Modeling sediment yield from three micro-catchments using integrated KW-GIUH and MUSLE models in GIS

Accurate estimation of water and soil losses from agro-ecologically diverse areas is extremely important for designing appropriate resource management or soil/ water conservation measures. The developed KW-GIUH-MUSLE(Kinematic wave Geomorphological Instantaneous Unit Hydrograph-Modified Universal Soil Loss Equation) model was tested for its sediment yield estimation potential on three agro-ecologically diverse micro-catchments in Almora district of Uttranchal.It was observed that estimates were associated with about 49% mean relative errors and mean DV value of about 0.51 in Salla Rautella and Naula micro-catchments. This showed that point predictions of annual sediment yields were of moderate quality. However, root mean square error estimates and comparison of mean and standard deviation values for the observed and simulated sediment yields showed that long term sediment yields could be quite realistically estimated. This was also observed in Deolikhan micro-catchments that storm wise sediment yield estimates were associated with about 6% mean relative error and 0.94 mean DV value. The above analysis thus clearly showed that the developed KW-GIUH-MUSLE model could indeed be utilized for obtaining reasonable sediment yield estimates for un-gauged/ inadequately gauged micro-catchments.

Keywords:

Sediment yield estimation , KW-GIUH , Calibration , Validation , Micro-catchment