Search results for " Erosion"

A pedotransfer function for estimating the soil erodibility factor in Sicily

2009

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…

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

2018

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…

Soil Erosion on Mountain Trails in Eastern Iberian Peninsula

2020

A review on trial erosion shows that soil erosion rates are one to three orders of magnitude higher than the ones recommended as sustainable. This is threatening the sustainable managements of mountain terrains, mainly in the popular hiking paths. The warm temperatures characterize Eastern Spain in winter, which results in visitors from northern Europe to walk in the coastal land mountainous terrain. This increases the pressure to the currently highly visited most popular paths. We selected representative transects of the trails of Serra de Bérnia, Puigcampana, Penyagolosa, Montcabré, Serra del Sit, Aitana, Les Tres Creus, Caroig, Cupurutxo and Circ de la Safor. All the selected study sites…

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

2019

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…

Geomorphological study of “calanchi” slopes of the Scillato basin (northern Sicily)

2009

Monitoring of erosion on two calanchi fronts - rill, gully erosion and piping in northern Sicily (Italy)

2010

Dental Erosions and Halitosis as Oral Manifestations of GERD

2015

Application of hydroseeding for environmental protection in the Mediterranean area

2011

Improving soil and water conservation and ecosystem services by sustainable soil management practices: From a global to an Italian soil partnership

2020

The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) identify the need to restore degraded soils in order to improve productivity and the provision of ecosystem services. The aim is to support food production, store and supply clean water, conserve biodiversity, sequester carbon, and improve soil resilience in a context of climate change. Within this framework, in order to achieve the SDGs and to correct land management in the long-term, soil management is considered mandatory. The reduction of land degradation should be based on various sustainable soil management practices that improve and maintain soil organic matter levels, increase water infiltration, and improve soil water management. This tec…

Effects of the foot evolution on the behaviour of slow-moving landslides

2011

The paper presents a time-dependent 2D numerical model which has been developed with the purpose of highlighting the effects of the slope foot evolution on the behaviour of slow-moving landslides. The model allows to quantitatively analyse how foot mass variations can influence the stability and the movement rates of the landslide. The landslide body is modelled as composed of two rigid blocks sliding on two different planes and interacting through a common boundary, which position is assumed fixed during the analysis. A finite difference approach is used to discretize the time. For each time increment, changes in model parameters are allowed, including variations in shearing resistances, g…