Simulating site-specific impacts of climate change on soil erosion and surface hydrology in southern Loess Plateau of China

Proper spatial and temporal treatments of climate change scenarios projected by General Circulation Models (GCMs) are critical to accurate assessment of climatic impacts on natural resources and ecosystems. The objective of this study was to evaluate the site-specific impacts of climate change on soil erosion and surface hydrology at the Changwu station of Shaanxi, China using a new spatiotemporal downscaling method. The Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) model and climate change scenarios projected by the U.K. Hadley Centre's GCM (HadCM3) under the A2, B2, and GGa emissions scenarios were used in this study. The monthly precipitation and temperature projections were downloaded for the periods of 1900–1999 and 2010–2039 for the grid box containing the Changwu station. Univariate transfer functions were derived by matching probability distributions between station-measured and GCM-projected monthly precipitation and temperature for the 1950–1999 period. The derived functions were used to spatially downscale the GCM monthly projections of 2010–2039 in the grid box to the Changwu station. The downscaled monthly data were further disaggregated to daily weather series using a stochastic weather generator (CLIGEN). The HadCM3 projected that average annual precipitation during 2010–2039 would increase by 4 to 18% at Changwu and that frequency and intensity of large storms would also increase. Under the conventional tillage, simulated percent increases during 2010–2039, compared with the present climate, would be 49–112% for runoff and 31–167% for soil loss. However, simulated soil losses under the conservation tillage during 2010–2039 would be reduced by 39–51% compared with those under the conventional tillage in the present climate. The considerable reduction in soil loss in the conservation tillage indicates the importance of adopting conservation tillage in the region to control soil erosion under climate change.     

Trend and uncertainty analysis of simulated climate change impacts with multiple GCMs and emission scenarios

Trends and uncertainty of the climate change impacts on hydrology, soil erosion, and wheat production during 2010-2039 at El Reno in central Oklahoma, USA, were evaluated for 12 climate change scenarios projected by four GCMs (CCSR/NIES, CGCM2, CSIRO-Mk2, and HadCM3) under three emissions scenarios (A2, B2, and GGa). Compared with the present climate, overall t-tests (n = 12) show that it is almost certain that mean precipitation will decline by some 6% (>98.5% probability), daily precipitation variance increase by 12% (>99%), and maximum and minimum temperature increase by 1.46 and 1.26 °C (>99%), respectively. Compared with the present climate under the same tillage systems, it is very likely (>90%) that evapotranpiration and long-term soil water storage will decease, but runoff and soil loss will increase despite the projected declines in precipitation. There will be no significant changes in wheat grain yield.Paired t-tests show that daily precipitation variance projected under GGa is greater than those under A2 and B2 (P = 0.1), resulting in greater runoff and soil loss under GGa (P = 0.1). HadCM3 projected greater mean annual precipitation than CGCM2 and CSIRO (P = 0.1). Consequently, greater runoff, grain yield, transpiration, soil evaporation, and soil water storage were simulated for HadCM3 (P = 0.1). The inconsistency among GCMs and differential impact responses between emission scenarios underscore the necessity of using multi-GCMs and multi-emission scenarios for impact assessments. Overall results show that no-till and conservation tillage systems will need to be adopted for better soil and water conservation and environmental protection in the region during the next several decades.     

Climate change impacts on soil erosion in Midwest United States with changes in crop management

This study investigates potential changes in erosion rates in the Midwestern United States under climate change, including the adaptation of crop management to climate change. Previous studies of erosion under climate change have not taken into account farmer choices of crop rotations or planting dates, which will adjust to compensate for climate change. In this study, changes in management were assigned based on previous studies of crop yield, optimal planting date, and most profitable rotations under climate change in the Midwestern United States. Those studies predicted future shifts from maize and wheat to soybeans based on price and yield advantages to soybeans. In the results of our simulations, for 10 of 11 regions of the study area runoff increased from + 10% to + 310%, and soil loss increased from + 33% to + 274%, in 2040–2059 relative to 1990–1999. Soil loss changes were more variable compared to studies that did not take into account changes in management. Increased precipitation and decreasing cover from temperature-stressed maize were important factors in the results. The soil erosion model appeared to underestimate the impact of change in crop type, particularly to soybeans, meaning that erosion increases could be even higher than simulated. This research shows that future crop management changes due to climate and economics can affect the magnitude of erosional impacts beyond that which would be predicted from direct climate change alone. Prediction of future soil erosion can help in the management of valuable cropland and suggest the need for continually changing soil conservation strategies.     

