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Rainfall erosivity indicators in a watershed of the central coast mountain range of Venezuela

Abstract:

One of the main environmental problems attributed to land use in the Chichiriviche river watershed (Vargas state, Venezuela) is linked to agricultural activity, which causes conditions that trigger erosive processes in the soil due to the impact of the rainfall. The erosive potential and extreme rainfall intensities were analyzed as indicators of erosivity on the Chichiriviche River mountainous watershed. The spatio-temporal rainfall distribution and extreme event frequency were analyzed. The Indices of Annual Fournier, Modified Fournier, Rainfall Concentration, Total Erosivity and the Rain Erosive Potential. The spatial distribution of rainfall is controlled by the altitude. Its annual regime is characterized by a greater concentration of rainfall at year end. The maximum intensities ranged between 56.43 mm/h and 81.95 mm/h for events of 1 hour and 100-year return period. The indices indicated low to moderate rainfall erosive potential. The occurrence of erosive processes on the studied area is more related to extraordinary rainfall as isolated punctual events.