Pacific Southwest

Title: Sediment traps for measuring onslope surface sediment movement

Author: Wells, Wade G., II; Wohlgemuth, Peter M.

Date: 1987

Source: Res. Note PSW-RN-393. Berkeley, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station. 6 p

Station ID: RN-PSW-393

Description: Two types of small (30-cm aperture) sheet metal sediment traps were developed to monitor onslope surface sediment transport. Traditionally, sediment traps and erosion pins have been used to measure the onslope movement of surficial soil material. While pins may be appropriate for documenting landscape denudation, traps are more suitable for monitoring downslope transport parallel to the ground surface. Previous investigations used large (3-m aperture) traps to measure sediment transport. However, large aperture traps are cumbersome and require excessive amounts of time and energy for installation, sample collection, and sample processing. These serious logistical constraints make data acquisition difficult and expensive. The small traps were designed to remedy this situation. Field tests of these small traps revealed variable patterns of spatial and temporal surficial debris movement obscured in previous studies. Although these traps are not without limitations, the improved sampling logistics allow greater sample sizes and constitute a marked improvement over other transport measurement techniques.

Keywords: erosion measurement, sediment traps, surface erosion, hillslope erosion

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Citation

Wells, Wade G., II; Wohlgemuth, Peter M.  1987.  Sediment traps for measuring onslope surface sediment movement.   Res. Note PSW-RN-393. Berkeley, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station. 6 p.