Impact of climate change on soil erosion, runoff, and wheat productivity in central Oklahoma

The potential for global climate changes to increase the risk of soil erosion is clear, but the actual damage is not. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the potential impacts of climate change on soil erosion, surface runoff, and wheat productivity in central Oklahoma. Monthly projections were used from the Hadley Centre's general circulation model, HadCM3, using scenarios A2a, B2a, and GGa1 for the periods of 1950–1999 and 2070–2099. Projected changes in monthly precipitation and temperature distributions between the two periods were incorporated into daily weather series by means of a stochastic weather generator (CLIGEN) with its input parameters adjusted to each scenario. The Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) model was run for four climate scenarios including a recent historical climate and three tillage systems (conventional tillage, conservation tillage, and no-till). HadCM3-projected mean annual precipitation during 2070–2099 at El Reno, Oklahoma decreased by 13.6%, 7.2%, and 6.2% for A2a, B2a, and GGa1, respectively; and mean annual temperature increased by 5.7, 4.0, and 4.7 °C, respectively. Predicted average annual soil loss in the tillage systems other than no-till, compared with historical climate (1950–1999), increased by 18–30% for A2a, remained similar for B2a, and increased by 67–82% for GGa1. Predicted soil loss in no-till did not increase in the three scenarios. Predicted mean annual runoff in all three tillage systems increased by 16–25% for A2a, remained similar for B2a, and increased by 6–19% for GGa1. The greater increases in soil loss and runoff in GGa1 were attributed to greater variability in monthly precipitation as projected by HadCM3. The increased variability led to increased frequency of large storms. Small changes in wheat yield, which ranged from a 5% decrease in B2a to a 5% increase in GGa1, were because the adverse effects of the temperature increase on winter wheat growth were largely offset by CO₂ rise as well as the bulky decrease in precipitation occurred outside the growing season. The overall results indicate that no-till and conservation tillage systems will be effective in combating soil erosion under projected climates in central Oklahoma.     

Implications of climate change scenarios for soil erosion potential in the USA

Atmospheric general circulation models (GCMs) project that increasing atmospheric concentrations of CO2 and other greenhouse gases May, result in global changes in temperature and precipitation over the next 40-100 years. Equilibrium climate scenarios from four GCMs run under doubled CO2 conditions were examined for their effect on the climatic potential for sheet and rill erosion in the conterminous USA. Changes in the mean annual rainfall factor (R) in the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) were calculated for each cropland, pastureland and rangeland sample point in the 1987 National Resources Inventory. Projected annual precipitation changes were assumed to be from differences in either storm frequency or storm intensity. With all other USLE factors held constant these changes in R translated to changes in the sheet and rill erosion national average of +2 to +16 per cent in croplands, -2 to +10 per cent in pasturelands and -5 to +22 per cent in rangelands under the eight scenarios. Land with erosion rates above the soil loss tolerance (T) level and land classified as highly erodible (eredibility index >8) also increased slightly. the results varied from model to model, region to region and depended on the assumption of frequency versus intensity changes. These results show the range of sensitivity of soil erosion potential by water under projected climate change scenarios. However, actual changes in soil erosion could be mitigated by alterations in cropping patterns and other management practices, or possibly by increased crop growth and residue production under higher atmospheric CO2 concentrations.     

Conservation management decreases surface runoff and soil erosion

Conservation management practices – including agroforestry, cover cropping, no-till, reduced tillage, and residue return – have been applied for decades to control surface runoff and soil erosion, yet results have not been integrated and evaluated across cropping systems. In this study we collected data comparing agricultural production with and without conservation management strategies. We used a bootstrap resampling analysis to explore interactions between practice type, soil texture, surface runoff, and soil erosion. We then used a correlation analysis to relate changes in surface runoff and soil erosion to 13 other soil health and agronomic indicators, including soil organic carbon, soil aggregation, infiltration, porosity, subsurface leaching, and cash crop yield. Across all conservation management practices, surface runoff and erosion had respective mean decreases of 67% and 80% compared with controls. Use of cover cropping provided the largest decreases in erosion and surface runoff, thus emphasizing the importance of maintaining continuous vegetative cover on soils. Coarse- and medium-textured soils had greater decreases in both erosion and runoff than fine-textured soils. Changes in surface runoff and soil erosion under conservation management were highly correlated with soil organic carbon, aggregation, porosity, infiltration, leaching, and yield, showing that conservation practices help drive important interactions between these different facets of soil health. This study offers the first large-scale comparison of how different conservation agriculture practices reduce surface runoff and soil erosion, and at the same time provides new insight into how these interactions influence the improvement or loss of soil health.     

