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Impact of rainfall intensity on the hydrological performance of erosion control geotextiles

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Abstract

The impact of erosion control geotextiles on the surface runoff from slopes is quite variable and depends strongly on site-specific conditions (soil characteristics, slope morphology, climate, etc.), as has been shown in several earlier studies. In addition, little is known about the proportion of runoff reduction that is caused by the geotextile and the proportion that is caused by soil characteristics. To shed more light on this issue, an experiment was carried out to test the impact of 500 g m−2 jute nets (J500) and 400 g m−2; 700 g m−2 coir nets (C400, C700) on the surface runoff from simulated rainfall of four different intensities (I 1 = 18.7; I 2 = 27.2; I 3 = 53.6; I 4 = 90.5 mm h−1). Data on runoff volume, peak discharge and time to peak discharge were collected from 40 simulated rainfall events. An impermeable “no-soil” subgrade was used to examine the impact of the geotextile on runoff without any influence of soil. All tested geotextiles significantly reduced runoff (volume, peak discharge) at all rainfall intensities, with the exception of C400 and C700 during simulated rainfall intensity I 4. J500 seemed to have the most effective runoff reduction performance at all rainfall intensities. In general, as the rainfall intensity increased, the effectiveness of the geotextiles decreased. Interesting behaviour was observed for J500 under simulated rainfall intensity I 4—the effectiveness of the geotextile increased with the duration of the rainfall.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the Internal Grant Agency of the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Grant IGA 42190/1312/423142. The authors are grateful to their colleagues from the Faculty of Environmental Sciences, who helped with the experiment and with the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Land Use and Improvement, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, Praha 6 – Suchdol, 165 21, Prague, Czech Republic

    Jana Kalibová & Jan Petrů

  2. Department of Water Resources and Environmental Modeling, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, Praha 6 – Suchdol, 165 21, Prague, Czech Republic

    Lukáš Jačka

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  1. Jana Kalibová
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Correspondence to Jana Kalibová.

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Kalibová, J., Petrů, J. & Jačka, L. Impact of rainfall intensity on the hydrological performance of erosion control geotextiles. Environ Earth Sci 76, 429 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-017-6746-y

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