
Johannes B. RiesTrier University · Department of Physical Geography
Johannes B. Ries
Professor Doctor
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260
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Publications (260)
Transport of soil particles prior to the occurrence of overland flow is one of the big question marks in soil erosion studies. The exact measurement of short-distance transported soil particles is a challenge to soil erosion science due to the particular requirements of the experimental design and test procedure. To quantify amount and distance of...
Rainfall simulation on micro-plot scale is a method used worldwide to assess the generation of overland flow, soil erosion, and interrelated processes such as soil sealing, crusting, splash and redistribution of solids and solutes. The so produced data are of great significance not only for the analysis of the simulated processes, but also as a sou...
The influence of wind on raindrops and subsequent processes of soil detachment and
transport on natural soil surfaces is an essential gap of knowledge. The urgently required
data about reactions, interactions and actual impact on soil erosion rates are generally
produced under laboratory conditions on highly disturbed substrates, which cannot refle...
The grazing of goats and sheep is regarded as an important factor for soil degradation in semiarid landscapes. Nevertheless, hardly any data can be found in literature. In the presented study, the process dynamics of material disaggregation and translocation directly caused by trampling
animals was quantified by means of experimental methods on tes...
Recent research has shown that wind can have a significant influence on velocity, impact angle and kinetic energy of raindrops, and subsequently increases soil erosion. The aims of this study were to 1) quantify the influence of wind on water erosion, 2) specifically observe the difference in processes between windless rain (WLR) and wind-driven ra...
Monitoring woody cover by remote sensing is considered a key methodology towards sustainable management of trees in dryland forests. However, while modern very high resolution satellite (VHRS) sensors allow woodland mapping at the individual tree level, the historical perspective is often hindered by lack of appropriate image data. In this first st...
Abstract: Measurements of dust emissions and the modeling of dissipation dynamics and total
values are related to great uncertainties. Agricultural activity, especially soil cultivation, may be an
essential component to calculate and model local and regional dust dynamics and even connect to the
global dust cycle. To budget total dust and to assess...
Light pollution is the consequence of elevated lighting emitted by human-made artefacts to the lower atmosphere. Recently, there have been major advances in the assessment and mitigation of light pollution impacts on humans and the natural ecosystems. Severe negative impacts of light pollution have been highlighted while very few mitigation measure...
The endemic argan tree (Argania spinosa) populations in southern Morocco are highly degraded due to overbrowsing, illegal firewood extraction and the expansion of intensive agriculture. Bare areas between the isolated trees increase due to limited regrowth; however, it is unknown if the trees influence the soil of the intertree areas. Hypotheticall...
The Terrestrial Photogrammetry Scanner (TEPHOS) offers the possibility to precisely monitor linear erosion features using the Structure from Motion (SfM) technique. This is a static, multi-camera array and dynamically moves the digital videoframe camera designed to obtain 3-D models of rills before and after the runoff experiments. The main goals w...
The endemic argan woodlands cover large parts of South Morocco and create a characteristic landscape with areas of sparsely vegetated and bare soil surfaces between the single trees. This unique ecosystem has been under extensive agrosilvopastoral management for centuries and is now at risk of degradation caused by overgrazing and increasing scarci...
Light pollution is a well-known problem because of its negative impacts on human health, flora, and fauna. From an ecological and engineering point of view, the literature states to consider the following aspects: (1) the light intensity; (2) the composition of the spectrum; (3) the time and duration of lighting to optimize the time of illumination...
This presentation aims to quantify water and soil losses due to rainfall and specific soil management practices in combination with an analysis of which kind of weather type and rainfall event is able to cause specific surface flows and soil loss rates. As study area, we used the specific case of the sloping vineyards of the Montes de Málaga (South...
The Mosel Wine region has suffered during the last decades a decrease in productive area, mostly on steep sloping vineyards. To avoid the spread of diseases, the extraction of grapevines on abandoned vineyards is mandatory in Rhineland-Palatinate. At the same time, the organic production of wine is growing slowly, but well established in the area....
The hydrological response of one ephemeral gully during an "ordinary" rainfall event (with a return period of approximately 1 year) was assessed using a runoff simulation in an ex perimental catchment cultivated with olive groves in Puente Genil, Córdoba (Spain). 1000 l of water were pumped for 10 minutes in order to measure the total discharge, fl...
