La tecnica del cesio-137 per la stima della produzione di sedimenti nel bacino SPA2

Determinazione della distribuzione granulometrica del suolo mediante diffrattometria laser

Field Testing of a Simple Flume (SMBF) for Flow Measurement in Open Channels

In this paper the stage–discharge relationship of a new flume named SMBF (Samani, Magallanex, Baiamonte, Ferro), originally proposed by Samani and Magallanez and tested by Baiamonte and Ferro, for measuring flow discharge in open channels is reviewed. The flume is obtained inserting two semicylinders in a rectangular cross section. The results of some experimental runs carried out using horizontal flumes characterized by different values of the contraction ratio (ranging from 0.17 to 0.81) are used for determining the two coefficients of the power stage–discharge equation. The stage–discharge equation is tested using flow measurements carried out in the period between December 2004 and Marc…

Evaluating the Effects of the Rill Longitudinal Profile on Flow Resistance Law

In this paper, for the first time, the effect of the longitudinal profile shape of the rill (uniform, concave, and convex) on flow resistance law was studied. The first part of the paper is based on a theoretical equation to estimate the Darcy–Weisbach friction factor f, deduced from the power velocity distribution and rill measurements performed on a plot. At first, the equation to estimate the Γ parameter of the velocity profile was calibrated using all available measurements. Then an analysis of the hydraulic characteristics at reach scale, for comparable values of discharge, was carried out, comparing the different profile shapes. To assess the influence of the rill profile …

Verifiche sperimentali della USLE a scala di bacino in Sicilia

Valutazione delle resistenze al moto per una corrente overland in presenza di trasporto solido

Testing the use of an image-based technique to measure gully erosion at Sparacia experimental area

The first part of this investigation was aimed at testing the use of a three‐dimensional (3D) digital terrain model and a quasi‐tridimensional (2.5D) digital elevation model obtained by a large series of oblique images of eroded channels taken from consumer un‐calibrated and non‐metric cameras. For two closed earth channels having a different sinuosity, the ground measurement of some cross sections by a profilometer (P) was carried out and their real volume was also measured. The comparison among the three methods (3D, 2.5D, and P) pointed out that a limited underestimation of the total volume always occurs and that the 3D method is characterized by the minimum difference between measured a…

UTILIZACIÓN DE TÉCNICAS DE FOTO-RECONSTRUCCIÓN 3D AUTOMATIZADA EN GEOMORFOLOGÍA: EJEMPLOS PARA DIFERENTES MORFOLOGÍAS Y ESCALAS

Three-dimensional photo-reconstruction methods based on Structure from Motion (SfM) and MultiView-Stereo techniques (MVS) are tested for measuring, monitoring and quantifying three different geomorphological features: i) the Corral del Veleta rock glacier and ii) five small gully headcuts in Spain and iii) Calanchi type badland in Italy. Results about the accuracy, usefulness and applicability of these techniques are presented here. The results of these analyses showed centimeter-level accuracies with average distances to the benchmark models ranging from 0.009 m to 0.42 m.

Generalised stage-discharge relationship for rectangular weirs

Rectangular weirs, which are very common hydraulic structures used in irrigation channels as water measuring devices, can be used for measuring very small discharges as well as high flow rates. From the practical point of view the availability of a unique stage-discharge formula that can be applied for the different types of the rectangular weirs would be of great practical importance. At first, in this paper the Buckingham’s Theorem of the dimensional analysis and the self-similarity theory are used to deduce the stage-discharge curve of different kinds of rectangular weirs such as slit and partially contracted ones. Then the proposed formula is calibrated using both the experimental data …

Roughness effect on the correction factor of surface velocity for rill flows

Flow velocity is one of the most important hydrodynamic variables for both channelized (rill and gullies) and interrill erosive phenomena. The dye tracer technique to measure surface flow velocity Vs is based on the measurement of the travel time of a tracer needed to cover a known distance. The measured Vs must be corrected to obtain the mean flow velocity V using a factor αv = V/Vs which is generally empirically deduced. The Vs measurement can be influenced by the method applied to time the travel of the dye-tracer and αv can vary in different flow conditions. Experiments were performed by a fixed bed small flume simulating a rill channel for two roughness conditions (sieved soil, gravel)…

Monitoraggio dell'erosione rill nell'area sperimentale di Sparacia

Risposta erosiva di un bacino percorso da incendio in ambiente mediterraneo

Testing a theoretical resistance law for overland flow on a stony hillslope

Overland flow, sediments, and nutrients transported in runoff are important processes involved in soil erosion and water pollution. Modelling transport of sediments and chemicals requires accurate estimates of hydraulic resistance, which is one of the key variables characterizing runoff water depth and velocity. In this paper, a new theoretical power–velocity profile, originally deduced neglecting the impact effect of rainfall, was initially modified for taking into account the effect of rainfall intensity. Then a theoretical flow resistance law was obtained by integration of the new flow velocity distribution. This flow resistance law was tested using field measurements by Nearing for the …

Processi di trasporto di particelle solide e nutrienti in bacini forestali

Assessing soil erosion in a small Sicilian basin by caesium-137 measurements and a simplified mass balance model

Abstract The caesium-137 technique affords both an alternative to conventional measurement methods and an effective quantitative estimate of soil redistribution at the basin scale. Among the available calibration relationships which link the degree of increase or depletion of the 137Cs activity relative to the baseline 137Cs input and sediment yield, the mass balance approach has received increased application for its physical basis. First, the applicability of the refined simplified point-based mass balance (RSPMB) model of Zhang et al. (1999) at the scale of the morphological unit is proposed herein. The 137Cs spatial distribution measured in a small Sicilian basin and the spatial distrib…

Testing the Modified Sediment Delivery Model (MOSEDD) at SPA2 Experimental Basin, Sicily (Italy)

A new version of a spatially distributed sediment delivery model taking into account the hillslope sediment transport efficiency, named MOSEDD, is presented. This model gives estimates of basin sediment yield at event scale, which are more reliable than those obtained by the original SEDD. For SPA2 basin discretized into morphological units, four different calculation schemes of MOSEDD, including the original SEDD version, were applied. All parameterization schemes of the model were calibrated using 15 events measured at the outlet of the experimental basin in the period February 2005–February 2010. The model calibration was used to determine a relationship between the coefficient βₑ of the…

Un criterio per la determinazione della tolleranza della perdita di suolo

Calibrazione del modello SEDD con l'impiego di un rilievo laser scanner terrestre

Valutazione della produzione di sedimenti in un bacino forestato

Sull'impiego delle micorizze arbuscolari per la definizione della qualità dei suoli nei processi di desertificazione

Contributo al dimensionamento delle briglie a fessura lineare

Determinazione delle caratteristiche idrologiche dei suoli

La misura e la modellazione della produzione di sedimenti nei bacini sperimentali dell'area di Sparacia

Rill flow resistance law under sediment transport

Abstract Purpose In this paper, a deduced flow resistance equation for open-channel flow was tested using measurements carried out in mobile bed rills with sediment-laden flows and fixed bed rills. The main aims were to (i) assess the effect of sediment transport on rill flow resistance, and (ii) test the slope-flow velocity relationship in fixed bed rills. Methods The following analysis was developed: (i) a relationship between the Γ function of the velocity profile, the rill slope and the Froude number was calibrated using measurements carried out on fixed bed rills; (ii) the component of Darcy-Weisbach friction factor due to sediment transport was deduced using the corresponding measurem…

