Base flow separation for soil erosion simulation in a granitic forested headwater catchment using a process-based model, GeoWEPP

Abstract

Distributed erosion models, which simulate the physical processes of water flow and soil erosion, are effective for predicting soil erosion in forested catchments. Although subsurface flow through multiple pathways is dominant for runoff generation in forested headwater catchments, the process-based erosion model, Geo-spatial interface for Water Erosion Prediction Project (GeoWEPP), does not have an adequate subsurface component for the simulation of hillslope water flow. In the current study, the quick flow related to soil erosion during rainfall events is separated from the total hydrograph using base flow separation for GeoWEPP to use direct runoff to predict sediment discharge from a granitic-forested catchment in Japan. Water runoff and sediment discharge also are simulated using the conventional method that reproduces the total hydrograph, and the accuracy of the calculation and estimated erodibility parameters are evaluated. The proposed procedure reproduced the quick-flow runoff during rainfall and the cumulative sediment discharge from the catchment. Simultaneously, the proposed procedure overestimates water runoff during extreme weather events, such as typhoons. The estimated erodibility parameters for the hillslope soil were comparable to those of the surface soil in Japan using both the proposed procedure and the conventional one. Conversely, the channel erodibility obtained from the proposed procedure matched the observed sediment characteristics in the granitic forested catchment. The proposed procedure is a promising method to predict sediment discharge from forested catchments based on the geological features of the catchment.