气候变化对我国森林生态的影响

阐述了气候变化对我国森林地理分布格局、物候期、生物多样性、森林结构及生产力的影响。研究表明,气候变化对我国主要造林树种地理分布的影响多发生在气候交错地带,少部分发生在适宜分布区域,树种分布可能向北或向高海拔地区移动;不同区域树种物候期推迟或提前,原区域的适宜物种减少,新物种随气候变化迁入;气候变化基本未改变我国森林第一性生产力的地理分布格局,但群落生物量水平将有所提高,不同树种森林结构变化不同。通过采取积极的适应性措施可降低气候变化的不利影响。     

利用侵蚀模型普查黄土高原土壤侵蚀状况

土壤侵蚀普查对于土地资源保护和自然灾害防治具有重要意义。为了测试抽样方法和土壤侵蚀模型在土壤侵蚀普查中的适用性,该文以陕西吴起县为试点,采用1%均匀抽样方法,调查39个抽样单元的土壤侵蚀影响因子,使用中国侵蚀预报模型CSLE(Chinese soilloss equation)估算土壤侵蚀模数,并与基于遥感数据的水蚀分级分类方法进行比较。两种方法估算的全县平均土壤侵蚀模数分别为4571和5504t/(km2a),但不同分级侵蚀强度的面积和空间分布存在较大差异。抽样方法在土地利用与覆盖、水土保持措施及土壤特性方面获得的信息量大于遥感方法,同时对于区域具有很好的代表性;使用模型估算土壤侵蚀考虑的影响因子与分级方法相比,还包括了土壤可蚀性、坡长因子以及水土保持措施因子等,由此计算的土壤侵蚀模数和强度具有更高的可信度。因此,虽然基于抽样方法和土壤侵蚀模型的土壤侵蚀普查方法也存在一定的问题,但与土壤侵蚀分类分级方法相比具有明显的优越性。     

Adjustment of CLIGEN parameters to generate precipitation change scenarios in southeastern Australia

Global climate model predictions are often downscaled with stochastic weather generators to produce suitable climate change scenarios for impact analysis. Proportional adjustment to generated daily precipitation and direct adjustment to parameter values for weather generators have been used for assessing the impact of climate change on runoff and soil loss. Little is known of how these parameter values should be realistically adjusted, the amount of adjustment, and whether the adjustments are correlated among different parameters. Rainfall in southeastern Australia has significantly increased since the late 1940s. Rainfall records in Sydney show a similar trend. Long term daily and 6-min intensity data from Sydney have made it possible to examine how CLIGEN parameter values have changed in relation to the underlying significant increase in rainfall. This study shows that for Sydney, most of the increase in rainfall is a result of the increase in wet day precipitation. The increase in the standard deviation of wet-day precipitation is greater than that in the mean, implying a greater rainfall variability during wetter periods. The wet-following-wet transition probability, and maximum 30-min rainfall intensity are all positively and significantly correlated with the change in wet-day precipitation. The change in peak intensity is about half the change in rainfall. No significant relationship can be established between the changes in mean monthly rainfall and those in the skewness coefficient for wet day precipitation and wet following dry transition probability for the site. Simultaneous adjustment of all these parameters is needed for generation of precipitation change scenarios for the region. Using simple proportional adjustment to generated precipitation sequences would lead to maximum impacts on runoff and soil loss predicted with WEPP, while attributing precipitation change equally to the change in wet day precipitation and the number of wet days would under-estimate the magnitude of the impacts considerably for the site.     