Testing slope effect on flow resistance equation for mobile bed rills

In this paper, a recently theoretically deduced rill flow resistance equation, based on a power-velocity profile, is tested experimentally on plots of varying slopes in which mobile bed rills are incised. Initially, measurements of flow velocity, water depth, cross-sectional area, wetted perimeter and bed slope conducted in 106 reaches of rills incised on an experimental plot having a slope of 14% were used to calibrate the flow resistance equation. Then, the relationship between the velocity profile parameter Γ, the channel slope, and the flow Froude number, which was calibrated using the 106 rill reach data, was tested using measurements carried out in plots having slopes of 22% and 9%. …

Monitoraggio degli eventi erosivi e calibrazione del modello SEDD nel bacino sperimentale SPA1 in Sicilia

Testing the use of an image-based technique to measure gully erosion at Sparacia experimental area

The first part of this investigation was aimed at testing the use of a three-dimensional (3D) Digital Terrain Model (DTM) and a quasi-tridimensional (2.5D) Digital Elevation Model (DEM) obtained by a large series of oblique images of eroded channels taken from consumer un-calibrated and non-metric cameras. For two closed earth channels having a different sinuosity the ground measurement of some cross-sections by a profilometer (P) was carried out. The real volume of each channel was also measured by waterproofing it by a plastic film and filling it with a known volume of water. The comparison among the three methods (3D, 2.5D and P) pointed out that a limited underestimation of the total vo…

Testing a new sampler for measuring plot soil loss

Sul processo di efflusso da una griglia acclive con barre longitudinali

Gully erosion in a small experimental catchment in SW Spain

Monitoraggio della produzione di sedimenti nei bacini sperimentali siciliani

Attività di ricerca, monitoraggio e modellazione dei processi erosivi nell'area pilota di Sparacia

Impiego dei funghi micorrizici arbuscolari come indicatori della qualità dei suoli

I fattori topografici della USLE e la carta dell’erosione massima

Establishing a soil loss threshold for limiting rilling

In this paper a frequency analysis of event soil loss measurements collected in the period 1999–2012 at the microplots and plots of the Sparacia Experimental Area in Sicily, southern Italy, was developed. The analysis was carried out using the annual maximum soil loss measurements normalized by the mean soil loss measured at a given temporal and spatial scale. The empirical frequency distribution of the normalized variable was well fitted by two Gumbel’s theoretical probability distributions discriminated by a value of the normalized variable equal to 2. This last value discriminates between the relatively low and frequent values of the normalized variable and the high and rare ones. The an…

Regional analysis of soil erodibility in Sicily

Sull'applicabilità della legge di Hack nello studio dei processi idrologici

Similitudine morfologica tra i rill e gli ephemeral gully rilevati in Sicilia

New technique for measuring water depth in rill channels

Abstract Water erosion is one of the most important soil degradation processes and rill erosion contribution to total soil loss is usually dominant as compared to interrill erosion. Rill erosion modelling requires that rill flow has to be adequately modelled. Flow depths in rills are typically of the order of millimeters to several centimeters and bed topography, characterized by steep slope values, significantly affects flow hydraulics. In this paper, a new technique for measuring the water depth inside a rill channel is proposed and the effects on flow resistance estimate are examined. This technique couples an accurate ground survey of the rill channel, obtained by close-range photogramm…

MEASURING FIELD RILL ERODIBILITY BY A SIMPLIFIED METHOD

Many process-oriented erosion prediction models reproduce rill erosion as affected by site-specific parameters, as for example, rill erodibility, and thus, their practical application requires the measurement of these parameters or their estimate. The aim of this paper was establishing a method for indirectly measuring field rill erodibility. A simple mathematical approach based on a known soil detachment equation and accounting for the rill erosion dynamic process is applied. Field measurements carried out for seven natural rainfall events occurring at the plots of the Sparacia experimental station, southern Italy, are used for indirectly measuring the rill erodibility of the investigated …

Measuring rill erosion at plot scale by a drone-based technology

The traditional direct method (i.e. metric ruler and rillmeter) of monitoring rill erosion at plot scale is time consuming and invasive because it modifies the surface of the rilled area. Measuring rill features using a drone-based technology is considered a non-invasive method allowing a fast field relief. In the experimental Sparacia area a survey by a quadricopter Microdrones md4-200 was carried out, and this relief allowed the generation of a Digital Elevation Model (DEM), with a mesh size of 1 cm and a resolution elevation equal to 2 mm, for three plots (L, G and C) affected by rill erosion. At first for the experimental L plot, which is 44 m long, the rill features were surveyed by a …

VERIFICA DEL MODELLO CSI PER LA STIMA DELLA PERDITA DI SUOLO

La previsione dell’erosione idrica alla scala temporale del singolo evento riveste particolare interesse dal momento che la perdita di suolo complessiva di un periodo pluriennale è generalmente determinata dagli eventi più rilevanti. Recentemente, utilizzando le misure di perdita di suolo ottenute su parcelle nude installate in tre stazioni sperimentali italiane (Sparacia, in Sicilia; Masse, in Umbria; Caratozzolo, in Calabria), è stato sviluppato un modello empirico, denominato CSI (Central and Southern Italy), per la stima della perdita di suolo alla scala dell’evento. La presente memoria riporta i risultati della verifica di applicabilità del suddetto modello che è stata condotta utilizz…

Twenty years of scientific activity at Sparacia experimental area. Quaderni di Idronomia Montana 33

The main purpose of this booklet is to give to the participants to the Palermo’s Conference of the EU COST ACTION ES1306 - CONNECTING EUROPEAN CONNECTIVITY RESEARCH - CONNECTEUR a general idea of the scientific activity that was carried out in the past 20 years on the basis of the data collected at the Sparacia experimental station for soil erosion measurement, in Sicily, South Italy. The booklet includes a presentation of the experimental site, a description of the applied methods and procedures for measuring soil erosion processes at the Sparacia experimental area, and an illustration of the developed methodologies for predicting soil erosion from plots, small basins, rills and gullies. I…

A pedotransfer function for estimating the soil erodibility factor in Sicily

The soil erodibility factor, K, of the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) is a simple descriptor of the soil susceptibility to rill and interrill erosion. The original procedure for determining K needs a knowledge of soil particle size distribution (PSD), soil organic matter, OM, content, and soil structure and permeability characteristics. However, OM data are often missing and soil structure and permeability are not easily evaluated in regional analyses. The objective of this investigation was to develop a pedotransfer function (PTF) for estimating the K factor of the USLE in Sicily (south Italy) using only soil textural data. The nomograph soil erodibility factor and its associated firs…

Valutazione del fattore colturale per le coperture forestali

Monitoraggio dell'erosione rill a scala di parcella

Storia ed attualità dell'abaco di Shields

Contributo alla applicazione del metodo della corrivazione per i bacini siciliani

Dissipative analogies of step-pool features: From rills to mountain streams

Abstract In this paper the dissipative similarity of step-pool units at different spatial scales ranging from rills to streams is analyzed. This investigation benefits from the latest theoretical advances in open channel flow resistance, high-resolution topography from close-range photogrammetry applied to rill erosion and the availability of published data from literature on step-pool streams. At first, the integration of a power velocity distribution allowed to obtain a theoretically-based expression of Darcy-Weisbach friction factor, in which Γ function and δ exponent of the velocity profile are included. Then this theoretically-deduced flow resistance relationship is calibrated and test…

Sediment delivery processes and the spatial distribution of caesium-137 in a small Sicilian basin

