Sediment and Organic Carbon Transport: Dynamic Analysis and Modelling

The study of the fluvial suspended sediment and organic carbon transport through the world¿s streams and rivers provides information on the erosion rate of continents, the cycling of carbon on earth, and the contribution of terrestrial carbon to the oceans. The objectives of the research are, on the one hand, to describe and analyse the transport dynamics of suspended sediment (SS), and dissolved and particulate organic carbon (DOC and POC) during flood events with assessment of flood load contribution and, on the other hand, to quantify the long term fluxes by agro-hydrological modelling approach. The experimental study is based on the field experiment for extensive data collection at the catchment outlet from both manual and automatic sampling within the Save agricultural catchment, 1110 km2, a tributary of the Garonne River in Southwest France from January 2007 through June 2009. For modelling approach, the SWAT model (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) was applied to study long term trend of sediment transport processes, sediment and particulate organic carbon yield taking into account hydrolo-climaitic data (1999-2008), landuse, and agricultural management practices.