WEPP Exercise 1 – Basic hillslope profile simulations

You are a consultant to a farmer in Harlan, Iowa who is concerned about soil loss on his fields. He needs to keep his
average annual soil loss below a value of 5 metric tons per hectare. You plan to use the WEPP hillslope model to
estimate the potential erosion problems and will use results from 100 year model simulations to arrive at average
annual soil loss values. The slope is an S-shape with the following base information:

Climate – create a new 100 year climate input based on Harlan, Iowa. Use Cligen v5.3 with Fourier
interpolation between months.

Slope – use existing “s-shape” slope file Soil –

use existing Keith silt loam soil file

Run options – 100 years, return period output, no graphics output Evaluate the

following systems:

Averag Average Average Averag 50 year return

e Annual Annual Soil e period – daily
Annua Soil Loss Loss* Annual sediment leaving
l (kg/m2 (t/h Sedimen (t/h
Runof ) a) t a)
f Yield (t/ha)
(mm)
Corn,
soybean –
122,30 1.797 17,97 17,968 27,80
spring chisel
plow

Corn,
soybean – 119,20 1,684 16,84 16,838 26,7
fall mulch till

Corn,
soybean 132,19 0,220 22,0 2,205 4
– no-till

Alfalfa with
115,26 0,318 31,8 3,183 15,1
cuttings

* To convert soil loss in kg/m2 to t/ha, multiply by 10.

Which of the corn, soybean managements is best at controlling sediment yield? Which rotation will meet the
farmer’s goal of 5 t/ha or less of soil loss?

Corn,
soybean 132,19 0,220 22,0 2,205 4
– no-till
To further control soil loss and sediment yield a grass buffer area is to be added at the bottom of the hillslope. Four
sizes are being considered: 1 m, 3 m, 5 m, and 8 m. What size would you recommend, and why? Or is a larger size
still needed?

Reminder: To insert a buffer, you will need to click on the management layer, hover your mouse over the point
where you want to put the top end of the buffer, right click with the mouse and select “Insert Break” from the menu
options. Once the second new management area appears on the slope, you can select it with a left mouse click,
hover over it and then right-click to select “Change Length”, and then enter in the exact length of buffer strip that
you desire.

Averag
Averag
e Average Average 50 year return
Annual Annual Soil e period – daily
Annua
Annual
l Soil Loss Loss* sediment leaving
Sedimen
Runof (kg/m2 (t/h (t/h
t
f ) a) a)
Yield (t/ha)
(mm)
Corn,
soybean –
spring chisel 122,30 1.797 17,97 17,968 27,80
plow
– No buffer

Corn,
soybean –
spring chisel 110,81 1,714 17,14 11,146 24,7
plow
+ 1 m buffer

Corn,
soybean –
spring chisel 98,54 1,919 19,19 6,50 19
plow
+3 m buffer

Corn,
soybean –
spring chisel 91,98 2,055 20,55 4,53 14,2
plow
+5 m buffer

Corn,
soybean –
spring chisel 84,79 2,023 20,23 3,413 9
plow
+8 m buffer
* To convert soil loss in kg/m2 to t/ha, multiply by 10.

What do the average annual and return period sediment yield results indicate? Is the soil loss predicted different than
the sediment yield? If so, why?
 Corn,
soybean –
spring chisel 91,98 2,055 20,55 4,53 14,2
plow
+5 m buffer