ISMC2021-71, updated on 28 Apr 2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/ismc2021-71
3rd ISMC Conference ─ Advances in Modeling Soil Systems
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Influence of climate change on soil erosion in high mountain area: a case study of upper Heihe river basin

Li Wang1, Fan Zhang1,2,3, and Guanxing Wang1
Li Wang et al.
  • 1Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China (wangli@itpcas.ac.cn;zhangfan@itpcas.ac.cn)
  • 2University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China (zhangfan@itpcas.ac.cn)
  • 3CAS Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Science (zhangfan@itpcas.ac.cn)

The impact of climate change on soil erosion is pronounced in high mountain area. In this study, the revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE) model was improved for better calculation of soil erosion during snowmelt period by integrating a distributed hydrological model in upper Heihe river basin (UHRB). The results showed that the annual average soil erosion rate from 1982 to 2015 in the study area was 8.1 t ha-1 yr-1, belonging to the light grade. To evaluate the influence of climate change on soil erosion, detrended analysis of precipitation, temperature and NDVI was conducted. It was found that in detrended analysis of precipitation and temperature, the soil erosion of UHRB would decrease 26.5% and 3.0%, respectively. While in detrended analysis of NDVI, soil erosion would increase 9.9%. Compared with precipitation, the effect of temperature on total soil erosion was not significant, but the detrended analysis of temperature showed that the effect of temperature on soil erosion during snowmelt period can reach 70%. These finding were helpful for better understanding of the impact of climate change on soil erosion and provide a scientific basis for soil management in high mountain area under climate change in the future.

How to cite: Wang, L., Zhang, F., and Wang, G.: Influence of climate change on soil erosion in high mountain area: a case study of upper Heihe river basin, 3rd ISMC Conference ─ Advances in Modeling Soil Systems, online, 18–22 May 2021, ISMC2021-71, https://doi.org/10.5194/ismc2021-71, 2021.