Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Impact of moving rainfall events on hillslope pollutant transport

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Environmental Earth Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The pollutants from agrochemicals can cause non-point source pollution due to the rainfall-runoff and the associated upland soil erosion processes. In this study, by using ammonia chloride as the pollutant source, a series of laboratory experiments, considering different rainfall durations (including intermittent rainfall) and moving directions, were conducted to investigate the dynamic process of pollutant transport. Runoff generation and soil erosion processes under different rainfall patterns were analyzed to understand the pollutant transport. Several conclusions can be drawn, which are: (1) when compared with moving downstream rainfall scenarios (MDL), moving upstream rainfall scenarios (MUL) can generally be characterized by hydrographs with earlier rise and higher runoff and erosion rates; (2) the pollutant transport is mainly in the form of dissolved states; (3) pollutant concentration c decreased over time t which can be depicted by a quadratic equation, i.e., c = at 2 + bt + d; (4) the pollutant loss in short duration and short interval rainfall patterns is affected by pollutant concentration, while the pollutant loss in long duration and long interval rainfall (MDL) patterns is influenced by runoff rates; and (5) in comparison with MDL cases, rainfall patterns in MUL cases lead to less pollutant loss which is dominated by pollutant concentration.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ahuja LR, Lehman OR (1983) The extent and nature of rainfall-soil interaction in the release of soluable chemicals to runoff. J Environ Qual 12(1):34–40

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bachmair S, Weiler M, Nutzmann G (2009) Controls of land use and soil structure on water movement: lessons for pollutant transfer through the unsaturated zone. J Hydrol 369:241–252

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beullens J, Van De Velde D, Nyssen J (2014) Impact of slope aspect on hydrological rainfall and on the magnitude of rill erosion in Belgium and northern France. CATENA 114:129–139

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen C, Yu ZB, Xiang L, He JJ, Fu XL (2012) Effects of rainfall intensity and amount on the transport of total nitrogen and phosphorus in a small agricultural watershed. Appl Mech Mater 212–213:268–271. doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.212-213.268

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Lima JLMP, Singh VP, de Lima MIP (2003) The influence of storm movement on water erosion: storm direction and velocity effects. CATENA 52(1):39–56

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diebel MW, Maxted JT, Han S, Robertson DM, Vander Zanden MJ (2009) Landscape planning for agricultural nonpoint source pollution reduction III: assessing phosphorus and sediment reduction potential. Environ Manag 43(1):69–83

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dong WC, Wang QJ, Zhou BB, Shan YY (2013) A simple model for the transport of soil-dissolved chemicals in runoff by raindrops. CATENA 101:129–135

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gao B, Walter MT, Steenhuis TS, Hogarth WL, Parlange JY (2004) Rainfall induced chemical transport from soil to runoff: theory and experiments. J Hydrol 295(1–4):291–304

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gao B, Walter MT, Steenhuis TS, Hogarth WL, Parlange JY, Richards BK, Rose CW (2005) Investigating raindrop effects on transport of sediment and non-sorbed chemicals from soil to surface runoff. J Hydrol 308(1–4):313–320

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gunn R, Kinzer GD (1949) The terminal velocity of fall for water droplets in stagnant air. J Meterol 6:243–248

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • He ZG, Wu W, Wang SSY (2009) An integrated 2D surface and 3D subsurface contaminant transport model considering soil erosion and sorption. J Hydraul Eng-ASCE 135(12):1028–1040

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • He ZG, Weng HX, Ho HC, Ran QH, Mao MH (2014a) Soil erosion and pollutant transport during rainfall-runoff process. Water Resour 41:604–611

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • He JJ, Li XJ, Jia LJ, Gong HL, Cai QG (2014b) Experimental study of rill evolution process and relationships between runoff and erosion on clay loam and loess. Soil Sci Soc Am J 78:1716–1725

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Itai T, Maruoka T, Kusakabe M, Uesugi K, Mitamura M (2013) Use of soil color meter for aqueous iron and ammonium measurements. Soil Sci Plant Nutr 59:450–454

