A new concept for estimating the influence of vegetation on throughfall kinetic energy using aerial laser scanning

Johannes Antenor Senn; Fabian Ewald Fassnacht; Jana Eichel; Steffen Seitz; Sebastian Schmidtlein

doi:10.1002/esp.4820

A new concept for estimating the influence of vegetation on throughfall kinetic energy using aerial laser scanning

Johannes Antenor Senn, Fabian Ewald Fassnacht, Jana Eichel, Steffen Seitz, Sebastian Schmidtlein

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Abstract Soil loss caused by erosion has enormous economic and social impacts. Splash effects of rainfall are an important driver of erosion processes; however, effects of vegetation on splash erosion are still not fully understood. Splash erosion processes under vegetation are investigated by means of throughfall kinetic energy (TKE). Previous studies on TKE utilized a heterogeneous set of plant and canopy parameters to assess vegetation's influence on erosion by rain splash but remained on individual plant- or plot-levels. In the present study we developed a method for the area-wide estimation of the influence of vegetation on TKE using remote sensing methods. In a literature review we identified key vegetation variables influencing splash erosion and developed a conceptual model to describe the interaction of vegetation and raindrops. Our model considers both amplifying and protecting effect of vegetation layers according to their height above the ground and aggregates them into a new indicator: the Vegetation Splash Factor (VSF). It is based on the proportional contribution of drips per layer, which can be calculated via the vegetation cover profile from airborne lidar datasets. In a case study, we calculated the VSF using a lidar dataset for La Campana National Park in central Chile. The studied catchment comprises a heterogeneous mosaic of vegetation layer combinations and types and is hence well suited to test the approach. We calculated a VSF map showing the relation between vegetation structure and its expected influence on TKE. Mean VSF was 1.42, indicating amplifying overall effect of vegetation on TKE that was present in 81 % of the area. Values below 1 indicating a protective effect were calculated for 19 % of the area. For future work, we recommend refining the weighting factor by calibration to local conditions using field-reference data and comparing the VSF with TKE field measurements.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1487–1498
Journal	Earth Surface Processes and Landforms
Volume	45
Issue number	7
Early online date	2020
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.4820
Publication status	Published - 15 Jun 2020

Keywords

splash erosion
throughfall kinetic energy
remote sensing
LiDAR
Vegetation Splash Factor

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title = "A new concept for estimating the influence of vegetation on throughfall kinetic energy using aerial laser scanning",

abstract = "Abstract Soil loss caused by erosion has enormous economic and social impacts. Splash effects of rainfall are an important driver of erosion processes; however, effects of vegetation on splash erosion are still not fully understood. Splash erosion processes under vegetation are investigated by means of throughfall kinetic energy (TKE). Previous studies on TKE utilized a heterogeneous set of plant and canopy parameters to assess vegetation's influence on erosion by rain splash but remained on individual plant- or plot-levels. In the present study we developed a method for the area-wide estimation of the influence of vegetation on TKE using remote sensing methods. In a literature review we identified key vegetation variables influencing splash erosion and developed a conceptual model to describe the interaction of vegetation and raindrops. Our model considers both amplifying and protecting effect of vegetation layers according to their height above the ground and aggregates them into a new indicator: the Vegetation Splash Factor (VSF). It is based on the proportional contribution of drips per layer, which can be calculated via the vegetation cover profile from airborne lidar datasets. In a case study, we calculated the VSF using a lidar dataset for La Campana National Park in central Chile. The studied catchment comprises a heterogeneous mosaic of vegetation layer combinations and types and is hence well suited to test the approach. We calculated a VSF map showing the relation between vegetation structure and its expected influence on TKE. Mean VSF was 1.42, indicating amplifying overall effect of vegetation on TKE that was present in 81 % of the area. Values below 1 indicating a protective effect were calculated for 19 % of the area. For future work, we recommend refining the weighting factor by calibration to local conditions using field-reference data and comparing the VSF with TKE field measurements.",

keywords = "splash erosion, throughfall kinetic energy, remote sensing, LiDAR, Vegetation Splash Factor",

author = "Senn, {Johannes Antenor} and Fassnacht, {Fabian Ewald} and Jana Eichel and Steffen Seitz and Sebastian Schmidtlein",

year = "2020",

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doi = "10.1002/esp.4820",

language = "English",

volume = "45",

pages = "1487–1498",

journal = "Earth Surface Processes and Landforms",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - A new concept for estimating the influence of vegetation on throughfall kinetic energy using aerial laser scanning