The sediment delivery processes occurring in a small Sicilian basin are modelled using the spatially distributed SEDD model recently proposed by Ferro and Minacapilli. The model is applied by using soil data (grain-size distribution, organic matter content, etc.) of 129 samples uniformly distributed over the study area and compiling the available information (topographic map, soil data, etc.) into a Geographical Information System. Finally, the predictive capability of the distributed sediment delivery approach is tested experimentally using the caesium-137 measurement technique. The comparison between calculated sediment yield and the corresponding measured caesium-137 loss is used to vali…

Deducing the stage-discharge relationship of rectangular broad and sharp-crested contraction devices

Flumes with a local contraction of the channel width are a common way for accurately measuring the flow discharge. In this paper, the outflow process of rectangular broad and sharp-crested contraction devices is modeled using the dimensional analysis and the incomplete self-similarity condition. The proposed theoretical stage-discharge relationship is tested using measurements available in the literature. The proposed power equation is characterized by a value of the exponent close to 1.5 and a coefficient depending on the contraction ratio. The proposed flow-measuring flumes are characterized by a good accuracy of the measured discharge (ranging from -2.71 to 3.28% for the broad-crested co…

Misura dell'erosione rill mediante rilievo aereo a bassa quota

Dissipative scaling of step-pool features

Abstract This paper focuses on the dissipative similarity of step-pool units at rill, flume and stream scale. This investigation is carried out using recent advances in open channel flow resistance, applications of close-range photogrammetry to rill erosion, available published data on step-pool features in flumes and streams and a new dataset of measurements in fixed bed step-pool rills. A theoretically-based equation for calculating the Darcy-Weisbach friction factor obtained by integration of a power velocity profile is presented. The scale factor Γ of this power velocity profile, which is included in the flow resistance equation, was previously calibrated (Eq. 10) for mobile bed rills w…

Indagine di campo sul comportamento idraulico dei rill a scala di parcella

Establishing soil loss tolerance: an overview

Soil loss tolerance is a criterion for establishing if a soil is potentially subjected to erosion risk, productivity loss and if a river presents downstream over-sedimentation or other off-site effects are present at basin scale. At first this paper reviews the concept of tolerable soil loss and summarises the available definitions and the knowledge on the recommended values and evaluating criteria. Then a threshold soil loss value, at the annual temporal scale, established for limiting riling was used for defining the classical soil loss tolerance. Finally, some research needs on tolerable soil loss are listed.

Applying the bootstrap technique for studying soil redistribution by caesium-137 measurements at basin scale

Abstract The use of the bootstrap technique to estimate the reference level of137 Cs in an uneroded site is tested. The analysis is developed using 137Cs measurements made in a small experimental Sicilian basin. In the reference area the 137Cs activity is normally distributed with a known sample mean value, m equal to 94.4 mBq cm−2. The influence of137 Cs reference site sampling was determined generating samples having a fixed size, N and six different values of the sample coefficient of variation, CV, by a Monte Carlo technique. Then, for each size N, the probability distribution of the mean μ of the sequences generated by Monte Carlo technique is defined. The soil redistribution is determ…

Modelling sediment delivery processes by a stream tube approach

Abstract The sediment delivery processes due to the travel along a hydraulic path having an uniform slope and to the concave shape of the path are modelled. In particular, using a power equation for modelling the slope profile and RUSLE with two different expressions of the topographic factors, a criterion to define the erosion active slope length, i.e. the slope length in which no deposition processes occur, is initially proposed. Then, the RUSLE equation is adapted to concave profiles by a correction factor of the topographic factors depending on slope curvature. Finally, the deduced relationships (equations (19) and (27)) for correcting the topographic factors for a concave slope are exp…

Testing the USLE-M family of models at the Sparacia experimental site in south Italy

The modified Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE-M) was empirically deduced by a statistical analysis of the original data set of soil loss measurements used to derive the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE). The USLE-M, including the effect of runoffin the event rainfall-runofferosivity factor, is characterized by a better capacity to predict event soil loss. At first, in this paper, using the soil erosion representative variables of USLE-M and the reference condition adopted in the USLE, the dimensional analysis and the self-similarity theory are applied to theoretically deduce a multiplicative equation similar to the USLE-M. Then using the database of the Sparacia experimental site, the a…

Experiments for testing soil texture effects on flow resistance in mobile bed rills

Abstract In this paper a recently theoretically deduced rill flow resistance equation, based on a power-velocity profile, was tested experimentally on plots of varying slopes and soil texture in which mobile bed rills are incised. Measurements of flow velocity, water depth, cross section area, wetted perimeter and bed slope conducted in rill reaches incised on experimental plots, having different slope values (9, 14, 22, 24 and 26%) and soil texture (clay fraction ranging from 42 to 73%), and literature data were used to calibrate the flow resistance equation. In particular, the relationship between the velocity profile parameter Γ, the channel slope, the flow Froude number and texture frac…

Verifica sperimentale di un campionatore per la misura della perdita di suolo

Per la misura di perdita in suolo in parcelle attrezzate è necessaria la stima del peso del materiale solido intercettato nella loro sezione terminale. Nell’area sperimentale di Sparacia, i deflussi torbidi prodotti in seguito ad un evento erosivo vengono convogliati all’interno di vasche di accumulo della capacità di circa 1 m3. Nella memoria per misurare agevolmente il peso di materiale solido eroso da una parcella si propone l’estrazione di campioni rappresentativi della miscela torbida presente in ciascuna vasca facendo uso di un nuovo campionatore appositamente predisposto. La verifica di funzionamento del campionatore è stata condotta effettuando due distinte seri di prove finalizzate…

Determinazione dell’erodibilità dei suoli

CALIBRAZIONE DI MODELLI USLE-DERIVATI MEDIANTE I MASSIMI ANNUALI DELLA PERDITA DI SUOLO PER EVENTO

Numerosi risultati sperimentali hanno evidenziato che la perdita di suolo pluriennale di una parcella è influenzata apprezzabilmente dall’erosione che si verifica in un numero complessivamente limitato di eventi particolarmente gravosi. Conseguentemente, un intervento di conservazione del suolo calibrato sull’erosione media annua può risultare poco efficace in occasione degli eventi meteorici più significativi dal punto di vista dell’erosione complessiva. La disponibilità di modelli di previsione dell’erosione idrica parcellare in grado di fornire stime accurate dei valori più elevati della perdita di suolo alla scansione del singolo evento erosivo riveste pertanto interesse pratico, potend…

Field investigation on rilling in the experimental Sparacia area, South Italy

In this paper the results of a field investigation on rilling carried out in the experimental Sparacia area are reported. The measurements were made on a plot 6 m wide and 22 m long subjected to natural rainfalls. For ten rainfalls the total soil loss (interrill and rill erosion) was collected in a storage system consisting of two tanks arranged in series at the base of the plot. Rill morphology (rill length and cross-sections) was measured for five rainfall events, while the rill profile was surveyed for three events. First the contribution of each component (rill and interrill erosion) to total soil loss was established. Then the analysis allowed establishment of a power relationship betw…

Morphometric characterization of a calanchi inventory in Sicily, Italy

Calanchi are a frequent type of badland landscape of Sicily (Italy), usually located in the middle of crops or forests. They are characterized by heavily dissected terrains with unvegetated slopes, knife ridge edges, V-shaped valleys and channels with a dendritic pattern, which incise and extend headwards. Calanchi exhibit, in smaller temporal and spatial scales, many of the geomorphic processes and landforms that may by observed in a fluvial landscape, hence, this type of badland may be considered as micro-watersheds where geomorphic dynamics can be related to their geometric features. The aim of this investigation was to evaluate the morphometric characteristics of calanchi landforms in S…

