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Influence of rainfall intensity and slope on suspended solids and phosphorus losses in runoff

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Abstract

Suspended solids (SS) and phosphorus (P) losses in rainfall generated runoff can lead to the deterioration of surface water quality. Simulated rainfall experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of rainfall intensity (30, 50, 65, and 100 mm h−1) and land slope (0°, 5°, and 10°) on SS and P losses in runoff from experimental rigs containing bare land soil and soil planted with grass (tall fescue). In addition, total phosphorus (TP), particulate phosphorus (PP), and dissolved phosphorus (DP) losses in runoff were also measured. Results showed that tall fescue could reduce loads of SS by 86–99.5%, PP by 92–98.5%, and TP by 55–89.8% in runoff compared with losses from bare soil; this is due to a combination reduced raindrop kinetic energy at the soil surface, reduced soil erodibility in the presence of plant roots and shoots, and an increase in roughness and consequently reduced overland flow velocity resulting in the trapping of particles. Linear relationships between losses of SS and TP and between TP and PP in runoff were significant (R2 > 0.93) in both bare soil and grass. In addition, SS and TP losses increased greatly significantly with rainfall intensity and slope. The influence of rainfall intensity on SS and P losses was greater than the influence of slope. Simple linear regressions were constructed between losses of SS and P, the rainfall intensity (30 to 100 mm h−1), and land slope (0° to 10°). The multiple regression equations of SS and P losses in runoff established in this study can provide a simple predicting approach for estimating the non-point source pollution load of SS and P arising from rainfall.

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Acknowledgements

We wish to thank professor Michael J. Whelan from University of Leicester, UK, who added some new substantial scientific contents in this research and modified the language of the whole paper.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Science and Technology Major Project of Water Pollution Control and Treatment (No. 2013ZX07304-001) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51279004).

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  1. College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Beijing Forestry University, 60#, 35# Qinghua East Rd., Haidian District, Beijing, 100083, People’s Republic of China

    Ruiru Zhang, Min Li, Xi Yuan & Zhongcheng Pan

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Zhang, R., Li, M., Yuan, X. et al. Influence of rainfall intensity and slope on suspended solids and phosphorus losses in runoff. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26, 33963–33975 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-2999-6

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