Canonical correlation analysis of hydrological response and soil erosion under moving rainfall

Abstract

The impacts of rainfall direction on the degree of hydrological response to rainfall properties were investigated using comparative rainfall-runoff experiments on a small-scale slope (4 m×1 m), as well as canonical correlation analysis (CCA). The results of the CCA, based on the observed data showed that, under conditions of both upstream and downstream rainfall movements, the hydrological process can be divided into instantaneous and cumulative responses, for which the driving forces are rainfall intensity and total rainfall, and coupling with splash erosion and wash erosion, respectively. The response of peak runoff (P r) to intensity-dominated rainfall action appeared to be the most significant, and also runoff (R) to rainfall-dominated action, both for upstream- and downstream-moving conditions. Furthermore, the responses of sediment erosion in downstream-moving condition were more significant than those in upstream-moving condition. This study indicated that a CCA between rainfall and hydrological characteristics is effective for further exploring the rainfall-runoff-erosion mechanism under conditions of moving rainfall, especially for the downstream movement condition. © 2013 Zhejiang University and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.