Effects of rainfall patterns on runoff and rainfall-induced erosion

Abstract

Rainfall-induced erosion involves the detachment of soil particles by raindrop impact and their transport by the combined action of the shallow surface runoff and raindrop impact. Although temporal variation in rainfall intensity (pattern) during natural rainstorms is a common phenomenon, the available information is inadequate to understand its effects on runoff and rainfall-induced erosion processes. To address this issue, four simulated rainfall patterns (constant, increasing, decreasing, and increasing - decreasing) with the same total kinetic energy were designed. Two soil types (sandy and sandy loam) were subjected to simulated rainfall using 15 cm × 30 cm long detachment trays under infiltration conditions. For each simulation, runoff and sediment concentration were sampled at regular intervals. No obvious difference was observed in runoff across the two soil types, but there were significant differences in soil losses among the different rainfall patterns and stages. For varying-intensity rainfall patterns, the dominant sediment transport mechanism was not only influenced by raindrop detachment but also was affected by raindrop-induced shallow flow transport. Moreover, the efficiency of equations that predict the interrill erosion rate increased when the integrated raindrop impact and surface runoff rate were applied. Although the processes of interrill erosion are complex, the findings in this study may provide useful insight for developing models that predict the effects of rainfall pattern on runoff and erosion.