Using WEPP technology to predict erosion and runoff following wildfire

Elliot, W.J.; Miller, I.S.; Glaza, B.D. 2006. Using WEPP technology to predict erosion and runoff following wildfire. Written for presentation at the 2006 ASABE Annual International Meeting. Sponsored by ASABE, Portland Convention Center, Portland, OR. 9 - 12 July 2006. ASABE Paper No. 068011. American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers.

Keywords: Wildfire, Erosion control, Flooding, Forests, Hydrologic modeling, WEPP

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Abstract: Erosion following wildfire can be as much as 1000 times the erosion from an undisturbed forest. In August, 2005, the largest fire in the lower 48 states occurred in the Umatilla National Forest in Southeast Washington. Researchers from the Rocky Mountain Research Station assisted the forest in estimating soil erosion using three different applications of the WEPP model. GeoWEPP was used to determine the onsite distribution of soil erosion. WEPP Windows Watershed Version was used to estimate peak runoff rates of each of the ten small watersheds analyzed. The ERMiT interface to WEPP was used to estimate the probability of erosion amounts on selected hillslopes, and the benefits of mulching those slopes. Within the three days available for analysis, about 38 percent of the burned area was analyzed. This paper summarizes the analytical methods, and the findings of the prediction runs.

Moscow FSL publication no. 2006g