TY  - JOUR
A1  - Senn, Johannes Antenor
A1  - Fassnacht, Fabian Ewald
A1  - Eichel, Jana
A1  - Seitz, Steffen
A1  - Schmidtlein, Sebastian
T1  - A new concept for estimating the influence of vegetation on throughfall kinetic energy using aerial laser scanning
Y1  - 2020-02-17
VL  - 45
IS  - 7
SP  - 1487
EP  - 1498
JF  - Earth Surface Processes and Landforms
DO  - 10.1002/esp.4820
DO  - 10.23689/fidgeo-4173
N2  - Soil loss caused by erosion has enormous economic and social impacts. Splash effects of rainfall are an important driver of erosion processes; however, effects of vegetation on splash erosion are still not fully understood. Splash erosion processes under vegetation are investigated by means of throughfall kinetic energy (TKE). Previous studies on TKE utilized a heterogeneous set of plant and canopy parameters to assess vegetation's influence on erosion by rain splash but remained on individual plant‐ or plot‐levels. In the present study we developed a method for the area‐wide estimation of the influence of vegetation on TKE using remote sensing methods. In a literature review we identified key vegetation variables influencing splash erosion and developed a conceptual model to describe the interaction of vegetation and raindrops. Our model considers both amplifying and protecting effect of vegetation layers according to their height above the ground and aggregates them into a new indicator: the Vegetation Splash Factor (VSF). It is based on the proportional contribution of drips per layer, which can be calculated via the vegetation cover profile from airborne LiDAR datasets. In a case study, we calculated the VSF using a LiDAR dataset for La Campana National Park in central Chile. The studied catchment comprises a heterogeneous mosaic of vegetation layer combinations and types and is hence well suited to test the approach. We calculated a VSF map showing the relation between vegetation structure and its expected influence on TKE. Mean VSF was 1.42, indicating amplifying overall effect of vegetation on TKE that was present in 81% of the area. Values below 1 indicating a protective effect were calculated for 19% of the area. For future work, we recommend refining the weighting factor by calibration to local conditions using field‐reference data and comparing the VSF with TKE field measurements. © 2020 The Authors. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd
N2  - The Vegetation Splash Factor maps the amplification or reduction of rain‐fall kinetic energy based on the three‐dimensional vegetation structure. The presented approach allows the area‐wide application based on aerial lidar point clouds and can improve the representation of vegetation in erosion models. This study features a literature review and a case study documenting the development of the new approach.
UR  - http://resolver.sub.uni-goettingen.de/purl?gldocs-11858/8513
ER  -