Criteri di zonizzazione climatica nello studio dei processi di desertificazione in Sicilia

Rill flow velocity and resistance law: A review

Rills caused by runoff concentration on erodible hillslopes generally have very irregular longitudinal profiles and cross-section shapes. Rill erosion directly depends on the hydraulics of flow within the rills which may differ greatly from that in larger and regular channels like streams or rivers. At first, in this paper, a review of the two different approaches to estimate rill flow velocity, based on flow regime and flow resistance laws, is presented. Recent advances in measurements of rill geometry by the three-dimensional photo-reconstruction (3D-PR) technique, which allows one to obtain a Digital Terrain Model (DTM) by low-altitude aerial and terrestrial photogrammetry, are also disc…

Flow Resistance in Step-Pool Rills

Rills evolve morphologically, and the adjustment of rill channel geometry to flow affects the relationships among velocity, discharge, and slope. The resistance to flow in step-pool rills is mainly due to form-induced mechanisms and, in comparison, grain resistance is of minor significance. Previous studies on rill flow resistance have been performed exclusively for grainresistance conditions and use a stream flow equation. In this study, a new flow resistance equation, deduced by applying dimensional analysis and self-similarity theory, was applied to rill flow in step-pool channels. First, the incomplete self-similarity hypothesis was used for establishing a power flow velocity profile wh…

Contributo alla applicazione della formula razionale in termini probabilistici per i piccoli bacini siciliani

Valutazione della qualità del clima e del suolo nella identificazione delle aree sensibili alla desertificazione in Sicilia

Closure to "New stage-discharge relationship for weirs of finite crest length"

L'articolo riporta la risposta di chiusura alla discussione sull'articolo originale "New stage-discharge relationship for weirs of finite crest length"

Un nuovo modello per la stima dell'erosione in aree calanchive

Dye-tracer technique for rill flows by velocity profile measurements

Abstract Water flow on hillslope soil surface supplies energy which is required to detach soil particles, to transport and deposit sediments, therefore flow velocity is a key variable related to hillslope hydrodinamics of soil erosion processes. Among the different methods available for measuring velocity of shallow interrill and rill flow, the trace technique is widely used. Trace technique is applied by adding a material (salt, magnetic material, water isotope, floating object) and then measuring the speed of the material to travel a known distance from the injection point. When flow velocity is measured using a dye-tracing method, the mean velocity is calculated by multiplying the measur…

Indagine regionale sul trasporto solido in sospensione dei corsi d'acqua siciliani

RELAZIONI TRA I POOLS DI CARBONIO NEI REGOSUOLI DELLA RISERVA NATURALE ORIENTATA MONTE GALLO (PA)

TESTING THE GRAIN-SIZE DISTRIBUTION DETERMINED BY LASER DIFFRACTOMETRY FOR SICILIAN SOILS

In this paper the soil grain-size distribution determined by Laser Diffraction method (LDM) is tested using the Sieve-Hydrometer method (SHM) applied for 747 soil samples representing a different texture classification, sampled in Sicily. 005_Di_Stefano(599)_39 28-12-2011 15:01 Pagina 45 The analysis showed that the sand content measured by SHM can be assumed equal to the one determined by LDM. An underestimation of the clay fraction measured by LDM was obtained with respect to the SHM and a set of equations useful to refer laser diffraction measurements to SHM was calibrated using the measurements carried out for 635 soil samples. Finally, the proposed equations were tested using independe…

Elementi di Botanica forestale

L’evento alluvionale dell’Ottobre 2009 nel Messinese

La carta dell'erosione massima per gli studi dei processi di desertificazione in Sicilia

La carta dell'erosione potenziale del territorio siciliano

Rilievo e modellazione dell’erosione rill nell’area sperimentale di Sparacia

Assessing dye-tracer technique for rill flow velocity measurements

Abstract Rill erosion is considered one of the most important processes affecting soil because of the large amount of soil loss. The rill network acts as sediment source and is able to transport both rill flow-detached particles and those delivered from the interrill areas. Small flow depth in a rill and steep slope values of its bed affect significantly flow hydraulics. When rill flow velocity is measured using a dye-tracing method, the mean velocity is calculated by multiplying the measured surface velocity of the leading edge of the tracer plume by a correction factor. The main uncertainty of the dye-tracing technique stands in the relationship between mean and surface flow velocity. In …

Measurements of rill and gully erosion in Sicily

This article reports the results of a field investigation aimed to characterize the morphology of both rills monitored at Sparacia experimental area and two ephemeral gullies (EGs) located in the Tremamargi basin, Sicily, Italy. At first, the available literature data together with the measurements carried out in this investigation were used to show that the EG length is a key parameter for the estimation of the eroded volume. Then, the comparison among the pairs length and volume corresponding to measured rills, EGs and gullies showed that the exponent of the power relationship is independent of the channelized erosion type (rill, EG and gully), while a different scale factor has to be use…

Comparing theoretically supported rainfall-runoff erosivity factors at the Sparacia (South Italy) experimental site

Interpreting rainfall‐runoff erosivity by a process‐oriented scheme allows to conjugate the physical approach to soil loss estimate with the empirical one. Including the effect of runoff in the model permits to distinguish between detachment and transport in the soil erosion process. In this paper, at first, a general definition of the rainfall‐runoff erosivity factor REFe including the power of both event runoff coefficient QR and event rainfall erosivity index EI30 of the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) is proposed. The REFe factor is applicable to all USLE‐based models (USLE, Modified USLE [USLE‐M] and Modified USLE‐M [USLE‐MM]) and it allows to distinguish between purely empirical m…

Flow resistance law under suspended sediment laden conditions

Abstract The uniform flow resistance equation, in the form due to Manning or Darcy-Weisbach, is widely applied to establish the stage-discharge relationship of a river cross-section. The application of this equation, namely the slope-area method, allows to indirectly measure the corresponding river discharge by measurements of bed slope, water level, cross-section area, wetted perimeter and an estimate of channel roughness. In this paper, a recently deduced flow resistance equation for open channel flow was tested during conditions of suspended sediment-laden flow. First, the flow resistance equation was determined by dimensional analysis and by applying the condition of incomplete self-sim…

FIELD TESTING OF THE SMBF FLUME

At first, in this paper the stage-discharge relationship of a new flume, originally proposed by Samani and Magallanez, for measuring flow discharge in open channels is reviewed. The flume is obtained inserting two semicylinders in a rectangular cross-section. Then, the results of some experimental runs carried out using horizontal flumes characterized by different values of the contraction ratio (ranging from 0.17 to 0.81) are used for determining the two coefficients of the power stage-discharge equation. Finally, the stage-discharge equation is tested using flow measurements carried out, in the period December 2004 – March 2006 in the Sicilian experimental SPA1 and SPA2 basins. Field test…

Rilievo del''erosione ephemeral gully in un piccolo bacino siciliano

Verifica sperimentale della tecnica LD per la determinazione della distribuzione granulometrica

Monitoraggio dell'erosione rill con rilievo aereo di bassa quota

Morphological characterization of calanchi (badland) hillslope connectivity

Calanchi, a type of Italian badlands created by a combination of water erosion processes and local geomorphological and tectonic controls, is a striking example of long-term landscape evolution. In small temporal/spatial scales, the calanchi exhibit many of the geomorphic processes and landforms that may be observed in fluvial landscapes, hence they may be considered as micro-basins where geomorphic dynamics and landscape features can be related. The goal of this research is testing the use of simple morphometric variables for assessing sediment connectivity of calanchi landforms. In order to detect the morphological characteristics controlling the landscape connectivity of calanchi basins,…

