Viz-WEPPcloud: A Web-based, Interactive, Hillslope Scale BMP Guiding Tool for the Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) Model

Abstract:

Hillslope or watershed scale process-based hydrology and water quality simulation models are commonly employed to investigate the potential effects of land management and climate scenarios on water quality. Because of their complexity, such models are not always useful for planners and this limits their usability as planning tools. The Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) model is a process-based hydrology and erosion model, which has been wildly applied to a multitude of land uses and management scenarios across the US. WEPPcloud is a watershed-scale interface for the WEPP model that can be applied anywhere in the US. Users only need a computer connected to the internet to run the model and all the data inputs and outputs are processed on servers, therefore making WEPP more accessible even to land managers that might not be adequately trained with the model. Land managers can use the interface to run and compare scenarios for selection of Best Management Practices (BMP).

Our objective was to further aid managers in the decision-making process by developing a post-processing, interactive tool (Viz-WEPPcloud) that can be used to identify erosion hotspots and hillslopes suitable for targeted management. Detailed hillslope and scenario results from the WEPPcloud interface can be imported in Viz-WEPPcloud and displayed interactively. We demonstrate the usability of the Viz-WEPPcloud interface for erosion management with outputs from 20 watersheds in Lake Tahoe basin simulated for 11 different scenarios that include fuel treatments, prescribed fires, and wildfires of varying severities. We also exemplify the use of Viz-WEPPcloud to identify, quantify, and visualize hillslopes that are most susceptible to disturbance under different scenarios based on constraints such as land use, soil type, and slope steepness. This approach guides planners in targeting the hillslopes that provide the greatest reduction in sediment load by treating the least amount of area.