Work Package 4: Modelling approaches across scales, and incorporation of erosion control measures and connectivity elements in mitigation scenarios.

Objectives

• Evaluating the capabilities of incorporating on-site and off-site erosion control measures in different modelling approaches.
• Evaluating the capabilities of incorporating connectivity elements on different modelling approaches.
• Highlighting the source of uncertainties for several models with particular focus on spatio-temporal scales, exploring the uncertainty in model predictions.
• Proposing suitable scenarios for mitigation within agricultural catchments tailored to minimize connectivity.

Description of work

Models differ in the way they represent the landscape, the erosion and sedimentation processes and the mitigation measures. The WP4 is dedicated to investigating the applicability of a connectivity approach to the existing models across scales, at quantifying the sources of uncertainties, and at proposing an updated representation of anti-erosion measures within the models. Mitigation scenarios are run with the aim of exemplifying the gains of using a connectivity approach to reduce soil erosion and loss of SOC as well as minimize sediment yield into water bodies. The scenarios are built for different agricultural catchments at multiple scales. The primary audience of WP4 are the direct users of models: governmental agencies, consultancy firms, etc. Additionally, the outputs of WP4 concurs to WP5 goals to reach stake-holders.