Climate change and soil erosion on agricultural land in england and wales

To assess the effects of climate change on soil erosion we need to model changes in rate, frequency and extent of erosion. Present day rates of soil erosion for agricultural land in England and Wales are known from a national monitoring scheme and also from a local one. The latter, for the South Downs, covers a seven-year period and includes climatic data. This shows a strong correlation between total erosion and a Rainfall Index. The availability of these databases allows us to use existing models such as EPIC and an Expert System to predict erosion rates for postulated warmer and wetter (winter) conditions. EPIC is particularly suitable for specific sites where detailed data exists and crop yield implications can also be modelled. A rule-based Expert System approach allows us to examine erosion rates at a different scale across the landscape. We postulate that water erosion rates on arable land in the lowlands will increase markedly in severity, frequency and extent especially if land use changes. In the uplands predicted climatic warming suggests a longer growing season and fewer frosts: these may lead to a decrease in erosion of overgrazed eroding slopes. Increases in erosion rates are not inevitable if policy decisions are taken and implemented in good time.     

Soil erosion from sugar beet in Central Europe in response to climate change induced seasonal precipitation variations

This study estimates the implications of projected seasonal variations in rainfall quantities caused by climate change for water erosion rates by means of a modeling case study on sugar beet cultivation in the Central European region of Upper-Austria. A modified version of the revised Morgan–Morgan–Finney erosion model was used to assess soil losses in one conventional and three conservation tillage systems. The model was employed to a climatic reference scenario (1960–89) and a climate change scenario (2070–99). Data on precipitation changes for the 2070–99 scenario were based on the IPCC SRES A2 emission scenario as simulated by the regional climate model HadRM3H. Weather data in daily time-steps, for both scenarios, were generated by the stochastic weather generator LARS WG 3.0. The HadRM3H climate change simulation did not show any significant differences in annual precipitation totals, but strong seasonal shifts of rainfall amounts between 10 and 14% were apparent. This intra-annual precipitation change resulted in a net-decrease of rainfall amounts in erosion sensitive months and an overall increase of rainfall in a period, in which the considered agricultural area proved to be less prone to erosion. The predicted annual average soil losses under climate change declined in all tillage systems by 11 to 24%, which is inside the margins of uncertainty typically attached to climate change impact studies. Annual soil erosion rates in the conventional tillage system exceeded 10 t ha^− 1 a^− 1 in both climate scenarios. Compared to these unsustainably high soil losses the conservation tillage systems show reduced soil erosion rates by between 49 and 87%. The study highlights the importance of seasonal changes in climatic parameters for the discussion about the impacts of global climate change on future soil erosion rates in Central Europe. The results also indicate the high potential of adaptive land-use management for climate change response strategies in the agricultural sector.     

Soil solution and extractable soil nitrogen response to climate change in two boreal forest ecosystems

Several studies show that increases in soil temperature result in higher N mineralization rates in soils. It is, however, unclear if additional N is taken up by the vegetation or accumulates in the soil. To address this question two small, forested catchments in southern Norway were experimentally manipulated by increasing air temperature (+3°C in summer to +5°C in winter) and CO₂ concentrations (+200 ppmv) in one catchment (CO₂T-T) and soil temperature (+3°C in summer to +5°C in winter) using heating cables in a second catchment (T-T). During the first treatment year, the climate treatments caused significant increases in soil extractable NH₄ under Vaccinium in CO₂T-T. In the second treatment year extractable NH₄ in CO₂T-T and NO₃ in T-T significantly increased. Soil solution NH₄ concentrations did not follow patterns in extractable NH₄ but changes in soil NO₃ pools were reflected by changes in dissolved NO₃. The anomalous behavior of soil solution NH₄ compared to NO₃ was most likely due to the higher NH₄ adsorption capacity of the soil. The data from this study showed that after 2 years of treatment soil inorganic N pools increased indicating that increases in mineralization, as observed in previous studies, exceeded plant demand and leaching losses.     

Decoupling soil erosion and human activities on the Chinese Loess Plateau in the 20th century

Accelerated soil erosion is thought to couple with population growth, land exploitation and environmental degradation, leading to a major pressure on sustainable development of agro-ecosystem. However, implementation of wise policy and application of sound new techniques combined with traditional knowledge, may lead to less soil erosion or limited erosion under the tolerable value while intensive land use or exploitation is adopted for the population and economic growth. Such process of breaking the link between “environmental bads” and “economic goods” was termed as “decoupling”. In the present paper, decoupling process of soil erosion from human activities has been analyzed with the conception of decoupling indicators on the Chinese Loess Plateau. Before 1949, intensive soil erosion, as indicated by the high suspended sediment yield in the Yellow River, was induced by the wars within the nation and against the invasion of foreign countries. A distinct decoupling occurred after 1949, especially since the 1980s because of adoption of watershed-based comprehensive soil-water conservation measures. It implies that soil erosion could be decoupled from intensive land use exploration and the increasing population by a wise policy. And the decoupling indicator could be a sensitive indicator for agri-environment assessment.     