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jiang GH (2004) Discussion about NH4+–N adsorptive ability in soils. J Chang’an Univ 21(2):32–35 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Jiang FS, Huang YH, Wang MK, Lin JS, Zhao G, Ge HL (2014) Effects of rainfall intensity and slope gradient on steep colluvial deposit erosion in southeast China. Soil Sci Soc Am J 78:1741–1752

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laws JO (1941) Measurements of the fall-velocity of waterdrops and raindrops. Trans Am Geophys Union 22:709–720

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liang N (2013) A laboratory study on impacts of the moving storm characteristics on the hillslope hydrological response and soil erosion. Master thesis, Zhejiang University (in Chinese)

  • Ma K, Wang ZQ, Chen X, You L (2002) Study on properties of nutrient loss from red soil in sloping land under different rainfall intensities. J Soil Water Conserv 16(3):16–19 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Ongley ED, Zhang XL, Yu T (2010) Current status of agricultural and rural non-point source pollution assessment in China. Environ Pollut 158(5):1159–1168

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ran Q, Su D, Li P, He Z (2012a) Experimental study of the impact of rainfall characteristics on runoff generation and soil erosion. J Hydrol 424–425:99–111

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ran QH, Shi ZN, Zhao JJ, Xu YP (2012) Impact of moving rainfall on soil erosion based on crust characteristics. J Tsinghua Univ (Sci&Tech) 52(6):821–829 (in Chinese)

  • Schulz R (2004) Field studies on exposure, effects, and risk mitigation of aquatic nonpoint-source insecticide pollution. J Environ Qual 33(2):419–448

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sensoy H, Kara O (2013) Slope shape effect on runoff and soil erosion under natural rainfall conditions. IFOREST-Biogeosci For 7:110–114

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Truman CC, Potter TL, Nuti RC, Franklin DH, Bosch DD (2011) Antecedent water content effects on runoff and sediment yields from coastal plain ultisols. Agric Water Manag 98:1189–1196

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang H, Ping LN, Pan JF, Shen ZY (2012) Effect of solute application position on the solute transport characteristics on red soil slope. J Soil Water Conserv 26(4):7–11 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang L, Liang T, Zhang Q (2013) Laboratory experiments of phosphorus loss with surface runoff during simulated rainfall. Environ Earth Sci 70(6):2839–2846

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wei W, Jia FY, Yang L, Chen LD, Zhang HD, Yu Y (2014) Effects of surficial condition and rainfall intensity on runoff in a loess hilly area, China. J Hydrol 513:115–126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu XY, Zhang LP, Yu XX (2012) Impacts of surface runoff and sediment on nitrogen and phosphorus loss in red soil region of southern China. Environ Earth Sci 67(7):1939–1949

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yu CG, Gao B, Munoz-Carpena R (2012) Effect of dense vegetation on colloid transport and removal in surface runoff. J Hydrol 434:1–6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang B, Yang YS, Zepp H (2004) Effect of vegetation restoration on soil and water erosion and nutrient losses of a severely eroded clayey Plinthudult in southeastern China. CATENA 57(1):77–90

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang T, Yu GQ, Li ZB, Li P (2014) Experimental study on slope runoff, erosion and sediment under different vegetation types. Water Resour Manag 28:2415–2433

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhejiang Provincial Hydrological Bureau (2003) Short duration rainstorm in Zhejiang Province (in Chinese)

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work is partially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51009120 and 41376095), Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang (Y5090084), and Zhejiang University Grant (2012HY012B).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ocean College, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China

    Zhiguo He, Haoxuan Weng, Ting Wu, Haoche Ho & Yingtien Lin

  2. Zhejiang Guangchuan Engineering Consulting Co. Ltd, Hangzhou, 310020, China

    Haoxuan Weng

  3. Department of Hydraulic Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China

    Qihua Ran

Authors
  1. Zhiguo He
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Haoxuan Weng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ting Wu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Haoche Ho
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Yingtien Lin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Qihua Ran
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yingtien Lin.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

He, Z., Weng, H., Wu, T. et al. Impact of moving rainfall events on hillslope pollutant transport. Environ Earth Sci 74, 5989–5999 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-015-4623-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-015-4623-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation