. The complex loop events occurred mostly during the wet period generates the highest suspended sediment load. The complex loop events occur mostly during the wet period generated the highest suspended sediment load.

Suspended sediment transport dynamics in rivers: Multi-scale drivers of temporal variation

“…Therefore, different parameters such as total discharge, peak discharge, water yield, time of rise and fall of hydrograph, total duration of a precipitation event, maximum 30-minute rainfall, mean rainfall intensity and antecedent rainfall are commonly included in models to estimate sediment transfer from the catchment to the river (e.g. Dominic et al, 2015;Duvert et al, 2010;Onderka et al, 2012;Seeger et al, 2004;Tena et al, 2014). In addition, snowmelt has been shown to be a dominant driver for SS transport in many parts of the world (e.g.…”

“…Furthermore, in (sub)tropical catchments, there is often a marked difference between factors controlling SS transport in the dry seasons compared to the wet seasons (Dominic et al, 2015;Franz et al, 2014;Omengo et al, 2016). A PCA applied in two tropical sub-catchments of the Klang River (Malaysia) shows that total rainfall and rainfall intensity are strongly related to SS hysteresis patterns in the dry season, while soil moisture plays a more important role in determining SS hysteresis patterns during the wet season (Dominic et al, 2015).…”

“…In recent data-mining studies, a range of significant variables have been identified, including antecedent rainfall, duration of the rainfall event, maximum rainfall over 30-minutes, mean rainfall intensity of the event, time of rise and fall of the hydrograph, runoff duration, peak discharge and total runoff (e.g. Dominic et al, 2015;Duvert et al, 2010;Fang et al, 2015;Perks et al, 2015;Seeger et al, 2004;Tena et al, 2014).…”

Modelling impacts of spatially variable erosion drivers on suspended sediment dynamics

“…CC BY 4.0 License. sediment concentrations has also been highlighted by Dominic et al (2015) and Brasington and Richards (2000), who attribute the peaks of SSCs to the connection of remote sediment sources during the wetting up of the catchment.…”

“…It is not simple to identify the different sources of variability in sediment production. Some studies have investigated the relationship between hydrometeorological conditions and suspended sediment transport, where a particular focus has been on the shape and direction of the hysteresis loops of the SSC-Q relation (Dominic et al, 2015;Seeger et al, 2004;Duvert et al, 2010;Zabaleta et al, 2007;Smith et al, 2003). The effects of human landscape modifications on the SSCs have also been explored, for example by looking at the consequences of land use change and flow regulation (Siakeu et al, 2004;Olarieta et al, 1999;Costa et al, 2018).…”