Comparing surface erosion processes in four soils from the Loess Plateau under extreme rainfall events

This research aims to improve erosion control practice in the Loess Plateau, by studying the surface erosion processes, including splash, sheet/interrill and rill erosion in four contrasting soils under high rainfall intensity (120 mm h⁻¹) with three-scale indoor artificial experiments. Four contrasting soils as sandy loam, sandy clay loam, clay loam and loamy clay were collected from different parts of the Loess Plateau. The results showed that sediment load was significantly impacted by soil properties in all three sub-processes. Splash rate (4.0–21.6 g m⁻²∙min⁻¹) was highest in sandy loam from the north part of the Loess Plateau and showed a negative power relation with the mean weight diameter of aggregates after 20 min of rainfall duration. The average sediment load by sheet/interrill erosion (6.94–42.86 g m⁻²∙min⁻¹) was highest in clay loam from middle part of the Loess Plateau, and the stable sediment load after 20 min showed a positive power relation with the silt content in soil. The average sediment load increased dramatically by rill and interrill erosion (21.03–432.16 g m⁻²∙min⁻¹), which was highest in loamy clay from south part of the Loess Plateau. The average sediment load after the occurrence of rill showed a positive power relation with clay content and a negative power relation with soil organic matter content. The impacts of slope gradient on the runoff rate and sediment load also changed with soil properties. The critical factors varied for different processes, which were the aggregate size for splash erosion, the content of silt particles and slope gradient for sheet/interrill erosion, and the content of clay particles, soil organic matter and slope gradient for rill erosion. Based on the results of the experiments, specific erosion control practices were proposed by targeting certain erosion processes in areas with different soil texture and different distribution of slope gradient. The findings from this study should support the improvement of erosion prediction and cropland management in different regions of the Loess Plateau.     

Residue impacts on runoff and soil erosion for different corn plant populations

The year to year carry-over effects of biomass additions under different plant populations on runoff and erosion are unclear. The objective of this study was to quantify the impact of different plant populations on residue cover to elucidate the effects of residue cover on runoff and erosion. The residue management system involved shredding of corn (maize) biomass after harvest, incorporating the residue in the spring, and leaving the land fallow until it was no-till planted the following spring. Runoff and soil losses were measured on 18 runoff plots with plots arranged in two areas with each having three randomized treatments (0%, 50%, and 100% plant population) with three replications. The two areas were managed as a fallow/no-till corn rotation in two cycles of alternating years. Surface residue cover was highly dynamic with significant changes between cycles and seasons in response to the management practices. The annual soil losses were reduced by 47% and 54% for the 50% and 100% plant populations, respectively compared to the control. However, the annual soil loss even for the 100% plant population was still nearly seven times the tolerable soil loss limit of 7 ton ha⁻¹. The normal erosion protection afforded by no-till practices was lost by the incorporation of residue the previous year.     

Tillage erosion,water erosion and soil quality on cultivated terraces near Xifeng in the Loess Plateau,China

