THE EUROPEAN-SOIL-EROSION-MODEL (EUROSEM) - A DYNAMIC APPROACH FOR PREDICTING SEDIMENT TRANSPORT FROM FIELDS AND SMALL CATCHMENTS

The European Soil Erosion Model (EUROSEM) is a dynamic distributed mod el, able to simulate sediment transport, erosion and deposition over t he land surface by rill and interill processes in single storms for bo th individual fields and small catchments. Model output includes total runoff, total soil loss, the storm hydrograph and storm sediment grap h. Compared with other erosion models, EUROSEM has explicit simulation of interill and rill flow; plant cover effects on interception and ra infall energy; rock fragment (stoniness) effects on infiltration, flow velocity and splash erosion; and changes in the shape and size of ril l channels as a result of erosion and deposition. The transport capaci ty of runoff is modelled using relationships based on over 500 experim ental observations of shallow surface flows. EUROSEM can be applied to smooth slope planes without rills, rilled surfaces and surfaces with furrows, Examples are given of model output and of the unique capabili ties of dynamic erosion modelling in general. (C) 1998 John Wiley & So ns, Ltd.