Presenter: Timothy Sklenar, Graduate Student, Department of Agronomy, ISU

ABSTRACT: Gully erosion is a major contributor to erosion worldwide, leading to the degradation of agricultural lands and the reduction of water quality in downstream areas. Gullies can be responsible for up to 94% of soil loss in a given area, but gullies are tricky to numerically model. Modelling of gully erosion is still underdeveloped compared to other modes of erosion (e.g. sheet and rill erosion). The Natural Resources Conservation Service is tasked with controlling ephemeral gully erosion in agricultural fields, but statute guidelines for doing so are minimal to nonexistent.  The NRCS in Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri formed a group in partnership with their respective state universities to develop a more comprehensive and consistent set of compliance criteria for ephemeral gully erosion control.  To this end, algorithms were developed to expand and automate previous work by Wang et al. (2021) using terrain indices to define areas of susceptibility to ephemeral gully erosion.  The presentation will provide an overview of terrain indices generally, as well as the process of automating indices, will highlight challenges and tips, and will provide results for featured terrain indices.

The seminar starts promptly at 12:05 p.m. and ends at 12:55 p.m. The GIS Seminar @ ISU is open to the public. If you are interested in attending, the location is Design 362.

If you have any questions, please Monica Haddad (haddad@iastate.edu).