Analisi morfometrica di due aree calanchive in Sicilia (Italia)

Applicabilità della legge di Hack nello studio di alcuni processi idrologici nei bacini siciliani

Testing the Modified Sediment Delivery Model (MOSEDD) at SPA2 Experimental Basin, Sicily (Italy)

A new version of a spatially distributed sediment delivery model taking into account the hillslope sediment transport efficiency, named MOSEDD, is presented. This model gives estimates of basin sediment yield at event scale, which are more reliable than those obtained by the original SEDD. For SPA2 basin discretized into morphological units, four different calculation schemes of MOSEDD, including the original SEDD version, were applied. All parameterization schemes of the model were calibrated using 15 events measured at the outlet of the experimental basin in the period February 2005–February 2010. The model calibration was used to determine a relationship between the coefficient βe of the…

Contributo al dimensionamento idraulico delle briglie a fessura iperbolica

Morphological Similarity of Channels: From Linear Erosional Features (Rill, Gully) to Alpine Rivers

Flow resistance in mobile bed rills shaped in soils with different texture

Rill erosion is considered one of the most important soil processes because of the large amount of soil loss due to the development of a rill network able to promote an efficient transport of both rill flow-detached particles and those delivered from the inter-rill areas. Rill flow experiments are useful to overcome the gap in rill hydraulics knowledge and to test the reliability of currently applied uniform open channel flow equations for mobile bed rills. In this paper the applicability of a theoretical flow resistance equation, based on a power-velocity profile, to rill channels shaped on soils having different textures was investigated. The measurements (437 runs) of water depth, cross-…

Comparing flow resistance law for fixed and mobile bed rills

Rills caused by run-off concentration on erodible hillslopes have very irregular profiles and cross-section shapes. Rill erosion directly depends on the hydraulics of flow in the rills, which may differ greatly from hydraulics of flow in larger and regular channels. In this paper, a recently theoretically deduced rill flow resistance equation, based on a power–velocity profile, was tested experimentally on plots of varying slopes (ranging from 9% to 26%) in which mobile and fixed bed rills were incised. Initially, measurements of flow velocity, water depth, cross-section area, wetted perimeter, and bed slope, carried out in 320 reaches of mobile bed rills and in 165 reaches of fixed rills, …

Discussion of "Discharge characteristics of weirs of finite crest length with upstream and downstream ramps"

A Discussion of the paper "Discharge characteristics of weirs of finite crest length with upstream and downstream ramps" is presented

Closure to "New stage-discharge equation for the SMBF flume"

Closure alle discussions sull'articolo "New stage-discharge equation for the SMBF flume"

Testing Sediment Connectivity at the Experimental SPA2 Basin, Sicily (Italy)

The concept of sediment delivery can be used as a measure of sediment connectivity, and it can be linked to the structural connectivity (morphological unit, slope length, slope steepness, travel time) of a basin and to the hydrological connectivity (rainfall–runoff processes at morphological unit scale). In this paper, the sediment connectivity concept was tested at basin scale applying SEdiment Delivery Distributed model, which takes into account the hillslope sediment transport, and using sediment yield measurements carried out at SPA2 experimental basin (Sicily, Italy). For the SPA2 basin discretized into morphological units, the SEdiment Delivery Distributed model was first calibrated a…

Modelling the effects of a bushfire on erosion in a Mediterranean basin

A bushfire occurred in the Asinaro River basin in July 1998. The basin area is 55 km2 and about 74% of the whole area was set on fire. The aim of this paper is to test the influence of fire on both soil erosion and the spatial distribution of the areas characterized by the greatest sediment yield values. The RUSLE model and a spatial disaggregation criterion for sediment delivery processes (SEDD model) were used to test the effects of the bushfire. The basin was divided into 854 morphological units for calculating the topographic factor. The RUSLE climatic factor R was calculated using daily rainfall data. The soil erodibility factor was determined by sampling at sites distributed over the …

New Stage-Discharge Equation for the SMBF Flume

AbstractFlumes for indirect discharge measurements are widespread and are characterized by a particular shape of the cross section area with various degrees of convergence and subsequent divergence. The flume named Samani, Magallanez, Baiamonte, Ferro (SMBF) is a simple and inexpensive instrument and its channel contraction is obtained by applying two semicylinders to the walls of a rectangular cross section. At first, in this paper a new stage-discharge equation for the SMBF flume is theoretically deduced. Then, this equation is experimentally calibrated using the laboratory measurements from the literature for different values of the contraction ratio. Finally the field measurements carri…

Slope threshold for overland flow resistance on sandy soils

Recent research on rill flows recognised that an 18% slope can be used to distinguish between ‘gentle’ and ‘steep’ slope cases for the detected differences in hydraulic (flow depth and velocity) and sediment transport variables (flow transport capacity, actual sediment load). The effects of slope on flow velocity, friction factor and transport capacity and their interactions affect process-based erosion modelling. The main aim of this paper is to investigate, for the first time, how slope affects the overland flow resistance on sandy soils, which are characterised by loose particles readily available to be transported and deposited. Using literature measurements carried out in sandy soils f…

Applying the USLE Family of Models at the Sparacia (South Italy) Experimental Site

Soil erosion is a key process to understand the land degradation, and modelling of soil erosion will help to understand the process and to foresee its impacts. The applicability of the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) at event scale is affected by the fact that USLE rainfall erosivity factor does not take into account runoff explicitly. USLE-M and USLE-MM, including the effect of runoff in the event rainfall– runoff erosivity factor, are characterized by a better capacity to predict event soil loss. The specific objectives of this paper were (i) to determine the suitable parameterization of USLE, USLE-M and USLE-MM by using the dataseries of Sparacia experimental site and (ii) to evaluat…

Analisi della geometria idraulica dei rill mediante il data-base del WEPP

Lo sviluppo iniziale dei rill può essere spiegato facendo ricorso alle caratteristiche idrauliche della corrente, quali la velocità media, il numero di Froude e la tensione tangenziale al fondo della corrente. Gli studi già condotti sull’idraulica dei rill hanno permesso di modellizzare la geometria idraulica dei solchi mediante un set di tre equazioni, di forma potenziale, che legano la velocità media u, il tirante medio h e la larghezza del solco w alla portata. L’obiettivo del presente lavoro è stato quello di verificare l’applicabilità delle suddette relazioni potenziali e determinare i relativi coefficienti facendo ricorso alle misure condotte su 33 siti sperimentali che costituiscono …

Similarity between morphological characteristics of rills and ephemeral gullies in Sicily, Italy

This paper reports the results of a field investigation aimed to establish morphological similarity between rills and ephemeral gullies. Rill measurements were made on 14 plots having a surface area of 22–352 m2 located on a 14·9% slope and on a plot 6·0 m wide and 22·0 m long having a uniform 22·0% slope. The plots are located on the experimental station for soil erosion measurements, ‘Sparacia’, of the Agricultural Faculty of Palermo University, in Sicily, Italy. All plots are subjected to natural rainfall. The measurements were made immediately following five events between November 2004 and December 2005. The ephemeral gully measurements were made on a cultivated area of about 120 ha, l…

Recenti acquisizioni nel settore delle sistemazioni idraulico-Processi di trasporto di particelle solide e di nutrienti in bacini forestali

