An assessment of the data resolution required to run the PESERA soil erosion model at a catchment scale in a high latitude agricultural catchment

摘要

The aim of this study is to evaluate the PESERA soil erosion model as a tool for predicting soil erosion at a catchment scale in a high latitude agricultural catchment in eastern Scotland. We investigate the importance of the resolution of soil and terrain data and the sensitivity of the model to rainfall inputs and therefore it's potential to be used as a tool to model the changing risk of erosion posed by changes in rainfall distribution. We show that the model does have the potential to be used asa land use planning tool in an attempt to minimise sediment loss and preserve water quality. We also show that the model has the potential to be used both as a screening tool due to its relatively limited data requirements and at a finer resolution where more detailed data are available, making it a powerful tool for soil erosion research.