Project objective

The main objective of the project is to develop a method for an assessment of the sensitivity of the headwater catchments in Slovakia to the generation of extreme flood runoff and water erosion under various land use and management practices in agricultural and forest landscapes; and a process-oriented modelling approach that simulates the creation of flood runoff from hill slopes and catchments; it will be based on the proper parameterization of hydrological processes and the environment in agricultural and forested headwater catchments. The method developed will enable a scientifically-based assessment of the efficiency of natural flood mitigation measures, which will be based on proper land use and management practices in the selected catchments, thereby leading to a reduction of flood runoff from hill slopes and catchments as well as the reduction of adverse effects from erosion processes. The process and environmental parameterizations as well as the outcomes of the flood runoff modelling will be supported by the results of original experimental measurements of the extreme runoff creation processes, processes of sediment transport and the development of erosion gullies on hill slopes. The Myjava catchment in Slovakia was selected as the pilot basin for the experimental research. The measurement results will be compared with the results obtained by the Institute of Hydrology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, West Hungarian University, and TU Vienna. The goals of the project are defined in the following six parts:

1. Database processing for the purpose of the project.

2. Experimental measurements and evaluation of the generation of extreme flood runoff.

3. Development of parameterization schemes for the modelling of extreme flood runoff and erosion processes.

4. Validation of a hydrological model.

5. Modelling of extreme flood runoff and erosion under changed land use.

6. Design of new scientifically-based flood protection methods of management for reducing floods and erosion.