Il fattore di erodibilità del suolo e la carta dell’erosione potenziale

Flow resistance of overland flow on a smooth bed under simulated rainfall

In this paper a recently theoretically deduced flow resistance equation, based on a power-velocity profile, was tested using laboratory measurements by Yoon and Wenzel for an overland flow on a smooth bed under rainfall. These measurements of the Darcy-Weisbach friction factor, corresponding to a wide range of the flow Reynolds number (191–5700), were carried out for an overland flow under a simulated rainfall characterized by different intensity values ranging from 13 to 381 mm h−1. At first, the available measured values of flow velocity, water depth, cross sectional area, wetted perimeter and bed slope were used to calibrate the relationship between the velocity profile parameter Γ, the …

Similitudine nelle caratteristiche morfologiche dei rill e degli ephemeral gully

Un nuovo campionatore per la misura della perdita di suolo in parcelle attrezzate

Le misure di perdita di suolo in parcelle attrezzate necessitano la conoscenza del peso del materiale eroso intercettato nella sezione terminale delle parcelle. Nell’area sperimentale di Sparacia attrezzata per la misura della perdita di suolo i deflussi torbidi prodotti in seguito ad un evento erosivo vengono convogliati mediante una grondaia posta a valle di ciascuna parcella all’interno di vasche di accumulo. Per misurare la frazione di materiale solido presente nel volume della sospensione raccolto in dette vasche, si propone l’utilizzo di un nuovo campionatore appositamente predisposto. Esso consiste in un cilindro di ottone, di noto diametro, dotato nella sezione terminale di una valv…

Modelling sediment delivery using connectivity components at the experimental SPA2 basin, Sicily (Italy)

Sediment delivery ratio can be used as a measure of sediment connectivity and it can be linked to the structural connectivity (morphological unit, slope length, slope steepness, travel time) of a basin and to the functional connectivity (rainfall-runoff processes at morphological unit scale). In this paper the sediment connectivity approach was applied at basin scale both using Sediment Delivery Distributed (SEDD) model, which takes into account the hillslope sediment transport, and sediment yield measurements carried out at SPA2 experimental basin (Sicily, Italy). The expression of the sediment delivery ratio SDRi of a morphological unit was modified for highlighting two components corresp…

ESPERIMENTO DI SIMULAZIONE DELLA FORMAZIONE DEI RILL A SCALA DI PARCELLA

Nella memoria sono riportati i risultati di un esperimento di simulazione della formazione del canale di un rill condotto in una parcella avente una dimensione 2x7 m2 ed una pendenza del 14% realizzata dal Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie e Forestali dell’Università di Palermo. Una rete di solchi, costituita da due canali principali, è stata, dapprima incisa sul suolo manualmente e successivamente modellata utilizzando una corrente idrica limpida. Sui solchi modellati è stato effettuato, in corrispondenza di 11 sezioni trasversali della parcella, il rilievo delle caratteristiche geometriche e idrauliche utilizzando un profilometro. L’indagine ha inoltre previsto la realizzazione sia di un mo…

Comparison of grain-size analysis by laser diffractometry with sedimentation method

Stima dell' erodibilità rill nella'area sperimentale di Sparacia

Alterazioni delle caratteristiche fisico-chimiche e meccaniche dei paletti di castagno in ambiente mediterraneo

Measuring Field Rill Erodibility by a Simplified Method

Many process-oriented erosion prediction models reproduce rill erosion as affected by site-specific parameters, as for example, rill erodibility, and thus, their practical application requires the measurement of these parameters or their estimate. The aim of this paper was establishing a method for indirectly measuring field rill erodibility. A simple mathematical approach based on a known soil detachment equation and accounting for the rill erosion dynamic process is applied. Field measurements carried out for seven natural rainfall events occurring at the plots of the Sparacia experimental station, southern Italy, are used for indirectly measuring the rill erodibility of the investigated …

Rill flow resistance law under equilibrium bed‐load transport conditions

In this paper, a recently deduced flow resistance equation for open channel flow was tested under equilibrium bed-load transport conditions in a rill. First, the flow resistance equation was deduced applying dimensional analysis and the incomplete self-similarity condition for the flow velocity distribution. Then, the following steps were carried out for developing the analysis: (a) a relationship (Equation) between the Γ function of the velocity profile, the rill slope, and the Froude number was calibrated by the available measurements by Jiang et al.; (b) a relationship (Equation) between the Γ function, the rill slope, the Shields number, and the Froude number was calibrated by the same …

Testing the Universal Soil Loss Equation-MB equation in plots in Central and South Italy

Planning soil conservation strategies requires predictive techniques at event scale because a large percentage of soil loss over a long-time period is due to relatively few large storms. Considering runoff is expected to improve soil loss predictions and allows relation of the process-oriented approach with the empirical one, furthermore, the effects of detachment and transport on soil erosion processes can be distinguished by a runoff component. In this paper, the empirical model USLE-MB (USLE-M based), including a rainfall-runoff erosivity factor in which the event rainfall erosivity index EI30 of the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) multiplies the runoff coefficient QR raised to an ex…

Validating erosion rate estimates provided by caesium-137 measurements for two small forested catchments in Calabria, southern Italy

Increasing concern for problems of soil degradation and the off-site impacts of accelerated erosion has generated a need for improved methods of estimating rates and patterns of soil erosion by water. The use of environmental radionuclides, particularly 137 Cs, to estimate erosion rates has attracted increased attention and the approach has been shown to possess several important advantages. However, the use of 137 Cs measurements to estimate erosion rates introduces one important uncertainty, namely, the need to employ a conversion model or relationship to convert the measured reduction in the 137 Cs inventory to an estimate of the erosion rate. There have been few attempts to validate the…

Studi applicativi per la realizzazione della carta dell'erosione potenziale del territorio siciliano e del relativo sistema informativo territoriale

Rilievo e modellazione della rill erosion nell'area di Sparacia

Nella presente indagine, l’applicabilità sia delle relazioni che caratterizzano morfologicamente i rill di Sparacia sia di quelle che ne caratterizzano la geometria idraulica viene testata utilizzando nuove misure condotte in occasione dell’evento del 3 Ottobre 2011. Le suddette misure sono state effettuate su una parcella in cui sono stati rilevati 19 rill e 231 sezioni trasversali. Il confronto delle nuove misure con la relazione lunghezza-volume e con quella dedotta teoricamente sulla base dell’analisi dimensionale, entrambe calibrate con i dati rilevati in precedenti eventi, ha confermato l’applicabilità delle suddette espressioni.

SULLA APPLICABILITÀ DELLA USLE-MM PER LA STIMA DISTRIBUITA DELLA PRODUZIONE DI SEDIMENTI

Nella memoria è presentata una nuova versione del modello distribuito SEDD (SEdiment Delivery Distributed model) che accoppia la RUSLE o la USLE-MM con un criterio spazialmente distribuito per la stima dei processi di trasferimento delle particelle erose all’interno di un bacino idrografico. In particolare, viene proposta l’applicazione a scala di bacino di un fattore di erosività, che tiene conto anche del processo di deflusso a scala di versante, e di un fattore di erodibilità del suolo determinati utilizzando le misure parcellari condotte nell’area sperimentale di Sparacia in Sicilia. Il modello è stato calibrato utilizzando le misure dei deflussi liquidi e solidi effettuate nei bacini s…

Morphometric analysis of two calanchi areas in Sicily (Italy) by exploiting high resolution Digital Elevation Models

In the Mediterranean areas, specifically in Sicily (Italy), irregular rainfalls, strong seasonal changes, scarce vegetation cover and, frequently, outcropping of clayey deposits favor water erosion phenomena. Badland landscapes are the result of severe erosion processes, characterized by steep slopes, sparse vegetation, high drainage density, rapid erosion rates and a shallow or non existing regolith profile. In this investigation we focused on the calanchi badland type, consisting of heavily dissected terrain with steep, unvegetated slopes and channels that rapidly incise and extend headwards. This research was carried out in two calanchi sites located in Sicily. The geometry of 25 badland…

A generalized stage-discharge relationship for sharp-crested power-law weirs by dimensional analysis and self-similarity

Weirs are characterized by a stage-discharge relationship which mainly depends on the shape and dimensions of the hydraulic structure. A weir with symmetrical power-law sides is a versatile weir that can produce some known weir types (rectangular, triangular, parabolic) as special cases. In this paper, the outflow process of sharp-crested power-law weirs is investigated using the dimensional analysis and the incomplete self-similarity theory. A new generalized theoretical stage-discharge relationship is proposed, and its applicability is tested using measurements available in the literature for different weir types.

