Evaluating annual and seasonal patterns of suspended sediment loads in a semi-arid watershed, central Algeria

Soil loss is a major problem for watersheds management in semi-arid environments. The objective of the present study is to analyze the annual and seasonal patterns of suspended loads and quantify the specific sediment yields in a semi-arid environment of the Mazafran Watershed in central Algeria. The obtained information of water discharge and suspended sediment load, recorded during 19 years, was confronted with precipitation data in order to establish the relationships between the forcing agents and erosive processes. The specific sediment yield was estimated by assessing rating curve data under two types of identified responses. The obtained results allowed confirming the seasonality on suspended sediment transport in the studied basin, which accounts for 56% of the total suspended sediment load estimated in winter. The mean annual suspended sediment is estimated at 17.52 Mg∙ha·y. The results highlighted that the type 2 event dominates the production of sediment in the study area in comparison with type 1 event. The analysis of the variability of rainfall erosivity index showed that there is a strong correlation between the annual precipitation and modified Fournier index (MFI), and a weak correlation with the monthly precipitation concentration index (PCI). Moreover, the spatial distribution of the modified Fournier index at the basin scale showed the highest precipitation aggressiveness in the Southern part of the study region for both type of events, whereas the precipitation aggressiveness low to moderate in the remaining part of the study region.