Irrigation and Water Engineering

Irrigation and Water Engineering

The Effect of Different Rainfall Intensities on Cumulative Sediment and Depth to Wet in Different Slopes Using Rainfall Simulator

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
1 Ph.D. Candidate at the Shahrekord University, Faculty of Natural Resources and Earth Science, Department of Natural Engineering, Shahrekord University, Shahrekord, Iran
2 Assistant professor, Faculty of Natural Resources and Earth Science, Department of Range and Watershed Management, Shahrekord University, Shahrekord, Iran
3 Assistant professor, Faculty of Natural Resources and Earth Science, Department of Range and Watershed Management, Shahrekord
10.22125/iwe.2021.251743.1425
Abstract
Soil erosion is an integrated process that results from the connection of sub-processes related to degradation, separation, transport of soil particles and sediment based on erosive factors such as runoff, rainfall intensity and slope. These factors change the amount and pattern of erosion and affect the total output of sediment. The purpose of this research was to investigate the effect of rainfall intensity on cumulative sediment and wetting depth in different slopes using rainfall simulator. This research was considered as a field survey and it was used three slopes of slight, moderate and steep at different rainfall intensities of 45, 60 and 70 mm/h. The depth to wet was measured diagonally with three repetitions every 10 minutes inside the plot using a ruler or thin tissue rods. Accordingly, the amount of runoff and sediment were collected from the plot surface and measured in the laboratory. The results of this study revealed that with increasing rainfall intensity in all treatments, the amount of sediment production increases in steep and medium slopes. Moreover, the highest and lowest amount of cumulative sediment production occurred at medium and slight slopes in intensity of 70 and 45 mm/h, respectively. Further, the maximum cumulative wetting depth value increases from high to low intensity due to the possibility of sufficient water penetration into the soil.
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