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Introducing an appropriate empirical method for estimating sediment delivery ratio (SDR) via sedimentometry of check-dams in small catchments in arid regions (Semnan province, Iran)

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Abstract

One of the main challenges in controlling soil erosion and sediment load in desert areas is the lack of data. Therefore, estimation of soil erosion in such watersheds is possible by determining the sediment delivery ratio (SDR). The purpose of this study is comparison of the results of different methods for calculating SDR with its actual amount in arid areas and determining the best method. The study areas include 6 watersheds for calibration phase and 1 watershed for validation phase in Semnan province in the north of Iran. The volume of trapped sediment upstream the study area check-dams was calculated by evaluating the changes in the dams’ reservoirs morphological characteristics between successive events. The rain simulator method was used to obtain actual SDR. The SDR value was also calculated using 14 empirical methods. Comparison of observed and calculated SDR values indicates the different performance of the empirical methods. It is not possible to introduce one of these methods for calculating SDR in all studied basins, but due to the lowest relative error rate of the USDA-SCS (1983) model, this model was calibrated. The relative mean squared error for calibrated model was 0.2241 (low error). The results obtained by the calibrated model corresponded to about 80% to the values of the observed SDR. Finally, the relative error rate in the validation stage for the basin that was used in validation of the calibrated model was calculated as 1.17%, so the results of the calibrated model can be accepted.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Faculty of Desert Studies of Semnan University for providing us with the facilities of Geo-Erosion Laboratory.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Desert Studies, Department of Combating Desertification, Semnan University, Campus 1, Semnan, 35131-19111, Iran

    Hossein Etemadi & Shima Nikoo

  2. Department of Watershed Management, Semnan Agriculture and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, Next to Amirkabir Bridge, Basij Boulevard, Semnan, 35145-319, Iran

    Seyed Ali Asghar Hashemi

Authors
  1. Hossein Etemadi
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  2. Shima Nikoo
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  3. Seyed Ali Asghar Hashemi
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Contributions

This research is derived from the doctoral dissertation of HE (PhD student). The stages of field studies, sampling, mapping, and laboratory work were done by HE with the guidance of the supervisors of the dissertation (SN and SAAH). Data analysis and writing the article have been carried out in collaboration with all authors.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shima Nikoo.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interests. In addition, the ethical issues, including plagiarism, informed consent, misconduct, data fabrication and/or falsification, double publication and/or submission, and redundancy have been completely observed by the authors.

Additional information

Responsible editor: Broder J. Merkel

Highlights

• Sediment delivery ratio in check-dams in small catchments in arid regions of Iran show very drastic changes.

• Comparison of observed and calculated SDR values indicates the different performance of the empirical relationships. So that a relationship for one watershed has had acceptable results, for another watershed has had inappropriate results.

• The estimated SDR values by the calibrated USDA-SCS (1983) model were 80% consistent with the values of the observed sediment delivery ratio in the studied watersheds.

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Etemadi, H., Nikoo, S. & Hashemi, S.A.A. Introducing an appropriate empirical method for estimating sediment delivery ratio (SDR) via sedimentometry of check-dams in small catchments in arid regions (Semnan province, Iran). Arab J Geosci 14, 1174 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-021-07322-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-021-07322-w

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