AU - Senn, Johannes Antenor

AU - Fassnacht, Fabian Ewald

AU - Eichel, Jana

AU - Seitz, Steffen

AU - Schmidtlein, Sebastian

PY - 2020/6/15

Y1 - 2020/6/15

N2 - Abstract Soil loss caused by erosion has enormous economic and social impacts. Splash effects of rainfall are an important driver of erosion processes; however, effects of vegetation on splash erosion are still not fully understood. Splash erosion processes under vegetation are investigated by means of throughfall kinetic energy (TKE). Previous studies on TKE utilized a heterogeneous set of plant and canopy parameters to assess vegetation's influence on erosion by rain splash but remained on individual plant- or plot-levels. In the present study we developed a method for the area-wide estimation of the influence of vegetation on TKE using remote sensing methods. In a literature review we identified key vegetation variables influencing splash erosion and developed a conceptual model to describe the interaction of vegetation and raindrops. Our model considers both amplifying and protecting effect of vegetation layers according to their height above the ground and aggregates them into a new indicator: the Vegetation Splash Factor (VSF). It is based on the proportional contribution of drips per layer, which can be calculated via the vegetation cover profile from airborne lidar datasets. In a case study, we calculated the VSF using a lidar dataset for La Campana National Park in central Chile. The studied catchment comprises a heterogeneous mosaic of vegetation layer combinations and types and is hence well suited to test the approach. We calculated a VSF map showing the relation between vegetation structure and its expected influence on TKE. Mean VSF was 1.42, indicating amplifying overall effect of vegetation on TKE that was present in 81 % of the area. Values below 1 indicating a protective effect were calculated for 19 % of the area. For future work, we recommend refining the weighting factor by calibration to local conditions using field-reference data and comparing the VSF with TKE field measurements.

AB - Abstract Soil loss caused by erosion has enormous economic and social impacts. Splash effects of rainfall are an important driver of erosion processes; however, effects of vegetation on splash erosion are still not fully understood. Splash erosion processes under vegetation are investigated by means of throughfall kinetic energy (TKE). Previous studies on TKE utilized a heterogeneous set of plant and canopy parameters to assess vegetation's influence on erosion by rain splash but remained on individual plant- or plot-levels. In the present study we developed a method for the area-wide estimation of the influence of vegetation on TKE using remote sensing methods. In a literature review we identified key vegetation variables influencing splash erosion and developed a conceptual model to describe the interaction of vegetation and raindrops. Our model considers both amplifying and protecting effect of vegetation layers according to their height above the ground and aggregates them into a new indicator: the Vegetation Splash Factor (VSF). It is based on the proportional contribution of drips per layer, which can be calculated via the vegetation cover profile from airborne lidar datasets. In a case study, we calculated the VSF using a lidar dataset for La Campana National Park in central Chile. The studied catchment comprises a heterogeneous mosaic of vegetation layer combinations and types and is hence well suited to test the approach. We calculated a VSF map showing the relation between vegetation structure and its expected influence on TKE. Mean VSF was 1.42, indicating amplifying overall effect of vegetation on TKE that was present in 81 % of the area. Values below 1 indicating a protective effect were calculated for 19 % of the area. For future work, we recommend refining the weighting factor by calibration to local conditions using field-reference data and comparing the VSF with TKE field measurements.

KW - splash erosion

KW - throughfall kinetic energy

KW - remote sensing

KW - LiDAR

KW - Vegetation Splash Factor

U2 - 10.1002/esp.4820

DO - 10.1002/esp.4820

M3 - Article

SN - 0197-9337

VL - 45

SP - 1487

EP - 1498

JO - Earth Surface Processes and Landforms

JF - Earth Surface Processes and Landforms

IS - 7

ER -

A new concept for estimating the influence of vegetation on throughfall kinetic energy using aerial laser scanning

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Keywords

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