Relations between Climatic-Geomorphological Parameters and Sediment Yield in a Mediterranean Semi-Arid Area (Sicily, Southern Italy)

In the present work we discuss an on-going research whose primary goal is to test some statistical methods to estimate the average yearly area-specific sediment yield (SSY). Using geomorphological and climatic parameters a series of multiple regression formulae we set up based on a data set containing the SSY information from sixteen catchments of Sicily. Three distinct techniques were adopted to select the parameters to be used in the equations: simple correlation, stepwise regression analysis and a so-called supervised geomorphological-statistical correlation. The comparison of the results showed the effectiveness of the stepwise analysis, which led to a regression equation with a coefficient of determination (r2) of 0.87. Nevertheless, even this methodology showed some elements of uncertainty which have caused , in some cases, appreciable differences between observed and predicted values (mean percentage error equal to 26 %). These differences are likely due either to the hydraulic regime of most of Sicilian watercourses (typical of semi-arid regions ) or to hidden factors (e.g. topography, human impact and concentrated erosion) which can greatly affect the processes of sediment production and transport. The study has pointed out the need to take into account a larger number of observations and to analyse the relations between suitable variables and SSY, at a more detailed time-resolution .

GRAUSO Sergio;  PAGANO Andrea;  FATTORUSO Grazia;  DE BONIS Piero;  ONORI Filippo;  REGINA Pasquale;  TEBANO Carlo; 

2008-02-28

SPRINGER

JRC35879

0943-0105,   

https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC35879,   

10.1007/s00254-007-0809-4,