| This work was developed for the Rio Grande de Arecibo watershed in the central part of Puerto Rico. The principal objective was to determine sediment export coefficients for different subwatersheds and land uses using hydrological model simulation with HSPF (Hydrological Simulation Program Fortran) computer program developed by the USEPA. A global sensitivity analysis was used to calibrate and validate HSPF parameters that controls flow and sediment transport. The analysis identified KGER and KSAND as the most sensitive parameters sediment transport. Calculated sediment export coefficients for agricultural lands for the research period ranged from 0.12 to 0.55 tons/acre/yr. For barren land sediment export coefficient ranged from 0.33 to 14 tons/acre/yr; for forest land ranged from 0.003 to 0.019 tons/acre/yr; for rangeland ranged from 0.009 to 0.022 tons/ac/yr and for pasture was from 0.015 to 0.063 tons/acre/yr. For the simulation period between October 1, 1995 and February 29, 2000 in Caonillas Lake the model accounted 10.7 E06 tons of sediments, which represents a 9.5% difference of the sediments accumulated in the lake as reported by a USGS study. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
