Search results for "Structural basin"
showing 10 items of 292 documents
Evaluation of the SEDD model for predicting sediment yield at the Sicilian experimental SPA2 basin
2007
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…
LONG TIME BEHAVIOR OF A SHALLOW WATER MODEL FOR A BASIN WITH VARYING BOTTOM TOPOGRAPHY
2002
We study the long time behavior of a shallow water model introduced by Levermore and Sammartino to describe the motion of a viscous incompressible fluid confined in a basin with topography. Here we prove the existence of a global attractor and give an estimate on its Hausdorff and fractal dimension.
Length Slope Factors for applying the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation at Basin Scale in Southern Italy
2000
In this paper, for a basin divided into morphological units, a distributed model based on the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE), with different expressions for the topographic factors, and on the sediment delivery ratio of each morphological unit is used. At first, the caesium-137 data available from a Sicilian basin are calibrated with two different models [the Proportional Method (PM), the Simplified Mass Balance (SMB) model] to provide net soil loss data for each morphological unit. Then, for a selected expression of the topographic factor, the slope length exponent is calculated for each morphological unit, equating the calculated sediment yield with the net soil loss. The an…
Linking sediment yield and caesium-137 spatial distribution at basin scale
1999
Abstract Identifying areas of the landscape that are most sensitive or susceptible to erosion stimulated the study of within-basin variability of the sediment delivery processes and the use of spatially distributed models coupled with Geographic Information Systems. The progress of sediment delivery distributed modelling is also dependent on the availability of measurements able to establish the link between eroded soil leaving an area and the patterns of erosion and deposition occurring along the hydraulic path from the considered area to the nearest stream reach. In this paper, the tracer technique using the radionuclide137Cs and its employment in sediment yield studies at basin scale are…
Derivation of Rainfall Thresholds for Flash Flood Warning in a Sicilian Basin Using a Hydrological Model
2016
Abstract The damages caused by flash floods are among the most onerous in terms of loss of lives and damage to properties. Derivation of rainfall threshold is one of the approaches commonly used for the development of flash flood warning systems. Specifically, rainfall threshold is the rainfall amount that, for a given basin area and duration, is enough to cause flooding and, therefore, it indicates the maximal sustainable rainfall for a basin. The aim of this paper is deriving flash flood-rainfall thresholds for a Sicilian basin (Italy) throughout a deterministic approach. The conceptual hydrological model TOPDM was used to estimate the amount of rainfall that, for given duration, hydrolog…
Empirical Investigation of Curve Number Method Parameters in the Mediterranean Area
2012
AbstractThe curve number (CN) method is widely used as a technique for estimating surface runoff depth from rainstorms. This simply lumped method is based on the main parameter CN, which represents the lumped expression of basin absorption, and on a parameter that represents interception, infiltration during the early part of a storm, and surface depression storage, called initial abstraction. In this paper, CN is evaluated at the basin scale from rainfall-runoff multiday events, in the observation period 1940–1997 (recorded length mean equal to 20 years) for 61 Sicilian basins with three different methods: NEH4 method, asymptotic fitting method, and a least-squares method. A first analysis…
tRIBS-Erosion: A parsimonious physically-based model for studying catchment hydro-geomorphic response
2012
Our goal is to develop a model capable to discern the response of a watershed to different erosion mechanisms. We propose a framework that integrates a geomorphic component into the physically-based and spatially distributed TIN-based Real-time Integrated Basin Simulator (tRIBS) model. The coupled model simulates main erosive processes of hillslopes (raindrop impact detachment, overland flow entrainment, and diffusive processes) and channel (erosion and deposition due to the action of water flow). In addition to the spatially distributed, dynamic hydrologic variables, the model computes the sediment transport discharge and changes in elevation, which feedback to hydrological dynamics throug…
Stochastic assessment of climate impacts on hydrology and geomorphology of semiarid headwater basins using a physically based model
2015
Hydrologic and geomorphic responses of watersheds to changes in climate are difficult to assess due to projection uncertainties and nonlinearity of the processes that are involved. Yet such assessments are increasingly needed and call for mechanistic approaches within a probabilistic framework. This study employs an integrated hydrology-geomorphology model, the Triangulated Irregular Network-based Real-time Integrated Basin Simulator (tRIBS)-Erosion, to analyze runoff and erosion sensitivity of seven semiarid headwater basins to projected climate conditions. The Advanced Weather Generator is used to produce two climate ensembles representative of the historic and future climate conditions f…
Measurements of rill and gully erosion in Sicily
2011
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…
Sediment delivery processes at basin scale
1995
Abstract Since eroded sediments are produced from different sources distributed throughout a basin, sediment delivery processes at basin scale have to be modelled by a spatially distributed approach. In this paper a new theoretically based relationship is proposed for evaluating the sediment delivery ratio, SDRi, of each morphological unit, i, into which a basin is divided. Then, using the sediment balance equation written for the basin outlet, a relationship between the basin sediment delivery ratio, SDRW and the SDRi is deduced. This relationship is shown to be independent of the soil erosion model used. Finally, a morphological criterion for estimating a coefficient, β, is proposed.