Connectivity and Soil Erosion: How to identify hot spots in the catchments threatened by torrent rainfall
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| Year of publication | 2025 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
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| Description | Extreme rainfall events such as torrential rainfalls are one of the increasingly frequent meteorological phenomena in recent decades. They mostly threaten small watersheds where the drainage/river network does not have sufficient capacity to drain water and sediments eroded by precipitation. In these cases, sediment connectivity and disconnections play a key role. Improper land management, disruption, or, conversely, enhancement of connectivity can support the creation of flash floods with devastating consequences for local residents. Collaboration between scientists, engineers, and local authorities is critical in finding sustainable and nature-based strategies to mitigate the impact of extreme meteorological phenomena. The main goal of our work is to link the issues of agricultural land erosion and sediment transport connectivity to identify hot spots in small watersheds where torrential rainfall occurred in the past. In selected locations in Central Europe, connectivity mapping and soil erosion quantification using UAVs were carried out, and WEPP, GeoWEPP models, connectivity index, and the method of effective catchment areas were used. The WEPP model was validated by comparison with UAV measurement results, and the GeoWEPP and connectivity index results were compared with field connectivity mapping and a database of erosion events. The main result is the map of the most critical hot spots from the point of view of soil erosion and connectivity, which can serve as a basis for improving the management of small catchments, optimizing connectivity, and improving soil protection. |
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