Application of a simulated annealing optimization to a physically based erosion model

A major risk concerning the calibration of physically based erosion models has been partly attributable to the lack of robust optimization tools. This paper presents the essential concepts and application to optimize the erosion parameters of an erosion model using data collected in an experimental basin, with a global optimization method known as simulated annealing (SA) which is suitable for solving optimization problems of large scales. The physically based erosion model that was chosen to be optimized here is the Watershed Erosion Simulation Program (WESP), which was developed for small basins to generate the hydrograph and the respective sedigraph. The field data were collected in an experimental basin located in a semiarid region of Brazil. On the basis of these results, the following erosion parameters were optimized: the soil moisture-tension parameter (N(s)) that depends also on the initial moisture content, the channel erosion parameter (a), the soil detachability factor (K(R)), and the sediment entrainment parameter by rainfall impact (K(I)), whose values could serve as initial estimates for semiarid regions within northeastern Brazil.