Closure "Stage-discharge relationship for an upstteam inclined grid with transversal bars"

The paper is a closure of “Stage-Discharge Relationship for an Unpstream Inclined Grid with Transversal Bars”

Flume experiments for assessing the dye-tracing technique in rill flows

Abstract Flow velocity controls hillslope soil erosion and is a key hydrodynamic variable involved in sediment transport and deposition processes. The dye-tracer technique is one of the most applied methods for measuring velocity of shallow interrill and rill flow. The technique is based on the injection of a tracer in a specific point and the measurement of its speed to travel the known distance from the injection point to a given channel section. The dye-tracer technique requires that the measured surface flow velocity has to be corrected to obtain the mean flow velocity using a correction factor which is generally empirically deduced. The technique has two sources of uncertainties: i) th…

Morphological Similarity of Channels: From Linear Erosional Features (Rill, Gully) to Alpine Rivers

The geometric characteristics of incised features such as channels, rills, ephemeral gully, gully, represent the erosional transport regime and the fluvial dynamic equilibrium, and thus it is critical for the understanding of the long-term evolution of natural, agricultural, and anthropogenic landscapes. This paper examines the morphological similarity of channelized erosion in two different environments such as Alpine landscapes and cultivated hillslopes. The first dataset comprises six rivers in the Italian Alps, three in the Carnia region and three in the Dolomites, where erosion is mainly the effect of discharges with high sediment loads or landslides and debris flows. The agricultural …

An automatic approach for rill network extraction to measure rill erosion by terrestrial and low‐cost unmanned aerial vehicle photogrammetry

For an erosion event (October 2016) occurred at the Sparacia experimental area (Southern Italy), both terrestrial and low-altitude aerial surveys were carried out by consumer grade camera and quadcopter (low-cost unmanned aerial vehicle [UAV]) to measure rill erosion on two plots with steepness of 22% and 26%. Applying the structure from motion (SfM) technique, the three-dimensional digital terrain models (3D-DTMs) and the quasi three-dimensional models (2.5D-digital elevation model [DEM]) were obtained by the two surveys. Furthermore, 3D-DTM and DEM were built using the available aerial photographs (166) and adding 40 terrestrial photographs. For the first time, the convergence index was a…

APPROCCIO METODOLOGICO PER LA VALUTAZIONE DELLA QUALITÀ DEI SUOLI NELLA R.N.O. MONTE GALLO (PA)

Calibrazione di un modello distribuito per la stima della produzione di sedimenti in bacini di media estensione

New Stage–Discharge Relationship for Triangular Broad-Crested Weirs

Simple hydraulic structures, such as weirs, allow measuring flow discharge by using the upstream flow depth and a stage–discharge relationship. In this relationship, a discharge coefficient is introduced to correct all the effects neglected in the derivation (viscosity, surface tension, velocity head in the approach channel, flow turbulence, non-uniform velocity profile, and streamline curvature due to weir contraction). In this paper, the dimensional analysis and the incomplete self-similarity theory are used to investigate the outflow process of triangular broad-crested weirs, characterized by different values of the ratio between crest height p and channel width B, and to theoretic…

Field investigation on rilling in the experimental Sparacia area

In this paper the results of a field investigation on rilling carried out in the experimental Sparacia area are reported. The measurements were made on a plot 6 m wide and 22 m long subjected to natural rainfalls. For ten rainfalls the total soil loss (interrill and rill erosion) was collected in a storage system consisting of two tanks arranged in series at the base of the plot. Rill morphology (rill length and cross-sections) was measured for five rainfall events, while the rill profile was surveyed for three events. First the contribution of each component (rill and interrill erosion) to total soil loss was established. Then the analysis allowed establishment of a power relationship betw…

Testing a new rill flow resistance approach using the Water Erosion Prediction Project experimental database

In this paper, a recently theoretically deduced rill flow resistance equation, based on a power‐velocity profile, was tested using the Water Erosion Prediction Project database. This database includes measurements of flow velocity, water depth, cross section area, wetted perimeter, and bed slope that were made in rills shaped on experimental sites distributed across the continental United States. In particular, three different experimental conditions (only rainfall, only flow, and rain with flow) were examined, and for each condition, the theoretically based relationship for estimating the Γ function of the power velocity profile was calibrated. The results established that (a) the Darcy‐We…

Sulla geometria idraulica dei rill e degli ephemeral gully rilevati a Sparacia, in Sicilia

Una nuova stazione sperimentale per il monitoraggio della produzione di sedimenti nell'area sperimentale di Sparacia

Applicazione della USLE-MM per la stima distribuita della produzione di sedimenti

Elaboración de modelos 3D de diferentes morfologías y escalas utilizando técnicas Structure-from-Motion y fotografías terrestres

En este trabajo se evalúan los métodos de foto-reconstrucción automatizada basados en el uso conjunto de las técnicas Structure from Motion (SfM) y Multi-View Stereo (MVS) para medir, monitorizar y cuantificar la dinámica de tres formas geomorfológicas: i) el glaciar rocoso del Corral del Veleta (Granada, España), ii) un paisaje de cárcavas de tipo calanchi (Sicilia, Italia) y ii) cinco pequeñas cabeceras de cárcava (Cáceres, España). Se incluyen en este trabajo los resultados sobre la precisión, utilidad y aplicabilidad de estas técnicas. Para la cuantificación de la precisión se utilizan el error cuadrático medio (RMSE) de los puntos de control que se emplean en la georreferenciación y la…

USING A TRANSIENT INFILTROMETRIC TECHNIQUE FOR INTENSIVELY SAMPLING FIELD-SATURATED HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY OF A CLAY SOIL IN TWO RUNOFF PLOTS

Point measurement of soil properties allows to explain and simulate plot scale hydrological processes. An intensive sampling was carried out at the surface of an unsaturated clay soil to measure, on two adjacent plots of 4×11 m2 and two different dates (May 2007 and February-March 2008), dry soil bulk density, rb, and antecedent soil water content, qi, at 88 points. Field-saturated soil hydraulic conductivity, Kfs, was also measured at 176 points by the transient Simplified Falling Head technique to determine the soil water permeability characteristics at the beginning of a possible rainfall event yielding measurable runoff. The rb values did not differ significantly between the two dates b…