The relative impact of water and wind on total erosion was investigated by means of an experimental-empirical study. Wind erosion and water erosion were measured at five different sites: (1) Mediterranean fallow, (2) Mediterranean orchard, (3) wheat field, (4) vineyard and (5) sand substrate. Mean erosion rates ranged from 1.55 to 618 g·m −2 ·h −1...
The endemic argan tree (Argania spinosa) populations in South Morocco are highly degraded due to their use as a biomass resource in dry years and illegal firewood extraction. The intensification and expansion of agricultural land lead to a retreat of the wooded area, while the remaining argan open woodlands are often overgrazed. Thus, canopy-covere...
How an object appears in an aerial photograph depends on the way in which it is illuminated by the sun and the position of the camera relative to the object and sun. This gives rise to multiview-angle reflectance and the bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) within the solar plane. Small-format aerial photography (SFAP) represents...
A successful small-format aerial photography (SFAP) field survey often depends on the ability to react flexibly to more-or-less predictable complications. Considerable planning may be necessary for international travel and operation to make sure that SFAP equipment and personnel may reach the study site at the desirable time of day or year. Local s...
Vineyards represent a special type of cultivation for several reasons. Large differences in land relief, many different forms of growing and cultivation, as well as climatic prerequisites and their current change are the specific features. Cultivation area will expand worldwide, and cultivation regions will shift. The particular situation of the se...
Geomorphology is the study of the Earth’s surface landforms; it deals with morphology, processes, landforms, origins, and ages. Aerial photography has long been utilized to illustrate, describe, interpret, map, and measure diverse types of landforms. Small-format aerial photography is particularly useful for portraying landform details both in vert...
The aerial photographer must be cognizant of local rules and regulations for flying and taking small-format aerial photographs. Regulations vary considerably from country to country for types of aircraft, flying height, survey location, and other issues related to SFAP. Restrictions range from none or few, to special requirements, or even outright...
The characteristics and suitability of different camera types available for small-format aerial photography (SFAP) along with recommended settings are discussed in this chapter. Digital cameras have largely replaced earlier analog (film) cameras; mirrorless interchangeable-lens, compact point-and-shoot, and integrated on-board quadcopter drone came...
Outdoor recreational activities and sports take up an increasing amount of time and human effort at sites ranging from more-or-less natural environments to highly altered landscapes. In nearly all cases, small-format aerial photography would be valuable for both users and managers of such recreational venues. Aerial imagery provides for detailed si...
Photogrammetry comprises techniques concerned with making measurements of real-world objects and terrain features from images. Applications include the measuring of coordinates, quantification of distances, heights, areas, and volumes, 3D topographic mapping, the extraction of 3D point clouds for surface reconstructions, and the generation of digit...
Architecture is the design and construction of all types of buildings and integrated building complexes. Archaeology, in contrast, deals with the physical evidence of past human activities as preserved in architectural ruins and artifacts. Cemeteries combine architectural and archaeologic components with remains of human bodies. Small-format aerial...
Numerous image-processing techniques may be applied to small-format aerial photography. Geometric correction and georeferencing are a prerequisite for most measurement and monitoring applications. Image enhancement may improve the visual appearance of the image and emphasize its most important aspects with respect to the research question. New data...
Small-format aerial photography (SFAP) has a great variety in terms of aircraft and camera systems. However, some basic aspects, which are introduced in this chapter, are common to all approaches. The range of viewing angles from high-oblique to vertical vantages facilitates depicting a study area in its broader landscape context as well as in map-...
Wetlands include myriad environmental types as defined by water, hydric soils, and specialized vegetation. Wetland environments are present in all climatic and topographic settings around the world. Much scientific research is directed toward wetlands, and small-format aerial photography has distinct advantages for certain types of wetland investig...
Photographic composition involves the subjective reaction of people to the image based on the artistic characteristics of the photograph. This subject is rarely treated in technical books on aerial photography; nonetheless, good image composition may make the difference between a merely useful visual recording and a compelling image that immediatel...
Gully erosion constitutes the most severe form of soil erosion in arid and semiarid landscapes. Illustrated by selected examples, this chapter gives an overview of gully-erosion studies employing small-format aerial photography (SFAP) at > 30 sites during the last 25 years. 2D and 3D change quantification based on the detailed maps and DEMs provide...
Diverse types of flying machines may be adapted for small-format aerial photography including manned and unmanned aircraft of all types. Manned platforms include single-engine airplanes, helicopters, autogyros, gliders, and ultralight aircraft. These are generally large, expensive, and require trained pilots for operation. Unmanned aircraft for SFA...
