Simulating runoff generation and its spatial correlation with environmental factors in Sancha River Basin: The southern source of the Wujiang River

doi:10.1007/s11442-019-1608-z

Abstract

Abstract:

Runoff generation is an important part of water retention service, and also plays an important role on soil and water retention. Under the background of the ecosystem degradation, which was caused by the vulnerable karst ecosystem combined with human activity, it is necessary to understand the spatial pattern and impact factors of runoff generation in the karst region. The typical karst peak-cluster depression basin was selected as the study area. And the calibrated and verified Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was the main techniques to simulate the runoff generation in the typical karst basin. Further, the spatial variability of total/surface/groundwater runoff was analyzed along with the methods of gradient analysis and local regression. Results indicated that the law of spatial difference was obvious, and the total runoff coefficients were 70.0%. The groundwater runoff was rich, about 2-3 times the surface runoff. Terrain is a significant factor contributing to macroscopic control effect on the runoff service, where the total and groundwater runoff increased significantly with the rising elevation and slope. The distribution characteristics of vegetation have great effects on surface runoff. There were spatial differences between the forest land in the upstream and orchard land in the downstream, in turn the surface runoff presented a turning point due to the influence of vegetation. Moreover, the results of spatial overlay analysis showed that the highest value of total and groundwater runoff was distributed in the forest land. It is not only owing to the stronger soil water retention capacity of forest ecosystem, and geologic feature of rapid infiltration in this region, but also reflected the combining effects on the land cover types and topographical features. Overall, this study will promote the development and innovation of ecosystem services fields in the karst region, and further provide a theoretical foundation for ecosystem restoration and reconstruction.

Key words: runoff generation, SWAT, spatial variation, impact factors, karst ecosystem

Wenjuan HOU, Jiangbo GAO. Simulating runoff generation and its spatial correlation with environmental factors in Sancha River Basin: The southern source of the Wujiang River[J].Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2019, 29(3): 432-448.

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Station types	Station name	Latitude	Longitude	Elevation (m)	River system	Period
Meteorological station	Anshun	26o15′	105o54′	1431	—	Preheat year: 2006-2007; Calibration year: 2008-2010; Validation year: 2011-2013
Precipitation station	Bide	26o34′	105o10′	1500	—
	Machang	26o19′	105o33′	1320	—
	Santang	26o35′	105o33′	1588	—
	Qibo	26o34′	106o10′	990	—
Hydrological station	Yangchang	26o39′	105o11′	—	Sancha River
	Longchangqiao	26o23′	105o47′	—	Sancha River
	Hongjiadu	26o52′	105o52′	—	Liuchonghe
	Yachihe	26o51′	106o09′	—	Wujiang River

Parameters			Sensitivity rank			Parameter value
Physical significance	Code	Process	YC	LCQ	CK	Default range	Adjustment range
SCS runoff curve number under normal moisture conditions	CN₂ (.mgt)	Surface runoff	2	3	5	35-98	50-98
Soil available water content	SOL_AWC (.sol)	Soil moisture	9	11	8	0-1	0.05-0.16
Baseflow alpha factor	ALPHA_BF (.gw)	Groundwater	5	14	15	0-1	0.048-0.5
Threshold water level in the shallow aquifer for groundwater to enter the main stream (mm)	GWQMN (.gw)	Groundwater	7	4	4	0-5000	1000
Channel effective hydraulic conductivity (mmh^-1)	CH_K₂ (.rte)	Interflow	6	1	1	0-150	0-25

Hydrological stations	Calibration period (2008-2010)		Validation period (2011-2013)
Hydrological stations	E_ns	R²	E_ns	R²
Yangchang	0.70	0.84	0.73	0.93
Longchangqiao	0.82	0.92	0.90	0.95
Basin outlet	0.64	0.92	0.50	0.78

Terrain factors			Total flow (mm)		Surface runoff (mm)		Groundwater (mm)		Evapotranspiration (mm)
Element	Gradient	Percentage area	Average	CV	Average	CV	Average	CV	Average	CV
Elevation (m)	911-1000	1.8%	882	0.09	401	0.52	481	0.52	212	0.28
	1000-1500	64.2%	803	0.17	310	0.75	493	0.48	251	0.27
	1500-2330	34.0%	882	0.15	154	0.85	591	0.42	245	0.27
Slope (°)	0-5	61.9%	825	0.17	301	0.80	523	0.46	253	0.27
	5-10	24.5%	838	0.16	319	0.72	519	0.46	241	0.27
	10-15	12.3%	881	0.15	303	0.75	578	0.49	227	0.27
	15-24	1.3%	863	0.21	233	0.85	629	0.44	222	0.28