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Approximation and spatial regionalization of rainfall erosivity based on sparse data in a mountainous catchment of the Yangtze River in Central China

  • Processes and Environmental Quality in the Yangtze River System
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Abstract

In densely populated countries like China, clean water is one of the most challenging issues of prospective politics and environmental planning. Water pollution and eutrophication by excessive input of nitrogen and phosphorous from nonpoint sources is mostly linked to soil erosion from agricultural land. In order to prevent such water pollution by diffuse matter fluxes, knowledge about the extent of soil loss and the spatial distribution of hot spots of soil erosion is essential. In remote areas such as the mountainous regions of the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River, rainfall data are scarce. Since rainfall erosivity is one of the key factors in soil erosion modeling, e.g., expressed as R factor in the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation model, a methodology is needed to spatially determine rainfall erosivity. Our study aims at the approximation and spatial regionalization of rainfall erosivity from sparse data in the large (3,200 km2) and strongly mountainous catchment of the Xiangxi River, a first order tributary to the Yangtze River close to the Three Gorges Dam. As data on rainfall were only obtainable in daily records for one climate station in the central part of the catchment and five stations in its surrounding area, we approximated rainfall erosivity as R factors using regression analysis combined with elevation bands derived from a digital elevation model. The mean annual R factor (R a) amounts for approximately 5,222 MJ mm ha−1 h−1 a−1. With increasing altitudes, R a rises up to maximum 7,547 MJ mm ha−1 h−1 a−1 at an altitude of 3,078 m a.s.l. At the outlet of the Xiangxi catchment erosivity is at minimum with approximate R a = 1,986 MJ mm ha−1 h−1 a−1. The comparison of our results with R factors from high-resolution measurements at comparable study sites close to the Xiangxi catchment shows good consistance and allows us to calculate grid-based R a as input for a spatially high-resolution and area-specific assessment of soil erosion risk.

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Acknowledgments

This study was conducted within the framework of the Sino-German joint research project YANGTZE GEO. The funding by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF, grant no. 03G 0669) is highly acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geosciences, Chair of Physical Geography and Soil Science, University of Tuebingen, Ruemelinstraße 19-23, 72070, Tübingen, Germany

    Sarah Schönbrodt-Stitt, Anna Bosch, Thorsten Behrens & Thomas Scholten

  2. College of Health, Environment and Science, Department of Geography, Geology and the Environment, Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock, PA, USA

    Heike Hartmann

  3. Institute of Soil Science, Department for Soil Resources and Remote Sensing Application, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, People’s Republic of China

    Xuezheng Shi

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  1. Sarah Schönbrodt-Stitt
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Correspondence to Sarah Schönbrodt-Stitt.

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Schönbrodt-Stitt, S., Bosch, A., Behrens, T. et al. Approximation and spatial regionalization of rainfall erosivity based on sparse data in a mountainous catchment of the Yangtze River in Central China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 20, 6917–6933 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-012-1441-8

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