This study sought to contribute to the understanding of soil redistribution by tillage on terraces and the extent and causes of within-field variation in soil properties by examining the spatial distributions of soil redistribution rates, derived using caesium-137, and of total nitrogen and total phosphorus concentrations, within a ribbon and a shoulder terrace in a yuan area of the Loess Plateau of China. Additional water erosion rate data were obtained for nine other terraces. Water erosion rates on the ribbon terraces were low (<1 kg m⁻² yr⁻¹), unless slope tangents exceeded 0·1. However, despite the use of animal traction, high rates of tillage erosion were observed (mean 5·5 kg m⁻² yr⁻¹). Soil nitrogen concentrations were related to rates of soil redistribution by tillage on the ribbon terrace examined in detail. In general, higher rates of water erosion (0·5–2·9 kg m⁻² yr⁻¹) and lower rates of tillage erosion (mean 1·4 kg m⁻² yr⁻¹) were evident on the longer shoulder terraces. On the shoulder terrace examined in detail, soil phosphorus concentrations were related to net rates of soil redistribution. A statistically significant regression relationship between water erosion rates and the USLE length and slope factor was used in conjunction with the simulation of tillage erosion rates to evaluate a range of terrace designs. It is suggested that off-site impacts of erosion could be further reduced by ensuring that the slope tangents are kept below 0·06 and lengths below 30 m, especially on the shoulder terraces. Tillage erosion and the systematic redistribution of soil nutrients could be reduced by modification of the contour-cultivation technique to turn soil in opposing directions in alternate years. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Temporal and spatial changes of soil erosion under land use and land cover change based on Chinese soil loss equation in the typical watershed on the Loess Plateau

Land use and land cover change (LULCC) directly affect the temporal and spatial change of soil erosion. As a typical governance watershed in the hilly and gully area of the Loess Plateau, the Jiuyuangou watershed has experienced significant LULCC in the past 10 years due to conversion of farmland to forests, economic construction, and cropland abandonment. However, the evolution process of soil erosion change and LULCC in the watershed is unclear, as is the relationship between the two. This study used satellite images to extract information on LULCC in the watershed and the Chinese soil loss equation (CSLE) model to evaluate the temporal and spatial evolution of soil erosion in the watershed from 2010 to 2020. The main results showed that (1) the continuous vegetation restoration project in the watershed reduced soil erosion from 2010 to 2015; however, the increased frequency of extreme rainfall events after 2015 reduced its impact. The annual average soil erosion modulus decreased from 10.85 t ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ in 2010 to 8.03 t ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ in 2015 but then increased to 10.57 t ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ in 2020; (2) the main land use and land cover (LULC) type in the Jiuyuangou watershed is grassland, accounting for 62% of the total area, followed by forestland, cropland, buildings, and water. Cropland has the largest multi-year average soil erosion modulus, followed by grassland and buildings, with forestland having the smallest; (3) significant spatial correlations occurred between soil erosion change and LULCC for common ‘no change’ and common ‘gain’ in the settlements, roads, and areas near the human influences with good soil and water conservation, but not other regions due to the influence of climatic factors (heavy rain events). Thus, we should repair terraces, control dams in the watershed, and actively conserve water and soil. This study provides a scientific reference for planning and managing water and soil conservation and ecological environment construction in the watershed.     

土壤侵蚀/水土保持与气候变化的耦合关系

通过综述土壤侵蚀对碳循环的影响、全球气候变化对土壤侵蚀的影响以及水土保持植被恢复对碳循环与土壤碳素积累的影响,研究土壤侵蚀/水土保持与气候变化的耦合关系。结果表明:因侵蚀造成的土壤碳素损失是巨大的,但土壤侵蚀是碳源还是碳汇过程依然存在争议,焦点集中于因侵蚀造成土壤团聚体解体,暴露在空气中的土壤有机碳的矿化速率的大小;随着全球气温升高以及降雨格局的变化,全球土壤侵蚀强度和范围都在不断增加,但土壤侵蚀对全球气候变化的响应程度依然值得深入研究;水土保持生态恢复主要通过改变下垫面性质来改变土壤有机碳含量、影响土壤CO2释放并促进土壤碳素积累,对抑制大气CO2浓度升高能产生积极影响。尽管土壤侵蚀/水土保持与气候变化的耦合关系方面的研究已取得重大进展,但仍有待于在土壤侵蚀过程中碳素变化模型、土壤侵蚀过程中氮素迁移转化特征以及侵蚀劣地生态恢复过程中土壤碳素积累机制等方面加强研究。     

The application of remote-sensing data to monitoring and modelling of soil erosion

This paper gives a brief synthesis of the information obtainable from remote-sensing data and how it can be related to two significant functions of catchment hydrology, namely, the processes of production and transfer. After presenting examples of the type of information that can be derived from remote sensing (characterisation of soil surface by different wavelengths, temporal changes of surface states, incision and geometry of possible water pathways on the surface, etc.), we examine how this information can provide parameters for input into runoff and erosion models. Finally, we assess the progress in assimilating remote-sensing data into deterministic models of storm runoff.