Study on the spatial pattern of rainfall erosivity based on geostatistics in Hebei Province, China

Abstract

The objective of this article was to study the spatial distribution pattern of rainfall erosivity. The precipitation data at each climatological station in Hebei Province, China were collected and analyzed and modeled with SPSS and ArcGIS. A simple model of estimating rainfall erosivity was developed based on the weather station data. Also, the annual average rainfall erosivity was calculated with this model. The predicted errors, statistical feature values and prediction maps obtained by using different interpolation methods were compared. The result indicated that second-order ordinary Kriging method performed better than both zero and first-order ordinary Kriging methods. Within the method of second-order trend, Gaussian semi-variogram model performed better than other interpolation methods with the spherical or exponential models. Applying geostatistics to study rainfall erosivity spatial pattern will help to accurately and quantitatively evaluate soil erosion risk. Our research also provides digital maps that can assist in policy making in the regional soil and water conservation planning and management strategies.

References

1. Arnoldus H M J (1980). An approximation to the rainfall factor in the universalsoil loss equation. In: de Boodt M, Gabriels D, eds.Assessment of Erosion. Chichester,UK, Wiley, 127–132
2. Bo Z H, Huang Q L, Zhou F J, Zhang L W (1992). A study on the new algorithm of rainfall erosivity. Acta Pedologica Sinica, 29(4): 408–417 (in Chinese)
3. Foster G R, McCool D K, Renard K G, Moldenhauer W C (1981). Conversion of the universal soil loss equation to SImetric units. Journal of Soil and WaterConservation, 36(6): 355–359
4. Goovaerts P (1997). Geostatistics for natural resources evaluation. New York: Oxford University Press, 125–258
5. Goovaerts P (1999). Using elevation to aid the geostatistical mapping ofrainfall erosivity. Catena, 34: 227–442. doi:10.1016/S0341‐8162(98)00116‐7
6. Gringarten E, Deutsch C V (2001). Teacher'saide: Variogram interpretation and modeling. Geol, 33: 507–534
7. Guo X B, Wang Z Q, Zhang R L (2001). Study on temporal distribution ofrainfall erosivity and daily rainfall erosivity model in red soilarea of Zhejiang. Journal of Soil and WaterConservation, 15(3): 35–37, 128 (in Chinese)
8. Hu K L, Yu Y, Zhang F R, Wang R (2006). The spatial-temporal variability of soil organic matter and its influencingfactors in suburban area of Beijing. ScientiaAgricultura Sinica, 39: 764–771 (in Chinese)
9. Hu Q, Gantzer C J, Jung P K, Lee B L (2000). Rainfall erosivity in the Republic of Korea. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 55(2): 115–120
10. Isaaks E H, Srivastava R M (1989). An introductionto applied geostatistics. New York: Oxford University Press, 140–398
11. Kim J B, Saunders P, Finn J T (2005). Rapid assessment of soil erosionin the Rio Lempa basin, central America, using the universal soilloss equation and geographic information systems. Environmental Management, 36: 872–885. doi:10.1007/s00267‐002‐0065‐z
12. Lin Z H, Mo X G, Li H X, Li H B (2002). Comparison of three spatial interpolation methods for climate variablesin China. Acta Geographic Sinica, 57: 47–56 (in Chinese)
13. Liu F C, Shi X Z, Yu D S, Pan X Z (2004). Mapping soil properties of the typical area of Taihu Lake watershedby geostatistics and geographic information systems-A case study oftotal nitrogen in topsoil. Acta PedologicaSinica, 41: 20–27 (in Chinese)
14. Ma Z Z (1989). Application of remote sensing images to estimate thefactors of USLE. The Soil and Water Conservationin China, 3: 24–27 (in Chinese)
15. Mcgrath D, Zhang J E, Qu L T (2004). Temporal and spatial distributionof sediment total organic carbon in an estuary river. J Environ Qual, 35: 93–100
16. Nearing M A (2001). Potential changes in rainfall erosivity in the U.S.with climate change during the 21st century. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 56(3): 229–232
17. Ning L D, Shi H (2003). Estimation R-factor in Southwest China with data ofdaily rainfall amount. Research of Soiland Water Conservation, 10(4): 183–186 (in Chinese)
18. Renard K G, Foster G R, Weesies G A, McCool D K, Yoder D C (1997). Predicting Soil ErosionBy Water: A Guide to Conservation Planning with the Revised UniversalSoil Loss Equation (RUSLE). The USDA AgriculturalHandbook (AH). No. 703, 87(165): 19–64
19. Renard K G, Freimund J R (1994). Usingmonthly precipitation data to estimate the R-factor in the revised USLE. Journal of Hydrology, 157: 287–306. doi:10.1016/0022‐1694(94)90110‐4
20. Wang W Z, Jiao J Y, Hao X P, Zhang X K, Lu X Q, Chen F Y, Wu S Y (1995). Studyon rainfall erosivity in China(I). Journalof Soil and Water Conservation, 9(4): 5–18 (in Chinese)
21. Wang W Z, Jiao J Y, Hao X P, Zhang X K, Lu X Q, Chen F Y, Wu S Y (1996). Studyon rainfall erosivity in China(II). Journalof Soil and Water Conservation, 2(1): 29–39 (in Chinese)
22. Wischmeier W H, Smith D D (1978). PredictingRainfall Erosion Losses. Agricultural Handbook Nr. 537, eds. A Guideto Conservation Planning. WashingtonD C: USDA, Science and EducationAdministration, 5–6
23. Wu Y P, Xie Y, Zhang W B (2001). Comparison of different methods forestimating average annual rainfall erosivity. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 15(3): 31–34 (in Chinese)
24. Xie Y, Liu B Y, Zhang W B (2000). Study on standard of erosive rainfall. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 14(4): 6–11 (in Chinese)
25. Xie Y, Zhang W B, Liu B Y (2001). Rainfall erosivity estimation usingdaily rainfall amount and intensity. Bulletinof Soil and Water Conservation, 21(6): 53–56 (in Chinese)
26. Yang D W, Kanae S, Oki T, Koike T, Musiake K (2003). Global potentialsoil erosion with reference to land use and climate changes. Hydrological Processes, 17: 2
27. Yu B (1998). Rainfall erosivity and its estimation for Australia'stropics. Australian Journal of Soil Research, 36(1): 143–165. doi:10.1071/S97025
28. Yu B, Rosewell C J (1996). An assessmentof a daily rainfall erosivity model for New South Wales. Australian Journal of Soil Research, 34(1): 139–152. doi:10.1071/SR9960139
29. Zhang J G, Fan J R, Wang Y K, Liu S Z (2004). Temporal and spatial characteristics of R value in Chongqing City. Research ofSoil and Water Conservation, 11(1): 56–59 (in Chinese)
30. Zhang W B (2003). Temporal and spatial distribution of rainfall erosivityin the econtone between agriculture and animal husbandry in northernChina. Advances in Natural Science, 13: 651–654 (in Chinese)
31. Zhang W B, Xie Y, Liu B Y (2002). Rainfall erosivity estimation usingdaily rainfall amounts. Scientia GeographicaSinica, 22: 705–711 (in Chinese)
32. Zhou F J, Chen M H, Lin F X, Huang Y H, Lu C L (1995). The rainfall erosivityindex in Fujian Province. Journal of Soiland Water Conservation, 9(1): 13–18 (in Chinese)