Using the Rainfall Simulators to Test Rolled Erosion Control Products and Other Applications

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F68407700%3A21110%2F23%3A00366446" target="_blank" >RIV/68407700:21110/23:00366446 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

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DOI - Digital Object Identifier

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Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Using the Rainfall Simulators to Test Rolled Erosion Control Products and Other Applications

Original language description

Rainfall simulators (RS) are widely used in research to study the effects of rainfall on runoff, infiltration, and sediment transport in the landscape. Research includes the key impact mechanisms of overland flow (sheet and rill runoff), soil erosion types, and the influence of soil surface conditions and its changes by rainfall. Due to the high number of research goals, various types of RS use are available to meet different research needs and challenges. This contribution presents unique experiments designed to address specific non-standard research applications. These include: a) Impact of Rolled erosion control products (RECP) on artificial steep slopes Linear structures, such as roads, railways, and watercourse training, with surrounding landscaping features such as steep embankments and cuts, and rill erosion can occur on relatively short sections. To protect these surfaces, technical measures (RECPs) are used to temporarily stabilize the slope until vegetation takes root. A series of tests were carried out on plots divided into different types of RECP to evaluate the effectiveness and protection provided by these measures. The effectiveness was evaluated in terms of the impact of measures on surface runoff and sediment flow. This allowed the evaluation of individual measures during rainfall-runoff events. The project resulted in the evaluation of the effectiveness of different geotextiles, with natural materials showing better properties than plastic geotextiles. Furthermore, the research focuses on developing a method to detect topsoil movement based on fiber-optic sensors using rainfall simulators, which will lead to increased safety in traffic infrastructure. The study also aims to investigate the propagation of rills on steep slopes using SfM (Structure from Motion) methods. The slope of the rain plots is greater than 22 °. The experiments utilized CTU Prague lab RS (Kavka, 2019) and Stable Rain Simulators (SRS), a unique type of rainfall simulator that combines both mobile and laboratory rainfall simulators. Unlike traditional rainfall simulators, SRS maintains experimental plots in a fixed location under natural conditions, onto which simulated rainfall is repeatedly applied. This approach offers several advantages, including the natural growth of vegetation and soil development, as well as reduced demands for operational staff and experiment preparation time. Additionally, the experimental setup remains consistent between simulations as the layout of nozzles and rainfall characteristics remain unchanged. b) Plot scaling: This research focuses on the effect of plot size on the formation of surface runoff and soil loss. The effect of plot size has been tested several times in the past, comparing plots of 1x1 m with plots of 2x8 m on bare soil, grasslands, and once also on vineyards. A large rainfall simulation (8 m long x 2 m width) (Kavka, 2018) was divided into four plots with lengths of 1, 2, 4, and 8 m (with widths of 1 m) under two conditions (grass and bare soil). Soil moisture sensors were placed at various depths in the plots to monitor the evolution of soil moisture over time. The results showed that the plot length is more important for soil loss than for surface runoff processes and that the heterogeneity of the infiltration soil properties would play a significant role in the experiment results. c) Surface and vegetation condition: In this case RS (Kavka, 2018) was used in rotated position with the longer side along the contour for parallel measuring study the effects of different surface and vegetation conditions on surface runoff and soil loss. Four surface types (bare soil, rolled bare soil, patterned grass and mowed grass) were tested on four 2x2 m plots that were rained simultaneously. The results provided a comparison of the effect of vegetation and surface conditions. This research was supported by project TAČR CK04000144 and CTU in Prague internal grant- application no. OHK1-086/23.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

O - Miscellaneous

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

10501 - Hydrology

Project

<a href="/en/project/CK04000144" target="_blank" >CK04000144: System for defect and collapse state mitigation for line structures based on fiber-optic sensors</a><br>

Continuities

P - Projekt vyzkumu a vyvoje financovany z verejnych zdroju (s odkazem do CEP)

Publication year

2023

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů