EGU22-11728
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-11728
EGU General Assembly 2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Developing a global database of contemporary sediment yield observations

Florence Tan1, Pasquale Borrelli2, Gert Verstraeten1, Anatoly Tsyplenkov3, Benjamin Campforts4, Valentin Golosov3, Bernhard Lehner5, Jean Poesen1,6, and Matthias Vanmaercke1
Florence Tan et al.
  • 1Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
  • 2Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
  • 3Faculty of Geography, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
  • 4Institute for Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, Boulder, USA
  • 5Department of Geography, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
  • 6Institute of Earth and Environmental Sciences, UMCS, Lublin, Poland

For many decades, sediment yield (SY) observations have been collected around the world to analyze, monitor, and better understand the state and dynamics of various Earth system processes. These records are highly relevant for a wide variety of research applications, yet they remain poorly accessible, especially for large-scale studies. A main reason for this is the fact that many of these measurements are collected on an isolated basis, leading to inconsistencies across data sets. SY observations also suffer from large uncertainties in data quality: key factors such as location accuracy, sampling method and frequency, measuring period, and others vary greatly but are not systematically reported.

To address these shortcomings and provide a standardized global reference for SY data, we are developing an extensive, coherent and georeferenced global database of contemporary SY observations. Through an extensive review of (grey) literature and contacts with numerous research groups, we already compiled SY observations for >8,000 catchments worldwide (comprising a total of >80,000 catchment years of observations). These observations are either derived from gauging station measurements or reservoir sedimentation rates. We assess the reliability of SY records and provide data quality indices based on available information such as measuring location, reported catchment area, sampling method and frequency, and measuring period. We further link the SY observations to the HydroSHEDS global river network, making them readily accessible and consistent with a wide array of hydro-environmental catchment variables also connected to the HydroSHEDS network. 

This new global SY database creates untouched opportunities for large-scale model development and statistical analyses of sediment-related factors and processes, such as soil erosion, sediment budgets, land cover and land use change impacts, or hydrological and sediment connectivity. Here we present a first overview of the data collected so far, its spatial patterns and its research potential. 

How to cite: Tan, F., Borrelli, P., Verstraeten, G., Tsyplenkov, A., Campforts, B., Golosov, V., Lehner, B., Poesen, J., and Vanmaercke, M.: Developing a global database of contemporary sediment yield observations, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-11728, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-11728, 2022.