Intra-event characteristics of extreme erosive rainfall on Mauritius
Loading...
Date
Authors
Nel, Werner
Hauptfleisch, Alexia
Sumner, P.D. (Paul)
Boojhawon, Ravindra
Rughooputh, Soonil D.D.V.
Dhurmea, Kumar R.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Taylor and Francis
Abstract
Mauritius is a typical tropical volcanic island with a raised interior where extreme
rainfall events generate the bulk of the erosivity. Intra-event characteristics of the 120 highest
erosive events at six selected locations between 2004 and 2008 were analysed to provide the
first detailed intra-storm data for a tropical island environment. On Mauritius, spatial variation
is evident in the characteristics of the extreme erosive rainfall recorded at the stations, with a
noticeable increase in rainfall depth, duration, kinetic energy and erosivity of extreme events
with altitude. Extreme events in the raised interior (central plateau) show a high variability in
peak intensity over time as well as a higher percentage of events with the greatest intensities
in the latter part of the event. Intra-event distribution of rainfall in the interior of the island shows
that rainfall has a higher potential to exceed infiltration rates as well as the ability to generate
high peak runoff rates and substantial soil loss. The study suggests that even though the
within-event rainfall characteristics is complex it has implications for soil erosion risk, and that
in tropical island environments the within-storm distribution of rainfall must be incorporated
in soil loss modelling.
Description
Keywords
Erosivity, Rainfall intensity, Rainfall kinetic energy, Mauritius
Sustainable Development Goals
Citation
Werner Nel, Alexia Hauptfleisch, Paul D. Sumner, Ravindra Boojhawon, Soonil D. D. V. Rughooputh & Kumar R. Dhurmea (2016) Intra-event characteristics of extreme erosive rainfall on Mauritius, Physical Geography, 37:3-4, 264-275, DOI:10.1080/02723646.2016.1189756.