Case Study: Geospatially Integrated Drainage Basin Scale Sediment Dynamics Under Projected Future Climate Conditions in South East Georgia, USA
摘要
This case study discusses the use of a geospatial framework to develop an integrated watershed-based modeling approach of sediment dynamics to simulate source-sink connectivity in the context of discharge and sediment loads for current and future climate conditions in the Cobb Creek Watershed located in Georgia, USA. Futuristic sediment dynamics modeling under climate change scenarios incorporated precipitation quantity and intensity (viz. total precipitation and high-intensity precipitation) that are expected to change using downscaled regional climate data. Two traditional models, SWAT and RUSLE, were adapted and integrated for this project. It is accepted that global warming is causing significant changes in global climatic patterns and that climate change will lead to shifts in the quantity and intensity of precipitation. This will impact hydrological cycles, which will ultimately impact soil erosion on land and sediment delivery into the streams. Projected alterations in the hydrological cycle will have implications for coupled natural–human systems as perturbations will alter rainfall erosivity, runoff volume, and timing and sediment load. Therefore, planners and developers should have access to Environmental Decision Support Tools (EDST) that model source-to-sink watershed sediment dynamics in a spatially explicit manner under different precipitation regimes in the present and future. Decision-makers could utilize the results obtained from this study to implement current and future best management practices (BMPs) and develop climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies for the Cobb Creek Watershed. More importantly, the modeling framework and watershed conceptualization scheme used in this case study could be utilized as an EDST by planners and managers in other watersheds.