Modeling and practice of erosion and sediment transport under change

Abstract

Climate and anthropogenic changes impact on the erosion and sediment transport processes in rivers. Rainfall variability and, in many places, the increase of rainfall intensity have a direct impact on rainfall erosivity. Increasing changes in demography have led to the acceleration of land cover changes from natural areas to cultivated areas, and then from degraded areas to desertification. Such areas, under the effect of anthropogenic activities, are more sensitive to erosion, and are therefore prone to erosion. On the other hand, with an increase in the number of dams in watersheds, a great portion of sediment fluxes is trapped in the reservoirs, which do not reach the sea in the same amount nor at the same quality, and thus have consequences for coastal geomorphodynamics. The Special Issue “Modeling and Practice of Erosion and Sediment Transport under Change” is focused on a number of keywords: erosion and sediment transport, model and practice, and change. The keywords are briefly discussed with respect to the relevant literature. The papers in this Special Issue address observations and models based on laboratory and field data, allowing researchers to make use of such resources in practice under changing conditions.