Visual interpretation of aerial photographs is based on recognition of objects, which often takes place without any conscious effort by the interpreter. Basic features that aid in the examination and interpretation of airphotos are color, shape, size and height, shadow, pattern, texture, and context. Stereoscopic viewing offers additional possibili...
Small-format aerial photography has grown from a niche activity in the late 20th century to a mainstream enterprise in the early 21st century. Several technologies and social developments facilitated this rapid growth, namely digital cameras, airborne platforms, GNSS, Internet, mobile phones, batteries, 3D photogrammetry, and legal aspects. Among v...
The interrelationship of vegetation cover and growth-habit forms with soil-erosion processes is one of the most exciting issues of society-environment interaction because of small-scale and short-term changes, which are beyond conventional earth observation. Based on examples of the authors’ research, interactions of agrarian land-use systems and t...
Innovations for cameras and platforms have led to new scientific, commercial, and artistic possibilities for acquiring dramatic aerial photographs in the early 21st century. This book deals with small-format aerial photography (SFAP) with an emphasis on unmanned aircraft flown at low height (< 300 m). SFAP today employs light-weight digital cameras...
The generation of electricity from wind energy has grown rapidly during the past two decades, particularly in Asia, Europe, and North America. The windscape represents the combination of local climate and geography, environmental and ecological conditions, mix of public policies, and human land use and infrastructure associated with harnessing wind...
Unmanned aerial systems (UAS), also called unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) or drones, have become the prevalent means of taking SFAP from low heights in the geosciences as well as in many other geospatial applications and research disciplines. This chapter gives a comprehensive overview of fixed-wing, multi...
The Souss region is strongly influenced by a continuous land use change which is accompanied by strong sheet wash, rill and gully erosion. These very high sediment amounts are collected by ephemeral rivers called wadis or Oueds. This study aimed to determine if the current land uses and land use change influenced wadi dynamics in the medium term by...
In the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), understanding landscape evolution is essential to design long-term management plans. In agricultural fields, such as the vineyards on steep slopes, the terraces offer one of the most important morphological changes. However, it is not clear if the poorly managed agricultural terraces are op...
New trends related to market incomes, cultural human development, non-sustainable soil management practices, and climate change are affecting land abandonment in Mediterranean sloping vineyards. It is generally accepted that hydrological processes and, subsequently, soil erosion rates are usually different between cultivated and abandoned soils. Ho...
Land degradation in vineyards is a big concern which should be considered by farmers, enterprises and policymakers. Due to intense tillage, the use of herbicides and heavy machinery, vine plantations are registering a decrease in soil fertility and, subsequently, in productivity. Recently, farmers have decided to abandon the vineyards, but any rest...
A sound understanding of erosive processes at different scales can contribute substantially to the design of suitable management strategies. The main aim of this work was to evaluate key factors at the pedon scale that cause soil erosion to occur. To achieve this goal, we quantified infiltration, permeability, soil losses and runoff volumes in a sm...
In vineyards, especially on steep slopes like the Ruwer-Mosel Valley, Germany, soil erosion is a well-known environmental problem. Unfortunately, some enterprises and farmers are not aware of how much soil is being lost and the long-term negative impacts of soil erosion. The non-invasive technique of the stock unearthing method (SUM) can be used fo...
The process of wind erosion is very slow and subtle. Therefore its amount is often highly underestimated compared to that by water erosion. It is important for environmental planners and other stakeholders to evaluate the relationship between agricultural land use and these two erosion processes. In particular the influence of extensification on th...
Core Ideas
A Guelph permeameter was used to quantify water movements.
The active vineyard had higher permeability and saturated conductivity than the abandoned one.
Vineyard soils showed a higher variability among seasons and slope positions.
In the abandoned plot, there was a high correlation with gravel, OM, and clay content.
In the vineyard, hum...
Prediction and risk assessment of hydrological extremes are great challenges. Following climate predictions, frequent and violent rainstorms will become a new hazard to several regions in the medium term. Particularly agricultural soils will be severely threatened due to the combined action of heavy rainfall and accompanying winds on bare soil surf...
It is well known that rainfall causes soil erosion in sloping German vineyards, but little is known about the effect of age of plantation on soil erosion, which is relevant to understand and design sustainable management systems. In the Ruwer-Mosel valley, young (1-to 4-years) and old (35-to 38-years after the plantation) vineyards were selected to...
