Adapting the WEPP Hillslope Model and the TLS Technology to Predict Unpaved Road Soil Erosion

Yi Wang, Wei He, Ting Zhang, Yani Zhang and Longxi Cao
Additional contact information
Yi Wang: Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education on Land Resources Evaluation and Monitoring in Southwest China, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu 610066, China
Wei He: Institute of Geography and Resources Science, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu 610101, China
Ting Zhang: College of Ecology and Environment, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, China
Yani Zhang: College of Ecology and Environment, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, China
Longxi Cao: College of Ecology and Environment, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 15, 1-15

Abstract: Unpaved road erosion have been recognized as important sediment sources in a watershed. To evaluate where and when road erosion occurs, the soil loss along road segments should be precisely predicted with process-based erosion models. Methods: The hillslope version of the Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) was used to estimate soil loss from 20 typical road segments in the red soil region of South China. Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS)-measured soil losses were used to validate the model simulations. The results showed that the WEPP model could reasonably predict the total soil loss in relatively short (less than 100 m) and gentle (slope gradient lower than 10%) road segments. In contrast, soil loss would be underestimated for long or steep road segments. Detailed outputs along roads revealed that most of the peak soil loss rates were underestimated. It might due to the linear critical shear stress theory in the WEPP model. Additionally, the lack of upstream flow was found to be connected to the relatively low model efficiency. Nevertheless, the WEPP simulation could accurately fit erosion trend and predict the peak soil loss positions along road segments. Conclusions: The WEPP model could be adopted to evaluate the erosion risk of unpaved roads in the red soil region of South China.

Keywords: road erosion; erosion modelling; WEPP; terrestrial laser scanning; South China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/15/9213/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/15/9213/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:15:p:9213-:d:873783

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().