Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Sediment Yield for Ungauged Watersheds in South Korea

  • Hydraulic Engineering
  • Published:
KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering Aims and scope

Abstract

Specific degradation (SD) is defined as the ratio of the sediment yield divided by the watershed area to compare sediment yield at the basin scale. The SD from 35 watersheds was calculated from field measurements of discharge and sediment concentrations. The watershed characteristics for each watershed were analyzed using GIS tools. All sediment gauging stations are located in alluvial river reaches and the estimated specific degradation typically ranges between 100 and 1,000 tons/km2·yr. Six regression models based on the watershed characteristics are proposed to estimate the mean annual sediment yield. The most useful relationship is function of the drainage area and mean annual precipitation. The proposed models were tested and validated with 15 additional river stations. The root mean square errors (RMSE) of the predictions are approximately 100 tons/km2·yr which is found to be satisfactory. The proposed models should be useful to estimate the sediment yield from ungauged watershed in South Korea.

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

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Einstein, H. A. (1950). The bed-load function for sediment transportation in open channel flows, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Faran Ali, K. and De Boer, D. H. (2008). “Factors controlling specific sediment yield in the upper Indus River basin, Northern Pakistan.” Hydrological Processes, Vol. 22, No. 16, pp. 3102–3114, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.6896.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flaxman, E. M. (1972). “Predicting sediment yield in western USA.” Journal of the Hydraulics Division, Vol. 98, No. 12, pp. 2073–2085.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fournier, F. (1960). Climat et érosion”: la relation entre l’érosion du sol par l’eau et les précipitations atmosphériques, Presses universitaires de France, Paris, France.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haregeweyn, N., Poesen, J., Nyssen, J., Verstraeten, G., de Vente, J., Govers, G., Deckers, S., and Moeyersons, J. (2005). “Specific sediment yield in Tigray-Northern Ethiopia: Assessment and semi-quantitative modelling.” Geomorphology, Vol. 69, Nos. 1–4, pp. 315–331, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2005.02.001.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ichim, I. (1990). “The relationship between sediment delivery ratio and stream order: A Romanian case study.” IAHS Publication, No. 189, pp. 79–86.

  • Jansen, I. M. L. and Painter, R. B. (1974). “Predicting sediment yield from climate and topography.” Journal of Hydrology, Vol. 21, No. 4, pp. 371–380, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-1694(74)80006-5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Julien, P. Y. (2002). River mechanics, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Kane, B. and Julien, P. (2007). “Specific degradation of watersheds.” International Journal of Sediment Research, Vol. 22, No. 2, pp. 114–119.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kane, B. and Julien, P. Y. (2003). Specific degradation as function of watershed characteristics and climatic parameters, PhD Thesis, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Langbein, W. B. and Schumm, S. A. (1958). “Yield of sediment in relation to mean annual precipitation.” EOS, Transactions, American Geophysical Union, Vol. 39, No. 6, pp. 1076–1084, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/tr039i006p01076.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, Y. K., Go, J. Y., Lee, J. W., and Jung, S. W. (2009). “Development of sediment discharge computation system for characteristic analysis of river sediment discharge.” Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference, pp.723-727.

  • Merritt, W. S., Letcher, R. A., and Jakeman, A. J. (2003). “A review of erosion and sediment transport models.” Environmental Modelling and Software, Vol. 18, Nos. 8–9, pp. 761–799, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1364-8152(03)00078-1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MOC (1992). Research of specific sediment yield in watershed for dam design, Ministry of Construction, Korea.

    Google Scholar 

  • MOLTMA (1992). Dam design manual and analysis, Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs, Korea.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rouse, H. (1937). “Modern conceptions of the mechanics of fluid turbulence.” Trans ASCE, Vol. 102, pp. 463–505.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sahaar, A. S., Syvitski, J. P. M., Peckham, S. D., Hilberman, R., and Mulder, T. (2003). “Predicting the terrestrial flux of sediment to the global ocean: A planetary perspective.” Sedimentary Geology, Vol. 162, Nos. 1–2, pp. 5–24, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0037-0738(03)00232-X.

    Google Scholar 

  • Strahler, A. N. (1952). “Hypsometric (area-altitude curve) analysis of erosional topography.” Bulletin of the Geological Society of America, Vol. 63, No. 11, pp. 1117–1141, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1130/00167606(1952)63[1117:HAAOET]2.0.CO;2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vanmaercke, M., Poesen, J., Broeckx, J., Nyssen, J. (2014). “Sediment yield in Africa.” Earth-Science Reviews, Vol, 136, pp. 350–368.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vente, J., Verduyn, R., Verstraeten, G., Vanmaercke, M., and Poesen, J. (2011). “Factors controlling sediment yield at the catchment scale in NW Mediterranean geoecosystems.” Journal of Soils and Sediments, Vol. 11, No. 4, pp. 690–707, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-0110346-3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wheater, H. S., Jakeman, A. J., and Beven, K. J. (1993). “Progress and directions in rainfall-runoff modelling.” Modelling change in environmental systems, Wiley, Chichester, pp. 101–1322.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yoon, B. and Woo, H. (2000). “Sediment problems in Korea.” Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, Vol. 126, No. 7, pp. 486–491, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1061/(asce)0733-9429(2000)126:7(486).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yoon, Y. N. (1981). “Estimation of silting load and capacity loss rate of irrigation revervoirs.” Journal of the Korean Society of Civil Engineers, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 69–76.

    Google Scholar 

  • You, S. C. and Min, B. H. (1975). “A study for sedimentation in reservoir -on district of Chin Young.” Journal of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers, Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 46–53.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the Korea Agency for Infrastructure Technology Advancement (KAIA) grant funded by the Ministry of Land, Infra structure and Transport (Grant 19AWMP-B121100-04).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Land, Water and Environment Research, Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT), Goyang, 10223, Korea

    Woochul Kang

  2. Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, CO, 80523, USA

    Chun-Yao Yang, Jaihong Lee & Pierre Y. Julien

Authors
  1. Woochul Kang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Chun-Yao Yang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jaihong Lee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Pierre Y. Julien
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Woochul Kang.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Kang, W., Yang, CY., Lee, J. et al. Sediment Yield for Ungauged Watersheds in South Korea. KSCE J Civ Eng 23, 5109–5120 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12205-019-0085-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12205-019-0085-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation