Sediment deposition and overland flow hydraulics in simulated vegetative filter strips under varying vegetation covers

Abstract

Vegetative filter strips (VFSs) can effectively trap sediment in overland flow, but little information is available on its performance in controlling high-concentration sediment and the runoff hydraulics in VFS. Flume experiments were conducted to investigate the sediment deposition, hydraulics of overland flow and their relationships in simulating VFS under a great range of sediment concentrations with four levels of vegetation cover (bare slope and 4%, 11% and 17%) and two flow rates (15 and 30 L min−1). Sediment concentrations varied from 30 to 400 kg m−3 and slope gradient was 9°. Both the deposited sediment load and deposition efficiency in VFS increased as the vegetation cover increased. Sediment concentration had a positive effect on the deposited load but no effect on deposition efficiency. A lower flow rate corresponded to greater deposition efficiency but had little effect on deposited load. Flow velocities decreased as vegetation cover increased. Sediment concentration had a negative effect on the mean velocity but no effect on surface velocity. Hydraulic resistance increased as the vegetation cover and sediment concentration increased. Sediment deposition efficiency had a much more pronounced relationship with overland flow hydraulics compared with deposited load, especially with the mean flow velocity, and there was a power relationship between them. Flow regime also affected the sediment deposition efficiency, and the efficiency was much higher under subcritical than supercritical flow. The results will be useful for the design of VFS and the control of sediment flowing into rivers in areas with serious soil erosion. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.