Search results for "rainfall intensity"

Raindrop size distribution and terminal velocity for rainfall erosivity studies. A review

2019

Abstract The knowledge of the rainfall drop size distribution (DSD) at the land surface is essential for understanding precipitation mechanisms affecting soil erosion processes. Rainfall erosivity is defined as the potential of rain to cause erosion and it can be evaluated by rainfall kinetic power, which is determined by DSD and raindrop terminal velocity. This paper firstly deals with the raindrop terminal velocity estimate. Then the most widely used DSD are reviewed highlighting the difference between the raindrop size distribution per unit volume of air and that per unit area and time. The reliability of the available kinetic power-rainfall intensity relationships and their application …

Theoretical prediction of rainfall intensity for a small rainfall simulator

2022

In this contribution, a theoretical approach was developed for predicting rainfall intensity for a small rainfall simulator. The developed equation was tested for two different devices and different pressure head and water temperature values. The proposed relationship was found to have a good predictive ability of rainfall intensity. The proposed theoretical approach could be usable with other devices that operate on the same principles of the simulator considered in this investigation.

A method for evaluating rainfall kinetic power by a characteristic drop diameter

2019

Abstract Empirical relationships linking kinetic energy to rainfall intensity are commonly used to estimate rainfall erosivity. In this paper, using the drop-size distribution (DSD) proposed by Marshall and Palmer, a relationship for calculating the rainfall kinetic power was firstly deduced. This equation requires the simultaneous measurement of both the median volume diameter and the rainfall intensity and its application also reveals the drawback of needing the measurement of the whole DSD by an expensive disdrometric technique. Then, using a fictitious precipitation, which is both constituted by droplets having the same diameter (mean volume diameter) and having the same volume of the a…

Reliability of rainfall kinetic power-intensity relationships

2017

The rainfall erosivity plays a fundamental role in water soil erosion processes and it can be expressed by its kinetic power. At first in this paper the raindrop size distributions measured, in the period June 2006- March 2014, by an optical disdrometer installed at the Department of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences of University of Palermo are aggregated into rainfall intensity classes, having different ranges, and the measured kinetic power values are determined. Measured kinetic power values are initially used for testing the applicability of the kinetic power-rainfall intensity relationships proposed by Wischmeier and Smith (1978), used in Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE), Brown an…

Las crecidas en ramblas valencianas mediterráneas

2001

This paper takes into account the characterisation of ephemeral stream hydrology from Mediterranean environments. The heavy floods that these countries suffer are due to firstly, the physical watershed features (steep slopes, scarced vegetation cover and thin soils) and, secondly, to the intense and variable rainfall. Large quantities of precipitation fall in a matter of hours, or even minutes, over very steep catchments, causing catastrophic flash-floods, with very pointed hydrographs and short time lags. Using hydrological daily data from the Rambla de la Viuda basin and five-minute data from both Barranc de Carraixet and Rambla de Poyo basins, we have analysed the rainfall- runoff proces…

Characterizing rainfall erosivity by kinetic power-Median volume diameter relationship

2018

Abstract Kinetic power, i.e. kinetic energy per unit time and area, is the variable widely used to represent the rainfall erosivity which affects soil loss and sediment yield. This paper shows the results of an experimental investigation using the raindrop size distributions (DSDs) measured by an optical disdrometer installed at the Department of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Sciences of University of Palermo in Italy (June 2006–March 2014) and at the El Teularet experimental station in Spain (July 2015–May 2016). At first an analysis of the DSDs aggregated into intensity classes is carried out, then the measured kinetic power values are determined. The aggregated DSDs allowed to establis…

Verifica delle equazioni disponibili per la stima della potenza cinetica delle precipitazioni naturali

2016

Nella memoria sono riportati i risultati delle indagini condotte utilizzando le distribuzioni dimensionali delle gocce di pioggia (DSD) rilevate mediante un disdrometro ottico installato, nel periodo Giugno 2006 - Marzo 2014, presso il Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie e Forestali dell’Università degli Studi di Palermo e nel periodo Luglio 2015-Gennaio 2016 presso la stazione sperimentale di El Teularet in Spagna. Dopo aver aggregato le DSD per classi di intensità differenti in ampiezza, è stata determinata la potenza cinetica associando a ciascun diametro della DSD aggregata la relativa velocità di caduta calcolata mediante una relazione reperita in letteratura. I valori di potenza cinetica …

ESTIMATING RAINFALL EROSIVITY BY DROP SIZE DISTRIBUTIONS

Water soil erosion is a process of detachment and transport of soil particles due to rainfall and runoff and it is the main cause of the modeling of extended portions of the earth's surface. The acceleration of the process through anthropogenic perturbation has severe impacts on soil and environmental quality. Soil erosion above a certain level will reduce soil productivity over the long haul. It exposes subsoil, which has often poor qualities for crop establishment and growth, and it can lead to stand loss by sediment deposition. A fundamental property of rainfall for understanding how it is made up is the raindrop size distribution (DSD). The knowledge of the raindrop size distribution at…