Erosion Risk Management Tool (ERMiT) User Manual (version 2006.01.18)

Robichaud, P.R.; Elliot, W.J.; Pierson, F.B.; Hall, D.E.; Moffet, C.A.; Ashmun, L.E. 2007. Erosion Risk Management Tool (ERMiT) user manual (version 2006.01.18). Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-188. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 24 p.

Keywords: erosion prediction model, FS WEPP, post-fire assessment, BAER treatments, ERMiT, erosion risk

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Abstract: The decision of where, when, and how to apply the most effective post-fire erosion mitigation treatments requires land managers to assess the risk of damaging runoff and erosion events occurring after a fire. To aid in this assessment, the Erosion Risk Management Tool (ERMiT) was developed. This user manual describes the input parameters, input interface, model processing, and output files for version 2006.01.18.

ERMiT is a web-based application that uses Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) technology to estimate erosion, in probabilistic terms, on burned and recovering forest, range, and chaparral lands with and without the application of erosion mitigation treatments. User inputs are processed by ERMiT to combine rain event variability with spatial and temporal variabilities of soil burn severity and soil properties, which are then used as WEPP input parameters. Based on 20 to 40 individual WEPP runs, ERMiT produces a distribution of rain event sediment delivery rates with a probability of occurrence for each of five post-fire years. In addition,event sediment delivery rate distributions are generated for post-fire hillslopes that have been treated with seeding, straw mulch,and erosion barriers such as contour-felled logs or straw wattles.

Moscow FSL publication no. 2007c