Multiscale Simulation of Land Use Impact on Soil Erosion and Deposition Patterns

*Helena Mitasova, Department of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, North Carolina State University, 1120 Jordan Hall, Raleigh, NC, USA; Lubos Mitas, Department of Physics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA; William M. Brown, Geographic Modeling Systems Laboratory, Department of Geography, 220 Davenport Hall, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana. *Corresponding author: [email protected] ABSTRACT Sustainable use of natural resources requires coordination of conservation efforts between a diverse group of individuals and agencies that view and manage the landscape at different scales, from field level by a farmer, to entire watersheds by state or federal agencies. To better support the multilevel management, we propose a methodology for erosion modeling at multiple scales and levels of complexity. Simple estimates are performed by the modified USLE and Unit Stream Power based model. More detailed simulations of land use impacts are supported by the process-based erosion model SIMWE (SIMulated Water Erosion). The SIMWE model is designed for spatially variable terrain, soil, and cover conditions enabling us to capture spatial aspects of watershed's internal behavior. The model is based on the Monte Carlo solution of bivariate water and sediment flow continuity equations, and supports modeling with spatially variable resolutions. We illustrate the outlined methodology by studies of land use impacts on erosion and deposition patterns in a Pilot Watershed in Illinois and experimental farm in Germany.