Suitable vineyard soils enhance soil stability and biodiversity which in turn protects roots against erosion and nutrient losses. There is a lack of information related to inexpensive and suitable methods and tools to protect the soil in Mediterranean sloping vineyards (>25° of slope inclination). In the vineyards of the Montes de Málaga (southern...
Prediction and risk assessment of hydrological extremes are great challenges. Following climate predictions, frequent and violent rainstorms will become a new hazard to several regions in the medium term. Particularly agricultural soils will be severely threatened due to the combined action of heavy rainfall and accompanying winds on bare soil surf...
Open Access Link: http://doi.org/10.18172/cig.3206
Geomorphological relief units are related to certain processes and the history of their development. They are well defined by form and material. This study investigates erosion processes on different relief units. Rainfall simulations, rill experiments and monitoring by aerial photography were per...
Sloping vineyards in the Mediterranean cultivated on bare soils show several types of evidence of soil erosion processes. However, little is known about the key factors that condition and enhance these processes at the intra-plot scale. There is a need to assess soil conservation methods to reach sustainability of vineyards and high grape quality,...
German vineyards are one of the land uses most prone to soil erosion. Due to their
placement on mainly steep slopes and non-conservative cultivation practices, runoff and soil loss are a serious problem for wine growers. In the Saar-Mosel valley (Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany), there is a tendency towards organic management of vineyards with prote...
Kontakt: iserloh@uni-trier.de Schlagworte: Bodenerosion, experimentelle Geomorphologie Rainfall simulation with small scale simulators is a method used worldwide to assess the generation of overland flow and initial soil erosion. For a thorough interpretation of the obtained experimental data, it is necessary to know detailed information of the rai...
Conventional Mediterranean vineyards from the Montes de Málaga (Axarquía region, Spain) are characterized by high average temperatures, extreme rainfall events during autumn and winter, elevated stoniness and steep slopes (20–50°). Traditionally, several problems of high soil loss, rill and ephemeral gully generation, and elevated runoff are observ...
Steep slopes, erodible soils, rill and ephemeral gullies, compaction due to wheel traffic and human trampling are common features in vineyards around the world and result in high soil erosion rates. However, little is known about seasonal and spatial variations of soil erosion rates due to factors such as the impact of the vine plantation, harvest,...
The aim of this study was to enable a quantitative comparison of initial soil erosion processes in European vineyards using the same methodology and equipment. The study was conducted in four viticultural areas with different characteristics (Valencia and Málaga in Spain, Ruwer-Mosel valley and Saar-Mosel valley in Germany). Old and young vineyards...
Abstract The movement of stones is important in a variety of disciplines such as geomorphology or hydraulic engineering. Plenty of different sensors, visual, active or passive tracers exist to capture movements in various ways. However, none of them is sufficiently small to be implanted in pebbles with a longest axis of approx. 60 mm. In this artic...
Los suelos de los viñedos del valle del Ruwer-Mosela (Alemania) cultivados en elevadas pendientes muestran una alta variabilidad espacio-temporal en su dinámica hidrológica. A través del uso del permeámetro de Guelph se realizaron un total de cuarenta y dos experimentos en viñedos jóvenes y viejos para medir las tasas de infiltración, la conductivi...
Small portable rainfall simulators are considered a useful tool to analyze soil erosion processes in cultivated lands. European research groups in Spain (Valencia, Málaga, Lleida, Madrid and La Rioja), France (Reims) and Germany (Trier) have used different rainfall simulators (varying in drop size distribution and fall velocities, kinetic energy, p...
Field rainfall simulators are designed to study soil erosion processes and provide urgently needed data for various geomorphological, hydrological and pedological issues. Due to the different conditions and technologies applied, there are several methodological aspects under review of the scientific community, particularly concerning design, proced...
The initiation of rill erosion marks the transition from sheet to linear erosion. With this transition, the relevant processes change and therefore, the observation method needs to be changed too: from observing rainfall induced drop impacts to hydraulic observations. For us, the investigation of the decisive processes in eroding rills resulted in...
Vineyards are one of the eco-geomorphological systems most conditioned by human activity in Germany. The vineyards of the Ruwer Valley (Germany) are characterized by high soil erosion rates and rill problems on steep slopes (between 23 and 26°) caused by the increasingly frequent heavy rainfall events as well as deterioration due to incorrect land...
In literature authors often state that turbulence is an important or even "the critical" factor for soil erosion. But in erosion modelling the influence of turbulence is largely disregarded until now. The Reynolds number is often used as value of turbulence for a flowing liquid. In technical physics for example it is used to test the viscoelastic b...