Prediction of sediment yield at storm period in Northwest Algeria

• Published in: Arabian journal of geosciences Vol. 10; no. 9; pp. 1 - 17
• Main Authors: Madani Cherif, Hayet, Khanchoul, Kamel, Bouanani, Abderezzak, Terfous, Abdellali
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.05.2017; Springer Nature B.V; Springer
• Subjects: Arid regions; Arid zones; Computational fluid dynamics; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth science; Earth Sciences; Engineering Sciences; Fluid flow; Gaging stations; Hydrodynamics; Hysteresis; Hysteresis loops; Original Paper; Other; Regression analysis; Regression models; Rivers; Seasons; Sediment; Sediment concentration; Sediment load; Sediments; Semi arid areas; Storms; Stream flow; Suspended sediments; Variance analysis; Water discharge; Yields; Algeria; Suspended sediment; Algeria; Concentration; Water discharge; Hysteresis; Erosion
• DOI: 10.1007/s12517-017-2983-3
• ISSN: 1866-7511

This paper studies the hydrodynamics and variability of stream flow and sediment yield in Wadi El Hammam, located in the semi-arid region of Algeria. In this location, hysteresis effects are obvious especially during high discharge periods. The sediment concentration and load maxima go several months before discharge maxima, while decreased sediment concentrations are noticed during the discharge peaks. In order to explain these phenomena, we have adopted a methodology that consists of finding a simple regression model capable of explaining the sediment load as a function of the water discharge measured at gauging stations of three rivers at various scales, e.g., annual and seasonal. Suspended sediment concentrations are measured during a 22-year period (1986/1987–2007/2008). The results have shown that the power model explains the greatest part of the variance (80%). The changes in sediment availability result in so-called hysteresis effects. In this work, we have described different loops: clockwise or positive hysteresis loops and anti- or counter-clockwise hysteresis loops. The analysis of the seasonal sediment yields has shown that the autumn season contributes a large proportion of the annual sediment yield (62%).