A study of scale effect on specific sediment yield in the Loess Plateau, China

Abstract

Based on data from 148 hydrometric stations in the Yellow River Basin, an analysis of regional scale relationship, or the relationship between specific sediment yield and drainage basin area, has been undertaken in the study area of the Loess Plateau. For different regions, scale relationship in log-log ordinate can be fitted by two types of lines: straight and parabola, and for each line, a function was fitted using regression analysis. The different scale relationships have been explained in terms of the difference in surface material distribution and landforms. To offset the scale-induced influence, calculation has been done based on the fitted functions, in order to adjust the data of specific sediment yield to a common standard area. Based on the scaled data, a map of specific sediment yield was constructed using Kriging interpolation. For comparison, a map based on the un-scaled data of specific sediment yield was also constructed using the same method. The two maps show that the basic pattern of specific sediment yield was basically the same. The severely eroded areas (Y s > 10000 t km−2a−1) were at the same locations from Hekouzhen to Longmen in the middle Yellow River Basin. However, after the adjustment to a common standard area, the very severely eroded area (Y s >20000 t km−2a−1) became much enlarged because after the adjustment, all the values of Y s in the lower river basin in those regions became much larger than before.