Soil Erosion and Deposition in a Taiwanese Watershed Using USPED

Abstract

Soil erosion is a global problem that has been exacerbated in recent decades by global warming and the increased frequency of extreme weather events. It is also a global issue addressed by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal #15 that seeks to recover degraded land and create a world free of land degradation by 2030. In this study, we used the Unit Stream Power-based Erosion Deposition (USPED) model to investigate the distribution of soil erosion and deposition in an important reservoir watershed in Taiwan, which is known to have a high risk of sediment hazard. We found the average soil erosion rate to be 136.4 Mg/ha/year using the model’s recommended m = 1.3 and n = 1.2 empirical coefficients for a combined occurrence of sheet and rill erosion. Additionally, we selected the Sule sub-watershed and the Kala area as examples to illustrate the pattern of soil erosion and deposition and their relationship to rivers, roadways, and anthropogenic activity, and 3D terrain was employed to further enhance visualization of the model output. It was estimated that 12.6% of eroded soil was deposited with a 200 m buffer of the rivers in the watershed and might be swept into the river system by the next typhoon, torrential rain, landslide, or earthquake. In comparison to previous USLE- and RUSLE-based soil erosion modeling in the same research area, our USPED modeling is unique in that it included the amount and distribution of soil deposition. This successful implementation of USPED in Taiwan establishes a new modeling alternative in addition to the widely used USLE and RUSLE models. The findings can be used to direct future erosion pin placement in the research area, allowing for improved monitoring of sediment movement and avoiding sediment hazards.

Impact of Climate Change on Soil Erosion

“…Berdasarkan penjabaran tersebut, estimasi resiko terjadinya erosi tanah dengan menggunakan model empiris telah lama menjadi topik penelitian dengan tujuan untuk menetapkan rencana pengelolaan DAS (Arrebei et al, 2020). Hal ini juga dikarenakan pemanasan global yang terjadi dalam beberapa decade terakhir dengan meningkatnya frekuensi persitowa cuaca ekstrem (Chen et al, 2022). Hasil penelitian Liu et al (2007), menunjukkan bahwa perkiraan erosi dengan menggunakan metode USPED adalah alat yang efektif untuk mengukur tingkat erosi.…”

Digital elevation model cell size effect on erosion‐deposition simulation using the unit stream power erosion and deposition model in the dry‐hot valley region of Southwest China

“…The USPED model assumes that soil erosion not only depends on the rainfall detachment capacity but also relies on the sediment transport capacity of surface runoff (Mitasova et al, 1996a). According to the previous studies (Chen et al, 2022;Julien & Simons, 1985;Mitas & Mitasova, 1998;Mitasova et al, 1996a;Mitasova et al, 1996b), the net erosion or deposition of sediment (ED) through a given land pixel can be expressed using the Equation (1).…”

“…Indeed, there has been no specific study on whether the USPED model is suitable for gullies, whereas many researchers believe that the USPED model can also be used to simulate erosion and deposition in an area suffering from gully erosion. The theoretical basis is that the USPED is a USLE-based model, and the USLE model can simulate not only sheet erosion and rill erosion, but also gully erosion (Aiello et al, 2015;Benavidez et al, 2018;Zhai et al, 2020;Zhang et al, In fact, Moore & Burch (1986b) (Chen et al, 2022;Wang et al, 2023;Xu et al, 2016;Yang, 2018;Yang et al, 2020;Zhai et al, 2020). For example, Zhai properties, respectively.…”

Modelling of hillslope storage under temporally varied rainfall recharge

“…Consequently, the management of soil and water conservation in watersheds has been a crucial issue in Taiwan. In general, water transportation, hillslope shape, soils erosion and transport, and aquifer configuration are the significant factors changing a watershed [3,9,10]. This study is focused on the hill storage of different hillslope forms including convergent, uniform, and divergent hillslopes.…”