Li, Gang SUNY-Buffalo This proposal deals with a soil erosion model and specifically within such a model the sediment transport capacity of overland flow. The ability of future models to predict soil erosion depends upon the predictive accuracy of erosion and deposition which in turn is contingent upon the development of a reliable transport capacity equation for overland flow on rough surfaces. The proposed research will develop such an equation for laminar interrill overland flow. A secondary goal is the investigation of the effect of suspended and saltating sediment on the velocity profile and flow resistance. These goals will be pursued by performing flume experiments using differing roughness elements and simulated rainfall at differing intensities. In a second set of experiments, a hot-film anemometer will be used to measure velocity profiles and flow resistance will be calculated from the profiles. The effect of sediment transport on shallow laminar flows has not been investigated previously. The determination of the effects has important implications for our further understanding of the hydraulics of laminar overland flow. Statistical analyses, especially mutiple regression, will be used to develop the necessary predictive equations.
