1165 | 810 | Multi-scale study of erosion processes in badland areas by multi-temporal geomatic surveys and in-situ measurements. Preliminary results from the Vallcebre badlands (Spain). | Ona Torra, Càrol Puig-Polo, Marcel Hürlimann, Felipe Buill
Badlands are defined as hotspots of sediment production in some cases representing between 20%-80% of the average catchment sediment yield. The erosion rates in these areas can exceed 100 t ha–1 y–1, leading to significant environmental and economic impacts. However, the study of soil erosion has rarely been extended to non-agricultural landscapes, such as badlands, because low slope arable lands are of greater economic importance. In the present study, it is intended to identify the erosion processes that affect badland areas and to calculate their erosion rate. For that, geomatic data capture techniques such as Terrestrial Laser Scanners (TLS) and Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAV) surveys have been applied and compared with in-situ measurements. The study site chosen in the present work is the Vallcebre area that is located in the mountainous Upper Llobregat River Basin (ULRB). Since approximately 0.3% of the entire ULRB are badlands, it represents a natural laboratory for researchers to study badland erosion. This study has been performed in two scales; slope and sub catchment. Accordingly, two specific north- and south-facing badland slopes of 8 and 12 m2 respectively, and a sub catchment of 0.9 ha have been analyzed. The volume of eroded sediment has been quantified for a period of 2 years emphasizing the effect of seasonality. Moreover, the correlation between soil erosion with climatic and terrain parameters has been analyzed. _x000D_
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Ona Torra, Càrol Puig-Polo, Marcel Hürlimann, Felipe Buill
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya
ID Abstract: 810