Measuring rill erosion at plot scale by a drone-based technology

The traditional direct method (i.e. metric ruler and rillmeter) of monitoring rill erosion at plot scale is time consuming and invasive since it modifies the surface of the rilled area. Measuring rill features using a drone-based technology is considered a non-invasive method allowing a fast field relief. In the experimental Sparacia area a survey by a quadricopter Microdones md4-200 was carried out and this relief allowed the generation of a Digital Elevation Model (DEM), with a mesh size of 1 cm and a resolution elevation equal to 2 mm, for three plots (L, G and C) affected by rill erosion. At first for the experimental L plot, which is 44 m long, the rill features were surveyed by a “man…

Zonizzazione climatica del territorio siciliano per la determinazione delle aree sensibili alla desertificazione

Testing a new sampler for measuring plot soil loss

In order to measure soil loss in equipped plots the estimate of the weight of solid material intercepted at their lower end is required. At the experimental area of Sparacia, Sicily, the runoff produced by an erosive event is collected within storage tanks with a capacity of about 1m3. In this paper, the use of a new sampler is proposed to measure easily the weight of solid material eroded from an experimental plot and collected into a storage tank. The sampler is a cylinder having a closing valve at the bottom. Two different series of runs were carried out both to test the reliability of the sampler and to establish a sampling procedure, respectively. An analysis of various sampling config…

Morphological characteristics of ephemeral gullies in Sicily, south Italy

Ephemeral gullies (EGs) are channels of different sizes refilled by tillage equipment normally used on farms. In this paper, the data-set collected from 1995 to 2007 in a wheat-cultivated area in Raddusa (Sicily, Italy), having a surface of almost 80 ha, were used to analyze the morphological characteristics of EGs. The measurements show an high temporal variability in EG characteristics. The EG measurements and the rill erosion measurements carried out in 15 plots located in the experimental “Sparacia” area (Sicily), demonstrated that a morphological similarity condition exists between rills and ephemeral gullies. The occurrence of step-pool structures in an EG occurring in the observation…

UN NUOVO MODELLO PER LA STIMA DELL’ERODIBILITÀ RILL

Molti modelli process-oriented per la previsione dell’erosione rill utilizzano parametri, come l’erodibilità rill, che sono specifici del sito di interesse e pertanto l’applicazione dei suddetti modelli necessita la misura di questi parametri o una loro stima indiretta. L’obiettivo del presente lavoro è quello di proporre un metodo per la misura indiretta dell’erodibilità rill del suolo dell’area sperimentale di Sparacia, in Sicilia. Sono state utilizzate le misure condotte sui rill rilevati nelle parcelle di Sparacia in occasione di sette eventi di pioggia naturale e un semplice approccio matematico basato sull’equazione che simula il distacco dei sedimenti tenendo conto della variabilità …

Morphometric analysis of calanchi areas by low-altitude flight

Un nuovo modello distribuito per la stima della produzione di sedimenti

Verifica del modello SEDD per bacini siciliani di grande estensione

Sediment delivery processes and chemical transport in a small forested basin

Recent reaserch has directed attention to the properties of the eroded material because of its influence in deposition phenomena and in carrying capacity of pollutant materials

Flow resistance equation for rills

In this paper, a new flow resistance equation for rill flow was deduced applying dimensional analysis and self‐similarity theory. At first, the incomplete self‐similarity hypothesis was used for establishing the flow velocity distribution whose integration gives the theoretical expression of the Darcy–Weisbach friction factor. Then the deduced theoretical resistance equation was tested by some measurements of flow velocity, water depth, cross section area, wetted perimeter, and bed slope carried out in 106 reaches of some rills shaped on an experimental plot. A relationship between the velocity profile, the channel slope, and the flow Froude number was also established. The analysis showed …

VERIFICA DI UNA TECNICA FOTOGRAFICA PER IL RILIEVO DELLA GEOMETRIA DI UN CANALE IN TERRA

Nella memoria sono riportati i risultati delle verifiche di applicabilità di una tecnica image-based per il monitoraggio dei processi di erosione canalizzata. L’indagine, in particolare, ha avuto lo scopo di testare l’uso di modelli tridimensionali del terreno (DTM) ottenuti con l’impiego di un numero elevato di fotografie della stessa scena acquisite da differenti punti di vista (Tecnica “Structure-From Motion” SFM e “Multi-View-Stereo MVS). Il DTM tridimensionale (3D) è stato generato utilizzando il software open source Autodesk 123D Catch mentre per la creazione del Digital Elevation Model DEM (2.5D) è stato impiegato il software CloudCompare. Dei due canali in terra utilizzati nella spe…

Rilievo di un ephemeral gully nell’area sperimentale di Sparacia mediante una tecnica fotografica

Nella memoria sono riportati i risultati dell’applicazione di una tecnica imagebased per il monitoraggio di un ephemeral gully formatosi nel gennaio 2015 nell’area sperimentale di Sparacia. Nel gully, lungo 54 m, sono state individuate 24 sezioni trasversali che sono state rilevate in campo mediante l’uso di un profilometro. L’indagine ha inoltre previsto la realizzazione di un modello tridimensionale del terreno (DTM) ottenuto con l’impiego di un numero elevato di fotografie della stessa scena acquisite da differenti punti di vista (Tecnica “Structure-From Motion” SFM e “Multi-View-Stereo MVS). Dal DTM tridimensionale (3D) e dal modello 2.5D sono stati estratti i profili delle sezioni tras…

Verifica della USLE-MM per il bacino sperimentale SPA2 in Sicilia

Evaluation of the SEDD model for predicting sediment yield at the Sicilian experimental SPA2 basin

In this paper a spatially distributed model of the hillslope sediment delivery processes, named the sediment delivery distributed (SEDD) model, is initially reviewed; the model takes into account the sediment delivery processes due to both the hillslope sediment transport and the effects of slope curvature. Then the rainfall and sediment yield events measured at the experimental SPA2 basin, in Sicily, are used both to calibrate the SEDD model and to verify the predictive capability of the distributed sediment delivery approach at event scale. For the SPA2 basin discretized into morphological units and stream tubes, the SEDD model is calibrated at event scale using the measurements carried o…

Agro-meteorological characteristics and soil properties in the Ruyigi area, Burundi

Measurement of Water Soil Erosion at Sparacia Experimental Area (Southern Italy): A Summary of More than Twenty Years of Scientific Activity

The main purpose of this article is to give a general idea of the scientific activity that was carried out starting from the 2000s on the basis of the data collected in the plots installed at the Sparacia experimental station for soil erosion measurement in Sicily, South Italy. The paper includes a presentation of the experimental site, a description of the methods and procedures for measuring soil erosion processes both available in the literature and applied at the Sparacia station (sediment sampling and water level reading in the storage tanks for total erosion measurements; profilometer, and Structure from Motion technique for rill erosion measurements), and the main results obtained in…

Briglie a fessura

Testing mechanical characteristics of chestnut stakes used in bed sills for stream restoration

Using of wood elements for constructing bed sills in Mediterranean streams, where the banks are not protected by tree vegetation, needs an evaluation of biological and mechanical characteristics for evaluating both the wood durability and the effectiveness of the stream restoration project. Very few studies have dealt both with the decay of mechanical characteristics of wood elements employed for stream restoration works and with the changes over time of physical and chemical wood characters. In this paper, for a wood and stone bed sill located in a stream having no shaded banks, the changes of physical and chemical characters detected after 12, 18, 24, 30, 36, 42 and 48 months on chestnut …

Modellazione della produzione di sedimenti nel bacino sperimentale SPA2 in Sicilia

Monitoraggio della produzione di sedimenti e calibrazione di un modello distribuito in un piccolo bacino forestato

Impiego della tecnica del cesio-137 per il monitoraggio dei processi erosivi del bacino sperimentale SPA2