Measuring Rainfall Kinetic Power in Two Sicilian Experimental Areas by Drop-Size Distribution Data

Abstract

The rainfall kinetic energy, which affects soil erosion processes, can be calculated by the drop-size distribution (DSD) and falling velocity. This study presents the outcomes derived by the DSDs recorded with the same optical disdrometer in two experimental areas, located in Sicily (southern Italy). Specifically, the DSDs were recorded from March 2017 to December 2019 at Sparacia and from June 2006 to April 2014 at Palermo. The aims of this paper are both to compare the DSDs for the two sites and to evaluate the applicability of Gamma theoretical distribution. Moreover, the relations of rainfall kinetic power vs. rainfall intensity are assessed. Differences in DSDs, especially for rainfall intensity I lower than 100 mm h−1, are detected, while they are less evident for the highest I values. The kinetic power per unit volume of rainfall varies between the two sites and can be considered roughly coincident only for I higher than 100 mm h−1. The observed kinetic power-rainfall intensity relations are not well described by the equations by Wischmeier and Smith and Brown and Foster. Finally, the reliability of a theoretical relationship for estimating the kinetic power by I and the median volume diameter D0 is positively tested for the Palermo dataset, while it is found to be reliable only for D0 greater than 0.17 cm for the Sparacia dataset.

Keywords

• erosion models
• rainfall erosivity
• soil loss
• rainfall kinetic energy
• drop-size distribution