Modelos empíricos para estimativa de produção de sedimentos

Abstract

The erosive processes that occur in a watershed have been objects of concerns associated with the planning and management of land use and water resources. In this case, the empirical models of hydrosedimentological simulation are important tools, and with low cost, in the assessment of soil erosion due to the use and management of land. Thus, the study aimed to analyze the sediments yield via three empirical models applied to a small catchment of the Amazon, the catchment of Igarapé da Prata located in the municipality of Capitão Poço-PA. The analyzed and used models were the USLE (Universal Soil Loss Equation); the Poesen model; and the Langbein-Schumm model. The results showed that the USLE model had an average sediment yield equal to 146.20 (t / km²); the Langbein-Schumm model an average production equal to 114.25 (t / km²); and the Poesen model an average yield equal to 7.57 (t / km²). The results obtained by the two first-mentioned models are of the same order of magnitude, indicating that the Langbein-Schumm model, for the case analyzed, is comparable to the classical model USLE. These results were compared with observed data of suspended sediments and the Langbein-Schumm model was the one closest to the observations.